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AsciLab F6B Bookshelf Speaker Review

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I will either:
1) Use the F6B in the living room instead of the workroom. Equalization will be easier in the living room. (Because it's more spacious.)
2) Replace the DAC in the workroom (Topping D30Pro) with one that has PEQ, such as the Topping DX5II or miniDSP Flex, and adjust the peaks at 55 Hz, 138 Hz, and 315 Hz.
I listened to the Ascilab F6B in the living room and tried room correction in both rooms.

Beforehand, I compared frequency response of the Revel M105, the Ascilab F6B, and the DIY speakers (Speaker 1), which are currently in use in my workroom. They were located on my desktop in my small workroom. Looking at the low frequencies from 50Hz to 120Hz (purple box), the frequency response of the M105 (blue) and F6B (red) is very similar. On the other hand, inserting a port plug into the M105's bass reflection port (purple) brings it very close to Speaker 1 (green). The M105 has a port on the back, while Speaker 1 has a port on the front. This demonstrates the effect of the port plugs when speakers are close to walls. If there isn't enough space between the speakers and the wall - as is often the case with desktops - the F6Bs might be a better choice than the F6B.
1-Desktop R-ch.png


Of course, you can also use an EQ to reduce the over-aggressive bass. I first tried it with RoomFit, the room correction feature of the WiiM Pro Plus. I used the RoomFit settings as default and the miniDSP UMIK-1 as an external microphone. It reduces peaks and makes it easier to listen. It does not seem to correct dips. Starting with version 4.8.726047 of the WiiM Pro Plus, RoomFit and PEQ work together, so you can use PEQ to fine-tune the RoomFit room correction.
2-Desktop-RoomFit.png


Next, I created EQ filters in REW and entered them into the PEQ settings on the WiiM Pro Plus. Depending on the settings, REW seems to correct FR more significantly than RoomFit. However, both RoomFit and REW worked fine.
3-Desktop-REW.png


Lastly, I listened to the F6B in the living room. The left speaker is located at the corner of the room. It is 0.5 m to the back wall and 0.4 m to the left wall. The left channel therefore has a bass boost which is probably due to reflections from the corner of the room. In the living room, however, there is not as big a standing wave effect as in the workroom, so I could listen to the music without EQ. Nevertheless, to reduce the bass boost in the left channel, I corrected it with the R/N1000A Network Receiver's built-in room correction YPAO (Yamaha Parametric room Acoustic Optimizer). I don't like the way YPAO boosted the sub-bass, but it did reduce reflections from the corners of the room. The F6B sounds very nice, just like the IEM, which almost complies with the target curve. With REW and PEQ it could be more complete.
4-Living-YPAO.png


Below is the same graph but with psychoacoustic smoothing.
5-Living-YPAO-pscy.png


I will use the Ascilab F6B in my living room and the Revel M105 with port plugs in my workroom.
Hope these measurements help.
 
Wouldn't the sealed version be better for that?
Sure, the F6Bs can touch the front wall whereas the F6B needs a minimal gap.

You lose bass extension though and the point was that in contrast to a rear port, a passive radiator can be placed closer to a wall.
 
No issues.
Leave an inch or so gap, so that the passive radiator can move without touching the wall and you're AOK.
Yeah I'm fine with 15-20cm gap. What amp would you recommend for it ? I wan't I was looking at B200, but worried about blowing speakers if kids will crank it up accidentally or not :D
 
Yeah I'm fine with 15-20cm gap. What amp would you recommend for it ? I wan't I was looking at B200, but worried about blowing speakers if kids will crank it up accidentally or not :D
what've you got now?

Sorry if this is all old news to you...
most of all, if you don't already have a way, have a way that allows you to do some detailed correcting eq for the bass/low end, sub integration...

seems like any mic (inc mobile phone) is probably kinda good enough for low end measuring correction, but having a MiniDSP umik and eq has been the funnest part of hobbying and then listening to music to me. the ascilabs hopefully need no attention above the room's influence.

oh, also, since you'd likely angle them in towards listening position some amount, that buys space at the back, and you could be better off jamming them as close as you can to the wall.
 
what've you got now?

Sorry if this is all old news to you...
most of all, if you don't already have a way, have a way that allows you to do some detailed correcting eq for the bass/low end, sub integration...

seems like any mic (inc mobile phone) is probably kinda good enough for low end measuring correction, but having a MiniDSP umik and eq has been the funnest part of hobbying and then listening to music to me. the ascilabs hopefully need no attention above the room's influence.

oh, also, since you'd likely angle them in towards listening position some amount, that buys space at the back, and you could be better off jamming them as close as you can to the wall.
At the moment I have ARC vs110 power amp, Magnepan .7, REL sub and Wiim Ultra. Back in a day I've used external mic and computer software to do EQ corrections and blend sub in. I've moved to new home, so I'd like to replace speakers due to room size and tube amp with something B or D class, which will take less space and I can hide it easily.

