AsciLab C5B Review.

[kemmler3D]

I think many people just underestimate how and when to set up a global selling product.

First you need to make sure you can produce your high quality product in series. Then predict sales and invest in a number of batches comprising several hundreds. That takes a lot of investment and a lot of contracts, legal stuff. Then you need to find the network. Then you need to figure out all the local legislation about sales of products. Then you need to have the legal deals with and distributors done. Even if Ascilab will be selling straight to customer the product itself needs to be packaged, needs manuals in several languages. A Webshop. Etc. Etc. Just thinking about it makes me want to say: no thanks. Then they have to cater to guys like us when we want dates, dates. Can we have it for christmas?

If they are clever, think about a running sales line target date at the end of 2025. That would be fantastic. Better to take slow steps and make sure every step is well done than to rush into things and get into lots of problems, bad publicity.

+1, if you aren't paying a distributor to do all the work (and giving up all your margin in the process) getting set up to sell overseas is pretty hard. Even if you do go with a distributor, finding a good one who is taking on new brands isn't that easy, either. Just getting the right certifications takes some homework, and that's mostly just sending stuff to labs and printing logos on things.

If you DIY it, it can be a daunting job. Example: If you are an english speaker, just imagine calling warehouses in Korea and trying to make a deal to store and ship your inventory. Imagine the questions they will ask about logistics that are specific to Korea that you don't understand even if there is no language barrier. Etc. Now multiply that because we are people from around the world asking for delivery. Then consider all the steps in addition to "finding a place to keep inventory"....

 

[dfuller]

With the other ‘new’ speaker companies I have been associated with everything has always taken longer than expected.

Scaling manufacturing is much harder and takes much longer than people think.

 

[Snuffalo_Bill]

Not knowledgeable enough to understand the amp discussion here...how would these fair with a wiim amp pro?

 

[milosz]

https://ctishop.co.kr/product/어사일랩ascilab-c5b/67/ Seems to list these for KRW 200,000.00 each, which is about $140.00 US..... seems impossible, but there it is

 

[kemmler3D]

https://ctishop.co.kr/product/어사일랩ascilab-c5b/67/ Seems to list these for KRW 200,000.00 each, which is about $140.00 US..... seems impossible, but there it is

Sadly I am seeing 1.5M Won which is ~ $1060 US... the $200K is for the white color option.

 

[milosz]

I see. Yeah I thought it was too good to be true!

 

[NTK]

Not knowledgeable enough to understand the amp discussion here...how would these fair with a wiim amp pro?

The AsciLab C5B has low sensitivity (~82 83.5 dBSPL @ 2.83V, 1m) and low impedance (under 3 ohm from ~120 Hz to ~ 500 Hz with minimum at 2.3 ohm), which means it is going to be a challenging load for the amplifier.

[Edit] Corrected the CTA-2034 directivity response graph. The original posted CTA-2034 directivity response graph was for the A6B Passive (AsciLab NFS measurements from post #1).

The Wiim Amp Pro (review link) is rated to 4 ohm and struggles with 2 ohm. It is probably only adequate for listening at moderate to low volume in a not-too-big room. The max output voltage of 15 Vrms at 2 ohm corresponds to ~96 97.5 dBSPL max peak (1 speaker at 1 m distance, anechoic condition, single tone sine wave).

 

[dannut]

Quick back of a napkin calculation gets me to 92dB/1m with a 12dB crest factor signal before clipping. (If Wiim has an output of 21Vrms/30V peak, it can manage ~7.5Vrms 12dB crest factor signal before clipping the peaks)

That leaves 4-5dB on the table by not upgrading to a amp with more voltage swing. Or more if you fancy high dynamic-range music.

edit: It seems that Wiim Amp Pro has ~7.5A rms and 10.5A peak output. So it dumps peak power at around 2.8Ohms. Wonder how gracefully it handles moderate current limiting with high dynamic range music and low impedance speakers...

 

[Luvchampagne]

Does anybody know if the pricing on the ctishop website is for 1 speaker or 1 pair? It is unclear. Same also for the stands.

 

[JohnnyNG]

Does anybody know if the pricing on the ctishop website is for 1 speaker or 1 pair? It is unclear. Same also for the stands.

Not sure what it is on that site but this post says Expected price: $1000 for pair for C5B.

AsciLab speakers are about to launch

We are about to launch a new line of speakers designed using Klippel NFS. The initial lineup is as follows: AsciLab C5B Specification - 2-way Bookshelf Speaker - Dual Passive Radiator - 1" Alumina Ceramic Dome Tweeter with Custom Waveguide and Phase Plug - 5" Alumina Ceramic Woofer - LW 4th...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Periffery]

Now that it’s been a little while, what amps are you using for this and the C6B? I ordered the bigger one, but not sure what to run with it, preferably with room correction and hdmi. Was thinking Wiim amp pro, but that may be under what’s needed.

