AsciLab speakers are about to launch

[phoenixdogfan]

For hifi gear heads and so called experienced speaker builders and long time audiophile or fools, it amazes me the lack of knowledge /respect of the extensive R&D and know how that goes into well performing /measuring speakers like Ascilab. I'm fortunate I have visited them and spent multiple hours listening to the speakers. It's impressive. It's obvious the amount of work, technology and know how that went into these speakers. I'm guessing the same naysayers work for free in their real life because they fail to account for the thousands of man hours that have gone into this with little to no revenue, a.k.a. R&D.
Multiple ASR long time members and contributors scoff at it and imagine they can do the same. If it was that easy, don't you think SMSL, Topping, Douk or Fosi would have come out with speakers like this just like they introduce DACS, preamps and now amps that measure and perform well and do so 2 to 4 times per year?
Just take a moment and think about that.
Are you guys really that smart that you can equally engineer and build products like SMSL or Topping? If you could, which I guarantee you cannot, then what makes you think you can design and build speakers like this? There are talented speaker designers with talented engineering teams that could do this and have done this. The end result is a speaker that is 3 to 5x or more in price.

The only comprehensible reason for such naysayers is total subjectivism. You think you can build a good sounding speaker. But get it to measure like this even with the same drivers? At this price? And make a profit? Best of luck and hope you have a fat bank account.

Most people here understand what you are maintaining. There are always a few who do things like look at a "waveguide", decide it's a $2 piece of plastic and think with a few woodworking tools, some particleboard and some drivers ordered from Madisound, they can do the same. And of course they can not. There's a reason why speakers like this come around so seldom: It's because they're extremely hard to develop, and just as hard to bring to market at prices people can afford to pay. So far, everything I've seen from Asci seems like a bargain to me, and I don't think I'm going to find their recipe in some loudspeaker cookbook, even with the help of the latest speaker building software. And most everyone here knows that as well.

 

[Reddoc]

Only thing I REALLY would like to have is the waveguide (the rest could be manufactured in the basement) .
...

Wow, you seem to have generated some apparent hate.
I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to DIY your speakers. Sounds like a lot of fun,.
And you recognize the technical expertise required to develop the waveguide.
I am assuming that the drivers are off -the-shelf components?
That just leaves the plans- I guess a bucket of RnD time and labour went into developing them and that the cabinets are non-trivial to build exactly right, but they may be reasonable to build if you have the plans, experience and time and don't have to make them PERFECT.
Enjoy your DIY! Ignore the haters.
Myself, i like to dabble in building all kinds of things but when AsciLabs offer a large full-range active system, I'll be in the queue for those
To each their own, I say.

 

[OnAir]

Part of a prototype uploaded by the creator. I think this creator deserves to be paid for the time and labor he has invested, and for his knowledge and passion, otherwise who else would make them?

 

[AsciLab]

View attachment 457112
Part of a prototype uploaded by the creator. I think this creator deserves to be paid for the time and labor he has invested, and for his knowledge and passion, otherwise who else would make them?

Simulation files are there maybe x20 of printed ones.

 

[muad]

Wow, you seem to have generated some apparent hate.
I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to DIY your speakers. Sounds like a lot of fun,.
And you recognize the technical expertise required to develop the waveguide.
I am assuming that the drivers are off -the-shelf components?
That just leaves the plans- I guess a bucket of RnD time and labour went into developing them and that the cabinets are non-trivial to build exactly right, but they may be reasonable to build if you have the plans, experience and time and don't have to make them PERFECT.
Enjoy your DIY! Ignore the haters.
Myself, i like to dabble in building all kinds of things but when AsciLabs offer a large full-range active system, I'll be in the queue for those
To each their own, I say.

