Yes, if I think about it, the KEF Blade 2 Meta is indeed the clear winner in the areas you mentioned, and is actually preferable to the AsciLabs C6B!
-
Welcome to ASR. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!
AsciLab speakers are about to launch
- Thread starter AsciLab
- Start date
kyuu
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2024
- Messages
- 1,615
- Likes
- 2,515
You don't need to go anywhere near that price range to get better performance in the metrics I mentioned.Yes, if I think about it, the KEF Blade 2 Meta is indeed the clear winner in the areas you mentioned, and is actually preferable to the AsciLabs C6B!
How do you get this level of directivity and linearity with low distortion/compression anywhere near this price point?You don't need to go anywhere near that price range to get better performance in the metrics I mentioned.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2023
- Messages
- 873
- Likes
- 1,481
But what about in the price range of the C6B and with comparable linearity?You don't need to go anywhere near that price range to get better performance in the metrics I mentioned.
Spinorama.org comes to the rescue: ranking filtered by passive bookshelf speakers up to 500 usd (1000 usd / pair).
kyuu
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2024
- Messages
- 1,615
- Likes
- 2,515
If by comparable you mean similarly nearly-as-linear-as-an-active-speaker, then probably none. But plenty of examples with quite good linearity. I just think sacrificing dynamics for nearly straight-line linearity is the wrong compromise to make, unless it's solely for use in near-field use or will never be turned up very loud.
I'm not saying it's a bad speaker by any means, it's plainly very good. Just not my cup of tea. I understand not everyone values a speaker's ability to play dynamics without undue compression or distortion. And that's okay; it's okay to be wrong.
Like I said, I imagine the MTM version will do much better in these metrics. Hopefully it will have both incredible linearity and dynamic ability.
If by comparable you mean similarly nearly-as-linear-as-an-active-speaker, then probably none. But plenty of examples with quite good linearity. I just think sacrificing dynamics for nearly straight-line linearity is the wrong compromise to make, unless it's solely for use in near-field use or will never be turned up very loud.
I'm not saying it's a bad speaker by any means, it's plainly very good. Just not my cup of tea. I understand not everyone values a speaker's ability to play dynamics without undue compression or distortion. And that's okay; it's okay to be wrong.
Like I said, I imagine the MTM version will do much better in these metrics. Hopefully it will have both incredible linearity and dynamic ability.
you need to use a subwoofer ... that speaker with a high pass filter at 80hz and a decent sub will be much cheaper than a standmount with their capabilities. Simple.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2023
- Messages
- 873
- Likes
- 1,481
I actually agree, but the amazing linearity and directivity does make these very desirable in the same way that SOTA SINAD is in a DAC or amp. I would prioritise SPL and bandwidth over linearity.If by comparable you mean similarly nearly-as-linear-as-an-active-speaker, then probably none. But plenty of examples with quite good linearity. I just think sacrificing dynamics for nearly straight-line linearity is the wrong compromise to make, unless it's solely for use in near-field use or will never be turned up very loud.
I'm not saying it's a bad speaker by any means, it's plainly very good. Just not my cup of tea. I understand not everyone values a speaker's ability to play dynamics without undue compression or distortion. And that's okay; it's okay to be wrong.
Like I said, I imagine the MTM version will do much better in these metrics. Hopefully it will have both incredible linearity and dynamic ability.
I wish Ascilab offered some reasonably priced floor standing models. A C6B with two additional 6” bass drivers would do the trick.
kyuu
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2024
- Messages
- 1,615
- Likes
- 2,515
That won't do much for the midbass distortion/compression, I don't think, unless you use an unreasonably high crossover.
80-100hz xover would probably be fine if you are going to listen to them loud. It's similar at 96db to the Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1 v2.
It's overall performance is worth the risk for me (order placed yesterday), my setup lets me run higher than normal xovers with good results.
What's your setup?
It is always good to be aware of the places where something excels and the ones where it doesn't.If by comparable you mean similarly nearly-as-linear-as-an-active-speaker, then probably none. But plenty of examples with quite good linearity. I just think sacrificing dynamics for nearly straight-line linearity is the wrong compromise to make, unless it's solely for use in near-field use or will never be turned up very loud.
I'm not saying it's a bad speaker by any means, it's plainly very good. Just not my cup of tea. I understand not everyone values a speaker's ability to play dynamics without undue compression or distortion. And that's okay; it's okay to be wrong.
Like I said, I imagine the MTM version will do much better in these metrics. Hopefully it will have both incredible linearity and dynamic ability.