 

[XDM]

What happened to all the 5" versions of Ascilab speakers?

On https://m.ctishop.co.kr/product/어사일랩ascilab-c5b-밀폐형-1조/81/category/42/display/1/ I can still see the C5B (sealed) but on the official website everything is 6" https://ascilab.com/category/ascilab/42/


I'm considering this speaker brand for a small room or desk use (close to a wall) and 6" will certainly be too large.

The sealed versions look very interesting for this use case (I have a subwoofer anyway, PreSonus Sub 8BT).

Second question: is it possible to order 3 of a 5" version, so 1 can be used in horizontal orientation as a center channel? Will the performance be good for this use case?

 

[AsciLab]

What happened to all the 5" versions of Ascilab speakers?

On https://m.ctishop.co.kr/product/어사일랩ascilab-c5b-밀폐형-1조/81/category/42/display/1/ I can still see the C5B (sealed) but on the official website everything is 6" https://ascilab.com/category/ascilab/42/


I'm considering this speaker brand for a small room or desk use (close to a wall) and 6" will certainly be too large.

The sealed versions look very interesting for this use case (I have a subwoofer anyway, PreSonus Sub 8BT).

Second question: is it possible to order 3 of a 5" version, so 1 can be used as a center channel? Will the performance be good for this use case?

We are currently focusing on the production of F6B and C6B. Once we have some production capacity to spare, we also plan to re-release the C5B. The design has been fully completed, and the necessary components are prepared, so we expect to start sales around August.

 

[amarsicola]

Hi @AsciLab i was impressed by Erin's review of C6b, congratulations.
Are you planning a budget oriented tower speaker? Maybe a C6B tower with two active woofers?

 

[AsciLab]

Hi @AsciLab i was impressed by Erin's review of C6b, congratulations.
Are you planning a budget oriented tower speaker? Maybe a C6B tower with two active woofers?

We don’t have plans for a tower speaker yet, but we are currently developing a base stand designed to extend bass performance. While the final design has not been finalized, the base stand will be compatible with all current F, C, and A series bookshelf models.

Attached are a few concept images for your reference.

 

[Grotti]

We don’t have plans for a tower speaker yet, but we are currently developing a base stand designed to extend bass performance. While the final design has not been finalized, the base stand will be compatible with all current F, C, and A series bookshelf models.

Attached are a few concept images for your reference.

View attachment 454851View attachment 454852View attachment 454853View attachment 454855View attachment 454856

The upper version with slightly angled out bass module and two impulse compensated woofers looks great!!!

 

[pierre]

We don’t have plans for a tower speaker yet, but we are currently developing a base stand designed to extend bass performance. While the final design has not been finalized, the base stand will be compatible with all current F, C, and A series bookshelf models.

Attached are a few concept images for your reference.

View attachment 454851View attachment 454852View attachment 454853View attachment 454855View attachment 454856

Cool. It is less ugly than my w371 from genelec. Do you also plan to control the directivity by playing with the DSP?

 

[DearSX]

We don’t have plans for a tower speaker yet, but we are currently developing a base stand designed to extend bass performance. While the final design has not been finalized, the base stand will be compatible with all current F, C, and A series bookshelf models.

Attached are a few concept images for your reference.

View attachment 454851View attachment 454852View attachment 454853View attachment 454855View attachment 454856

That looks amazing. I built 3-way SB Acoustics Satori (Jeff Bagby Kairos) speakers similar to this cause I wanted this build up concept. Can't wait to see this with your expertise and reputation!

 

[Matt_Holland]

We don’t have plans for a tower speaker yet, but we are currently developing a base stand designed to extend bass performance. While the final design has not been finalized, the base stand will be compatible with all current F, C, and A series bookshelf models.

Attached are a few concept images for your reference.

View attachment 454851View attachment 454852View attachment 454853View attachment 454855View attachment 454856

Will these bass stands be active or passive? If passive I assume the stand will incorporate a high-pass filter to feed the 2-way in top? What crossover frequency to you anticipate creating between base and top?

Nice concept.

 

[AsciLab]

Will these bass stands be active or passive? If passive I assume the stand will incorporate a high-pass filter to feed the 2-way in top? What crossover frequency to you anticipate creating between base and top?

Nice concept.

The bass stand will be released as an active version, with a crossover point around 200Hz.
The connector for linking it to a bookshelf speaker is yet to be finalized, but please refer to the attached concept image for reference. A cable for connecting to the bookshelf speaker will be included.