AsciLab speakers are about to launch

[BeeKay]

I think for many people in smaller rooms these would provide more than enough SPL and bass extension. Particularly in Europe.

It’s not really a small room (7x6x4,5m), located under the roof, and I run a subwoofer anyway to get the 20-50Hz region covered. But even without the sub my Buchardt bookshelfs easily get the job done for the SPL I want. So this lets me hope for even better tonality and imaging with either the AsciLabs or the Audio First.

 

[Matt_Holland]

It’s not really a small room (7x6x4,5m), located under the roof, and I run a subwoofer anyway to get the 20-50Hz region covered. But even without the sub my Buchardt bookshelfs easily get the job done for the SPL I want. So this lets me hope for even better tonality and imaging with either the AsciLabs or the Audio First.

Which Buchardt do you have?
I previously ran S400mk2 in a 5x4x2.3m room and they went very loud, had strong bass at 40Hz and sounded very very nice tonally.

 

[Halbknapp]

It’s not really a small room (7x6x4,5m), located under the roof, and I run a subwoofer anyway to get the 20-50Hz region covered. But even without the sub my Buchardt bookshelfs easily get the job done for the SPL I want. So this lets me hope for even better tonality and imaging with either the AsciLabs or the Audio First.

Audio First has the 5" Version of the Woofer employed, Ascilab uses the 6". With a room this big I would go for the bigger Version.

 

[BeeKay]

S400 mk1 with the SE xover (comes with a different xover frequency).

 

[BeeKay]

Which Buchardt do you have?
I previously ran S400mk2 in a 5x4x2.3m room and they went very loud, had strong bass at 40Hz and sounded very very nice tonally.

Agreed, tonality is good even with my previous version model. Imaging could do better, and there always is some greener grass on the other side.

 

[Purité Audio]

The C6B’s ( B for bookshelf) are just two way compact designs, if you require extremely high SPLs or extended bass then they are probably not the correct choice.
Having said that I play them loud at a two metre listening distance.
Keith

 

[rirelien]

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.

Off-topic: to chime in here: I think this is an under-mentioned issue on this forum. I'm in Europe, in a city, which means an apartment... my main living room space (and primary listening setup) is 12m2/130sqft... my sense is that this is substantially smaller than many hifi enthusiast rooms in the US?

As a consequence of this, my 5" sealed actives, in their current positioning and resulting room gain, give me very meaningful bass output in the high 30hz range! I can hit the limits of the speakers quite easily but only at points where the neighbours are now enemies. I'm about 2m from the front speakers.

I moved from another country where my listening space was more like 40m2/430sqft, and I was never happy with bass output there, with a sub, given listening position and room setup (would have needed to go 2 or more subs in that space and room acoustics were absolutely dominating.)

What is the average living room size in South Korea, as a matter of interest? My sense is closer to European sizes than US sizes, which in turn might influence the designers' sense of prioritising linearity and dispersion over SPL, in the tradeoffs?

Back on topic: I'm awaiting the C6C actives, although I can't afford them yet. Because of the cardioid pattern, these are not going to be SPL monsters but perfect for my use case...

 

[BeeKay]

if you require extremely high SPLs or extended bass then they are probably not the correct choice

That’s understood and absolutely not on my wish list. I don’t hear at high SPL levels. Hence this bookshelf model could match here quite nicely.

 

[Marc v E]

Just exactly because we know the limitations of speakers on test, I love this site and Erin's.

Regarding spl I'm not concerned at all because I ordered them for near field.
My impression is that they work in mid or far field too, but you should really buy a sub (or 2 if the room requires it).

What Erin has done exceptionally well is to give insight and let you decide based on your listening preferences and space.

Imo what tends to happen when we miss information is that we want to go all out for high end. Max bandwith, max spl, max price.

Ime that approach is not necessary at all. When you know your application and the room you play in, the rest should be pretty easy.

@BeeKay would you be open to an experiment trying dsp/eq ? There imo is a lot to gain in almost any setup. Rew mic + minidsp would probably make more of a difference than c6b vs buchard. Could be wrong, but this is my experience so far.