Yes toe-in will work to some degree, so I'll try that as well
 
What amp would you recommend for it ? I wan't I was looking at B200, but worried about blowing speakers if kids will crank it up accidentally or not :D
Isn't the B200 a good choice then since there's no volume knob for your kids to crank? :p

But yeah generally I'd look for Power Amps (no knob), with two or more gain settings. Monoblocks if you'd like.

Can't go wrong with the Fosi V3 Mono :D
 
Isn't the B200 a good choice then since there's no volume knob for your kids to crank? :p

But yeah generally I'd look for Power Amps (no knob), with two or more gain settings. Monoblocks if you'd like.

Can't go wrong with the Fosi V3 Mono :D
Haha, yeah, but there will still be volume knob on a preamp. I was thinking about Fosi v3 too, tbh it would save me quite a bit of money as well, which is quite welcome :D
 
Haha, yeah, but there will still be volume knob on a preamp. I was thinking about Fosi v3 too, tbh it would save me quite a bit of money as well, which is quite welcome :D
Your WiiM Ultra has multiple configurable volume restrictions in the WiiM Home App.

Simply set those so that the maximum volume is loud, but not catastrophic and you should be good.
 
At the moment I have ARC vs110 power amp, Magnepan .7, REL sub and Wiim Ultra. Back in a day I've used external mic and computer software to do EQ corrections and blend sub in. I've moved to new home, so I'd like to replace speakers due to room size and tube amp with something B or D class, which will take less space and I can hide it easily.

Yes toe-in will work to some degree, so I'll try that as well
Sweet. Eq sorted :-)

I literally just got a pair of Fosi V3 mono today. they work. they should be very good. hopefully they last a long time. they were well priced!

They were somewhat procured as I intend to get some AsciLab, when they ever sell 'em again! load independent, so no excuse to be altering AsciLab's exceptional freq response. Though I gather the V3 Stereo I had would have been entirely fine and inaudibly different. and as i've been using those in a variety of ways since about Feb 2024, so if you wanna save even more coin, there's an option!

off topic, What a silly thing for me to do with new amps to be listening to entirely unfamiliar music (poking around with streaming Radio Paradise playlists that I found over the weekend - It's not my usual thing, but the "Beyond" playlist with improv jazzy stuff can be pretty nice.
 
Your WiiM Ultra has multiple configurable volume restrictions in the WiiM Home App.

Simply set those so that the maximum volume is loud, but not catastrophic and you should be good.
Thanks, I'll have a look, tbh I just got it, didn't check it in detail, This is a great feature!
 
HI Guys, I wonder if those can be installed close to wall?
No issues.
Leave an inch or so gap, so that the passive radiator can move without touching the wall and you're AOK.
No issues, but placing the speakers in the corners of the room will boost the bass. Since the F6B has great bass performance, this boost might make the bass sound too loud. If you place either the left or right speaker in a corner, it's best to use WiiM Ultra's RoomFit Room Correction to adjust it.

Blue: 500mm to the back wall
Green: 25mm (an inch) to the back wall
Red: Corner of the room. 25mm to the back wall, 40mm to the right wall
F6B.png
 
No issues, but placing the speakers in the corners of the room will boost the bass. Since the F6B has great bass performance, this boost might make the bass sound too loud. If you place either the left or right speaker in a corner, it's best to use WiiM Ultra's RoomFit Room Correction to adjust it.

Blue: 500mm to the back wall
Green: 25mm (an inch) to the back wall
Red: Corner of the room. 25mm to the back wall, 40mm to the right wall
View attachment 475478
Thanks, yes, EQ will be a way to go. It will not go into the corner, but next to fireplace opening near the centre of the room.
 
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Our F6B and F6BS are in stock now!
The F6Bs is the only option, currently, which has any mount screws/holes?

By chance, does anyone know where the US tariff situation stands re: an order like this?
 
In general, I prefer "big" speakers with lots of volume for rock n roll! haha

However, I have a room that I want some less intrusive speakers. I have a hsu ULS-15 Mk2 sub and the room is about 25 ft x 18 ft with a vaulted ceiling.

I'm looking for some small size speakers that can play loud and clear with the sub, mostly for rock, blues, and progressive jazz.

From searching about in the reviews, this looks to be the best I can find for this purpose. I'm just unsure about how loud they will go with the sub. I have a difficult time understanding that aspect of speakers from the reviews. I know there are graphs for distortion at 96db, which gives you some info, but I'm not confident in my ability to read and compare those with other speakers.
 

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If you do, let me know. I have C6B which come without grills, and would prefer (for safety of cone) reasons to have some on there. Assuming the same grills would fit, don't know if they would. maybe the Ascilab people could chime and and let me know).
 
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