AsciLab speakers are about to launch

[Morla]

No in the mood for quiz show, sorry

 

[pat355]

AsciLab’s CEO was gracious enough to reach out to me personally following my cancellation and I am grateful for that. My understanding is there will be a post made by him later today here so I’ll wait for their official communication.

 

[Mort]

There's one small detail (nothing about audibility) about at least one Asci speaker who speaks volumes about the low understanding of the market they try to exist in.
Can anyone guess?

I know! I know!

Their amps won't really handle three ohms.

 

[Sokel]

I know! I know!

Their amps won't really handle three ohms.

I said inaudible, this can be as audible as it gets!

No, it's almost cosmetic but not entirely if it's of the soft-ish kind.
I'm talking about the as-plastic-as-it gets binding posts plate.

If it's of the ones I think, screw the posts tight enough and they will start rotating before falling apart.

(the premium feeling fail goes without saying)

 

[nbot]

Wow. I cant help but feel a little sick and disappointed having just read the last few pages of this thread.
While I sympathise with Amir and his business dealings with Ascilab & agree the situation should have been handled better before it all came to a head here, I don't believe laying out a private dispute between a distributer and manufacturer in front of a public audience is the way forward, even under the guise of being transparent with customers, regardless of the circumstances.

But it sounds like Amir tried everything to resolve the issue with them and also has his commitments to his own clients. What else could he do?

If you flick back 10 or more pages in this thread there's huge praise for Ascilab for answering consumer questions, providing advice and being transparent with measurements etc. On multiple occasions they have answered and re-answered the same questions because us consumers are too lazy to read the previous 100+ pages to find information for them selves. It only took a couple of negative posts from Amir & this threads snowballing in the direction of a hate fest. I'd be surprised after reading the last few pages of posts if we'll ever see the same level of involvement from Ascilab in public forums again.

Ok so we can't criticise them because they come here to post something? What kind of logic is it ?

One forum member I won't name goes as far as saying "I would also like to point out that none of us in ASR -and perhaps outside of it- would have heard or considered this company if Amir had not put them on the map with an enthusiastic price-value review." In an earlier post the same user says "And you might regret it very deeply if something goes wrong. This is a business where one unsupported problem makes us shun a brand forever." Who is "us"? the cult of Amir? What a load of rubbish to suggest the audio universe revolves around Amir. Grow up. I'm sure i'm among many here who learnt of Ascilab through entirely different channels. I'm positive his reviews helped build brand awareness and sales, but if he steps down as a distributer, the world isn't going to end.

If not ASR I would never even know about this company existed

I can't help but feel we've all become a mob of selfish entitled sheeple. I assumed the majority of people on this forum would made informed decisions to purchase Ascilab's products having followed threads like this and understanding your purchasing from a passionate start up with a history of supply delays. In my own case, I was happy to jump on the C8C preorder train knowing full well I'd most likely not take delivery on time. I'd much rather wait another 6 or 12 months if necessary to take delivery of a high quality, well engineered product which wasn't rushed during assembly and which is well packaged and arrives safely.

And if it doesn't arrive in 6 or 12 months? I assume professional studios can't afford waiting 6 to 12 months or worse - uknown amount of months. What if the unit is faulty? Do you wait another 6 to 12 months?

 

[Oboreal]

No professional studio buys equipment it absolutely depends on for daily work from an emerging brand that hasn’t proven itself at all in terms of after‑sales service. That’s also why brand reputation takes time to build — and to lose — in the professional world, and why we still see SM58s on stages all over the world, even though there are obviously higher‑performing microphones at the same price.

 

[kharan]

For what it's worth, for those who wish Ascilab would communicate more here, we should remind ourselves that communication can be very difficult when substantively, they are posting on a platform owned by their dealer, and their dealer is also the most influent reviewer in the domain of audio.

This applies regardless of anyone's intent.

 

[kouza]

The path forward surely is for AsciLab to make tested audio whole for existing commitments and absolutely cut the relationship off with tested audio.

There's always two sides to a story. AsciLabs might not have covered themselves in glory here but the opinion tilt on this forum definitely seems one sided. Thoughtful responses can take time to develop. AsciLab seem to be making efforts to try and take the conversation offline. Using the forum as a means to throw it all out in the open does not progress the relationship. After all the existing commitments have been made, and if the agreement between two parties allows them to walk away, both parties need to take time to breathe, and AsciLab needs to find a different partner.

Their products by all accounts are great and I hope they get through growing pains and are able to find a partner that's more aligned in the US. Same for Tested Audio, time to turn the page and move on. I know Amir's made mention of being ready to terminate the relationship in different posts but still indicates that he wants to make it work; I don't see how this is the means to do that. While AsciLab has been active in this forum providing responses to members on an ongoing basis, I would take a hiatus and not respond to this thread in particular and even the forum for some time.

 

[stigger]

Maybe they just decided the world is bigger than the US market

It is. Also, since we are living in the times of trade wars, depending too much on the US market might not be wise, so the more diversified their customers are, the safer they will feel.

 

[Dueprocess]

It is. Also, since we are living in the times of trade wars, depending too much on the US market might not be wise, so the more diversified their customers are, the safer they will feel.

I agree. Obviously, we are operating off of hearsay, but assuming Ascilab is being truthful re: their 7:3 dealer:direct sale ratio and prioritizing dealer orders based on a first come-first serve basis, I can't really blame them for not prioritizing the US market, even if it is likely their largest potential audience.