The review posted today says that it beats speakers 4 and even 5 times the price. That opens up a lot of competition and can lead people that were considering $5,000 speakers to just buy this instead, because reliable people are saying it would be silly to do otherwise. And, while plenty of people might prefer this to the $5,000 speaker, it is important to know what it isn't.
There often seems to be a product of the moment halo that blinds us to any weak areas in a product.
kemmler3D
Master Contributor
Erin himself (IIRC) says *within the bookshelf category*, and he also takes the time to point out that the Arendal doesn't suffer from compression at higher SPL like this one does. The review is very positive, but fair, he still points out what it doesn't do.
If people go around saying that this speaker beats everything below $5K, that's an overstatement to be sure, I don't think a bookshelf speaker can possibly beat every speaker on every dimension.
Not many 6.5" bookshelf speakers do high SPL either way, though...
OP
- Joined
- May 30, 2024
- Messages
- 426
- Likes
- 3,656
- Thread Starter
- #1,195
The box dimensions for the C6B are 21.26"(54cm) × 14.96"(38cm) × 19.69"(50cm), and the weight is approximately 44.1 lbs(20kg).
In the first
He does have a brief section early on where he mentions distortion once and SPL, but that is after twice repeating that they best $5000 speakers (which, in reality a lot of low priced ones can best some of the $5000 junk out there).
And just to be clear, I'm not trying to dump on this speaker. It seems really amazing. If I could order it from Crutchfield, I'd probably have a pair right now, because I don't listen at high volume levels, I'm in the market for speakers and these look really good.
But it so often seems that reviews get a bit overly excited about some products and just barely toss in the negative points or add small qualifiers that are easy to miss. I'd love to survey the average person that reads or watches a review and find out what they take away from them.
Hopefully, years from now this will be the go to reference that Revel is now, when people recommend speakers; but I've just seen so many come and go as being giant killers. The internet has really spawned a flavor of the moment feeling to a lot of products, both good and bad, there is just a short attention span.
I'm a big fan of Joe N Tell's leader board because it shows where each speaker fits into the grouping of all he has reviewed. You can clearly see what he thinks is better out of all the ones he's reviewed. Although I'm not sure how a speaker can be 'best overall, regardless of price' and yet come in second as 'best under $2500' (I guess the sound is good but since it needs a sub it is lower?). And Zero Fidelity (yeah, I know he hears differences in RCA cables) has a decent length section of caveats at the end of his reviews where he clearly lays out any place the speaker is lacking.
But it so often seems that reviews get a bit overly excited about some products and just barely toss in the negative points or add small qualifiers that are easy to miss. I'd love to survey the average person that reads or watches a review and find out what they take away from them.
Hopefully, years from now this will be the go to reference that Revel is now, when people recommend speakers; but I've just seen so many come and go as being giant killers. The internet has really spawned a flavor of the moment feeling to a lot of products, both good and bad, there is just a short attention span.
I'm a big fan of Joe N Tell's leader board because it shows where each speaker fits into the grouping of all he has reviewed. You can clearly see what he thinks is better out of all the ones he's reviewed. Although I'm not sure how a speaker can be 'best overall, regardless of price' and yet come in second as 'best under $2500' (I guess the sound is good but since it needs a sub it is lower?). And Zero Fidelity (yeah, I know he hears differences in RCA cables) has a decent length section of caveats at the end of his reviews where he clearly lays out any place the speaker is lacking.
Tbh, I think the compression relative to its design size is really quite decent in its price range. It isn't any worse than speakers in the same price range and the woofer limits are in lockstep with the tweeter limits.
However, since the tweeter unit is shared, we can guess that the A6B and the C6C will share the same the compression characteristic above 1 kHz, and those will have to face speakers that can play loudly without compression in their price range. There, the woofer limits are quite a bit higher than the tweeter limits.
Just checking if we are on the same page: I hate listening at high SPL levels. For me it’s the 70-90 dB ballpark. Rarely more than that. My take is I would be perfectly fine with the C6B, as they only tend to perform less ideal at higher SPLs? Alternatively the Fidelia by Audio First Design.
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2023
- Messages
- 873
- Likes
- 1,481
I think for many people in smaller rooms these would provide more than enough SPL and bass extension. Particularly in Europe. There is a running theme from commentators in the US regarding the need for subwoofers. Even Erin states in most reviews that the speakers under review would benefit from a subwoofer. Speakers which in most UK setups would deliver ample bass extension and SPL.