 

[kemmler3D]

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.

I see what you mean, but on the other hand... I've been following this brand since they first announced the lineup here. Seeing their measurements, it was a certainty that the speaker would get good reviews from Amir and Erin (and others who appreciate a neutral speaker) as long as it hit the same marks in reviews... and they have. These speakers have among the best, arguably the best measurements I've seen in this form factor. Their weak points are pretty universal weaknesses of the category.

You're right that they need to clear more hurdles to take a place among the Revels and KEFs of the world. Quality control, maintaining manufacturing volumes, customer service for overseas buyers, staying ahead financially, logistics, keeping your supply chain functional, continuing to get good reviews... all challenging even if you are the value champ in a certain category. Hopefully they manage it all, having a solid product can't hurt.

But for now I think @AsciLab deserves the applause. We don't have to declare any other brands dead to recognize a solid achievement by a new manufacturer.

 

[306xx]

What is the average living room size in South Korea, as a matter of interest?

The average listening room size in Korea is approximately 10-16 square meters. This value was derived from a survey I conducted with 89 Korean speaker users.

 

[SDC]

average living room size in South Korea

30~40m² for a family of 4.

Listening room is mostly 3×3 ~ 3×4 (m×m) with ceiling height of 2.3~2.7 with more modern apartments close to 2.8. Like 306 mentioned above.

 

[Halbknapp]

30~40m² for a family of 4.

Listening room is mostly 3×3 ~ 3×4 (m×m) with ceiling height of 2.3~2.7 with more modern apartments close to 2.8. Like 306 mentioned above.

30-40m2 is the apartment size?

 

[SDC]

30-40m2 is the apartment size?

Living room size for about 150m² apartment.

 

[rirelien]

Living room size for about 150m² apartment.

and from 306xx

The average listening room size in Korea is approximately 10-16 square meters. This value was derived from a survey I conducted with 89 Korean speaker users.

For comparison, my apartment is 70m2 for 3 people, although quite a lot of space wasted with a corridor, and floor area of 12m2 for the living room. The ceilings are high in this building though (built early 1910s.)

So I think the SK living room sizes are closer to European than US, and to me it would appear the AsciLab tradeoff is better for us. But of course, like everything, "it depends."

 

[kharan]

and from 306xx


For comparison, my apartment is 70m2 for 3 people, although quite a lot of space wasted with a corridor, and floor area of 12m2 for the living room. The ceilings are high in this building though (built early 1910s.)

So I think the SK living room sizes are closer to European than US, and to me it would appear the AsciLab tradeoff is better for us. But of course, like everything, "it depends."

I assume the difference is between a listening room and a living room? Say you have a three bedroom apartment, a normal room size would be 12 m2 with 16 m2 or the large end. So if you dedicate one room to be a listening room, you'd get 10-16 m2.

By contrast, my apartment is 65 m2, but the living space which combines the kitchen and the living room is 29 m2.

 

[mike70]

another point to keep in mind ... high SPL means less audition in time

 

[Esprit]

Living room size for about 150m² apartment.

Here it would cost me over €700,000…

When will we read the tests of the C6C and even better of the S6C?

 

[Grotti]

I am particularly interested in seeing measurements of the S6B: on paper it should be the best small bookshelf speaker regarding bass response and distortion. In fact, MD should rival good 3-way-designs and it could be my dream speaker being limited to an apartment in Germany with neighbours. And I do hope, it makes a subwoofer obsolete with music (I know that each small speaker will benefit from at least two subwoofers, but still ...).

 

[kharan]

I am particularly interested in seeing measurements of the S6B: on paper it should be the best small bookshelf speaker regarding bass response and distortion. In fact, MD should rival good 3-way-designs and it could be my dream speaker being limited to an apartment in Germany with neighbours. And I do hope, it makes a subwoofer obsolete with music (I know that each small speaker will benefit from at least two subwoofers, but still ...).

I actually have higher hopes for the C6C, less lateral reflections in the mid range seems like the dream, and I don't need very high levels either. And both are in the same price range.