This is a review, listening tests and detailed measurements of the Ascilab C6B bookshelf speaker. It costs USD $1,357 per pair inclusive of import fees. Pricing varies in other parts of the world:
Important note: my other company, TestedAudio, is the sole distributor for all of Ascilab products. Indeed, C6B is by far our most popular speaker. So feel free to read my subjective comments with extreme skepticism.
The C6B shares the same everything with F6B but with an upgraded woofer. I like the white look which reminds of the iconic Yamaha studio monitors (there is a grill if you want to hide it).
This is surprisingly compact speaker yet feels quite heavy and dense. You can better see its compact dimensions from this side profile:
As with F6B, we have a passive radiator.
Ascilab C6B Speaker Measurements
As usual, we start with our anechoic measurements:
We have slightly flatter response before the step function but otherwise, it is in the same ballpark as F6B.
Early window is good but shows a small dip:
We can see that is caused by vertical reflections:
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You can see how the vertical response is compressed in the 3-D balloon visualization. As with most speakers, absorbing floor reflections with a carpet is advised if you want more perfection.
Horizontal is perfect which is the important bit as it means side wall reflections which can be beneficial have similar tonality to on axis.
Predicted in-room response shows more of a tilted down response indicating a warm sound signature:
Woofer response is a bit more refined compared to F6B:
Let's jump into distortion because that is what is unique here with respect to woofer upgrade. I will start with a comparison against F6B:
We see substantial reduction of distortion in upper bass and midrange relative to lower cost woofer used in F6B. However, there is an increase in distortion at very low bass frequencies. I don't know why that is the case but overall, this is an excellent improvement over F6B.
Here is our standard graphs:
And our bass response in both linear and log scales:
You can see how the 101 dBSPL is not usable given its massive distortion. Woofer distorted some but it was the passive radiator that bitterly complained. I heard a bit of distortion at the start of the sweep at 96 dBSPL and we see the reason for that: non-linear rise in distortion below 42 Hz. This is very typical even in larger speakers.
Directivity is highly controlled and beautifully smooth once it takes hold:
Vertical directivity allows a bit of freedom to sit above tweeter axis:
Someone asked for Group Delay:
And rest of the bits (yes, I am tired at 1:42am):
Ascilab C6B Speaker Listening Tests
The first impression is that of warmth: there is enough bass there that you don't wish you had a subwoofer. High frequencies are clear but not piercing/standing out. Sibilance, unless in the source, is not in the C6B's vocabulary.
Throwing my torture deep-bass track at the C6B, there was distortion at anything above modest levels in that region. For all of my other bass heavy tracks though, reproduction was superb. Ton of clean bass accompanying delight notes above it. Every track in my library sounded excellent.
Spatial image is limited to halo a foot or two round the speaker. This is of course due to controlled and slightly narrower than normal beam width. I listened in mono but in stereo, it is likely to have more focused imaging.
Unfortunately I don't have an F6B in stock to compare, nor is my memory of that with me. So rely on the measurements for that.
Conclusions
One of the best driving experiences I have is that of a Honda Accord circa early 1980s. That thing had such a smooth engine and low effort stick shift that put a smile on my face that you could not wipe out. It was no sports car but it was so competent for everyday driving. Such is the story with C6B. It is just full range enough, and accurate enough to just do the job. That is, do justice to your music making you want to delight in what you are hearing. If you don't want to go all out and spend a lot more money, then the C6B is a wonderful answer. Pair with a few hundred dollar amp and some EQ and you are good to go.
I am going to recommend the Ascilab C6B speaker.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Important note: my other company, TestedAudio, is the sole distributor for all of Ascilab products. Indeed, C6B is by far our most popular speaker. So feel free to read my subjective comments with extreme skepticism.
The C6B shares the same everything with F6B but with an upgraded woofer. I like the white look which reminds of the iconic Yamaha studio monitors (there is a grill if you want to hide it).
This is surprisingly compact speaker yet feels quite heavy and dense. You can better see its compact dimensions from this side profile:
As with F6B, we have a passive radiator.
Ascilab C6B Speaker Measurements
As usual, we start with our anechoic measurements:
We have slightly flatter response before the step function but otherwise, it is in the same ballpark as F6B.
Early window is good but shows a small dip:
We can see that is caused by vertical reflections:
You can see how the vertical response is compressed in the 3-D balloon visualization. As with most speakers, absorbing floor reflections with a carpet is advised if you want more perfection.
Horizontal is perfect which is the important bit as it means side wall reflections which can be beneficial have similar tonality to on axis.
Predicted in-room response shows more of a tilted down response indicating a warm sound signature:
Woofer response is a bit more refined compared to F6B:
Let's jump into distortion because that is what is unique here with respect to woofer upgrade. I will start with a comparison against F6B:
We see substantial reduction of distortion in upper bass and midrange relative to lower cost woofer used in F6B. However, there is an increase in distortion at very low bass frequencies. I don't know why that is the case but overall, this is an excellent improvement over F6B.
Here is our standard graphs:
And our bass response in both linear and log scales:
You can see how the 101 dBSPL is not usable given its massive distortion. Woofer distorted some but it was the passive radiator that bitterly complained. I heard a bit of distortion at the start of the sweep at 96 dBSPL and we see the reason for that: non-linear rise in distortion below 42 Hz. This is very typical even in larger speakers.
Directivity is highly controlled and beautifully smooth once it takes hold:
Vertical directivity allows a bit of freedom to sit above tweeter axis:
Someone asked for Group Delay:
And rest of the bits (yes, I am tired at 1:42am):
Ascilab C6B Speaker Listening Tests
The first impression is that of warmth: there is enough bass there that you don't wish you had a subwoofer. High frequencies are clear but not piercing/standing out. Sibilance, unless in the source, is not in the C6B's vocabulary.
Throwing my torture deep-bass track at the C6B, there was distortion at anything above modest levels in that region. For all of my other bass heavy tracks though, reproduction was superb. Ton of clean bass accompanying delight notes above it. Every track in my library sounded excellent.
Spatial image is limited to halo a foot or two round the speaker. This is of course due to controlled and slightly narrower than normal beam width. I listened in mono but in stereo, it is likely to have more focused imaging.
Unfortunately I don't have an F6B in stock to compare, nor is my memory of that with me. So rely on the measurements for that.
Conclusions
One of the best driving experiences I have is that of a Honda Accord circa early 1980s. That thing had such a smooth engine and low effort stick shift that put a smile on my face that you could not wipe out. It was no sports car but it was so competent for everyday driving. Such is the story with C6B. It is just full range enough, and accurate enough to just do the job. That is, do justice to your music making you want to delight in what you are hearing. If you don't want to go all out and spend a lot more money, then the C6B is a wonderful answer. Pair with a few hundred dollar amp and some EQ and you are good to go.
I am going to recommend the Ascilab C6B speaker.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
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