Given their struggles to meet demand, doing so would presumably come at the cost of damaging their relationships with their other dealers at a time when trade relationships with the US, tariffs, etc., are unstable and rapidly changing. Additionally, much of the US market is not accustomed to paying tariffs and unfair reactions amongst customers are not uncommon.

For larger companies with an established market presence, this is a headache worth dealing with... for smaller and fledgling companies offering products for which demand far exceeds supply... it likely isn't.

Disclaimer: I have no horse in this race, no insider info, hope things work out for both parties, etc. I am operating under the assumption both parties are working in good faith and advocating for their clients/customers/business as best they can and know how (doesn't mean either one isn't making or hasn't made a mistake). I am just trying to put myself in the shoes of an upstart business with excellently engineered products struggling to scale internationally in our current environment.

 

[Thighsofsteel]

For those people from the UK, this situation has a ring of the Gerald Rather moment, or at least could turn that way very quickly, if Ascilab aren’t careful.

 

[NTK]

...
Disclaimer: I have no horse in this race, no insider info, hope things work out for both parties, etc. I am operating under the assumption both parties are working in good faith and advocating for their clients/customers/business as best they can and know how (doesn't mean either one isn't making or hasn't made a mistake). I am just trying to put myself in the shoes of an upstart business with excellently engineered products struggling to scale internationally in our current environment.

My personal take on "good faith" would be: If you unilaterally decide to deprioritize the US market and leave your US business partners hanging, the minimum you'd do is to let them know immediately and clearly after the decision is made.

BTW, are they going to stop direct sales to the US?

 

[pablolie]

One forum member I won't name goes as far as saying "I would also like to point out that none of us in ASR -and perhaps outside of it- would have heard or considered this company if Amir had not put them on the map with an enthusiastic price-value review." In an earlier post the same user says "And you might regret it very deeply if something goes wrong. This is a business where one unsupported problem makes us shun a brand forever." Who is "us"? the cult of Amir?

As the author, I can only tell you that I am not sure what you are smoking with that utterly illogical "deduction". "Us" is consumers in general, clearly referring to what happens when a brand sells without local support. There was no mention of Ascilab in that particular post. Go imagine some other cult, none of that going on here.

And I -and others have followed up- stand by the statement that many of us would have never heard about the brand without Amir reviewing and praising it. And note I have a long history of not always agreeing with Amir's conclusions, so go bark up some other tree. Personally I'd never consider Ascilab to begin with, it lacks in areas that are important to me, and except for two posts I was merely talking about conducting tech business in general.

....

 

[Dueprocess]

My personal take on "good faith" would be: If you unilaterally decide to deprioritize the US market and leave your US business partners hanging, the minimum you'd do is to let them know immediately and clearly after the decision is made.

BTW, are they going to stop direct sales to the US?

We don't know they are doing that, though (re deprioritizing). It's entirely possible they are filling dealer orders in the order they were placed and are unwilling to move US dealers to the front of the line, simply because their potential audience is larger.

 

[stoneeh]

It pains me to say this but we made them such heroes of our world that they thought they are untouchable. CEO's email response to me was incredibly rude. This is how he ended his email to me:

"We know that AsciLab will achieve significant growth in 2026, and we need partners who are passionate and capable of proving their performance on this journey."

In other words, not you (Amir). Above that statement, he literally complained about us not selling as much as other regions, when all they shipped to us for the entire 6 months was two dozen speakers! We could have sold 10 times as much if not more if they just sent us bloody products.

We sold what they sent us in just days... literally days. And they think they need someone more "capable and passionate?"

So as you see, I haven't shared everything with you. The real story is even more sad.

Am going to stop recommending these speakers to anyone anywhere from now on.

The line "CEO is too busy" yesterday made me feel extremely nervous. I'm sure he was, yet deep down for me it's like this: if 80% of my business relies on 20% of my customers and a big one is extraordinarily unhappy, maybe (just maybe) I should stop what I'm doing for 15mn and address the brewing sh*tstorm. That unfortunately didn't happen and so I made my own decision. Others will be more patient and understanding than me, good for them.
This paints a story to me about leadership, priorities and that is what will make this company sustainable...or not.

"CEO".. "leadership".. are we talking about the same brand here? These boxes are some off the shelf SB Acoustics drivers with a pretty standard circuit and enclosure wrapped around them. I can point to dozens of individuals in the DIY forums who are capable of building boxes of that level of quality. Don't make out Ascilab as some huge multinational corporation with a high tech state of the art product. If they employ more than half a dozen people full time, and that includes production & marketing, they're doing something seriously wrong.

 

[ScottySmallsMom]

@stoneeh you know of dozens of DIYers using FEA and Klippel for their designs?

 

[Esprit]

Specifications and measurements are one thing, but the desire to produce too many different products, the need to purchase from a distributor not present in my country, the risk of product problems, and the lack of support or spare parts have led me to remove this company from my list.

P.S. When I wanted to listen to the Genelecs, the Italian distributor shipped them to me at their expense.
When I had problems, Adam Audio airlifted a replacement pair from Germany at their expense.

Correction: Adam Audio air-freight a pallet (Berlin, Paris, Milan) with two pairs (4 speakers) so I could choose the "perfect" pair, and picked up the rest at his expense.

 

[Esprit]

When you have a problem with a 27kg monitor best of luck getting it airlifted anywhere

First of all, there's an Italian distributor, but in that case I dealt directly with Germany.
I didn't spend a single euro.

 

[stigger]

And I'm sure the kind of service you guys are expecting from AsciLab will be available, eventually. Either directly, or through partners, but it will come. You all are so impatient it's ridiculous.

 

[Chr1]

What makes you so sure?