I think the condescending tone was the issue

 

[BossBunos]

I totally understand @Salt desire. I like to DIY myself as well and it's really hard to develop a 'perfect' waveguide for a specific driver like the ones from ascilab and purifi. Somasonus/augerpro developed a good waveguide for the sb26adc tweeter but that one is not constant directivity.
@AsciLab I'm really impressed by the lack of diffraction. I also see a picture of a rectangular shaped waveguide during the development phase and my intuition would be that that would be the 'better' shape. A closer center to center distance with the woofer and more easy to make a clean round termination at the baffles edge. Would you like to share your thoughts? Again congratulations with your fantastic speakers!

 

[TheKoC]

I guess there is a reason I have certain people on my ignore-list...
In almost every thread of (mildly) expensive gear you will get the "I can mcgyver that myself with some copper wire and shoelaces for 17 bucks" comments (for some reason especially in AV-Processor threads). It's part of the fun here

Anyway, greatly excited to see them coming to Audiophonics in the summer! Self-Imports is allways something I am reluctant to do.

 

[Luvchampagne]

My concern is this type of attitude/rudeness could result in future manufacturers to share less information and knowledge. Spoils the party for people like me that just want to learn why things sound so good. I don't worry about these jokesters actually infringing on the intellectual property. Good luck trying to replicate the vertical and horizontal directivity, let alone the FR. I'm sure these people are super popular with the chef at their favorite restaurants.

 

[BeeKay]

I guess there is a reason I have certain people on my ignore-list...
In almost every thread of (mildly) expensive gear you will get the "I can mcgyver that myself with some copper wire and shoelaces for 17 bucks" comments (for some reason especially in AV-Processor threads). It's part of the fun here

Anyway, greatly excited to see them coming to Audiophonics in the summer! Self-Imports is allways something I am reluctant to do.

All fun and sunshine as long as it’s their own built. When smartasses start copying designs not up for DIY release the fun stops immediately. When companies like Ascilab make great products from standard components and say easy copy(cat)able (3d scanners and printers) WGs I think it’s a shame to steal their IP.
However, as long everyone respects the lines that are not to be crossed and do their own effort - no complaints.

 

[thewas]

Not only the Ascilab waveguide is quite special but also their passive crossover and selection/adjustment of the tweeter drivers with Klippel driver analysis tool to be able to cross them so low, things that cannot be easily replicated by us DIY hobbyists.

 

[Esprit]

Let @AsciLab work, otherwise we won't be able to buy their products.
P.S. Try to ask all these requests and questions to other manufacturers, let's see if they answer you (after investing time and money in researching the best solutions...).

 

[Purité Audio]

It’s ok they have engineered out the need for sleep, they just don’t stop.

 

[OnAir]

I totally understand @Salt desire. I like to DIY myself as well and it's really hard to develop a 'perfect' waveguide for a specific driver like the ones from ascilab and purifi. Somasonus/augerpro developed a good waveguide for the sb26adc tweeter but that one is not constant directivity.
@AsciLab I'm really impressed by the lack of diffraction. I also see a picture of a rectangular shaped waveguide during the development phase and my intuition would be that that would be the 'better' shape. A closer center to center distance with the woofer and more easy to make a clean round termination at the baffles edge. Would you like to share your thoughts? Again congratulations with your fantastic speakers!

 

[yamayama]

I’m thrilled to have discovered such an impressive product.


If you’re planning to include DSP in your subwoofer, I strongly hope it will allow for the following manual tuning features:

• Adjustable delay (in most cases, delay is needed on the satellites rather than the sub)
• Continuous phase control
• Crossover frequency adjustment in 5 Hz increments

Having these features would undoubtedly attract more mastering engineers and serious audiophiles who care deeply about subwoofer integration. This applies even to stand-mounted subwoofers.

If implemented, these features could eliminate the need for expensive external crossovers and complex wiring. That would be a huge win. Currently, many subwoofers with auto-alignment functions fall short when precision is required, and most existing models still lack sufficient manual control. If AsciLab’s subwoofers were to offer full manual adjustability, I would absolutely buy one.


Also — and this is a more personal point — if I could use a stand-mounted subwoofer designed for models like the F6B, C6B, or A6B while powering the satellites with my beloved Purifi 1ET400A amp, I could enjoy the sonic purity of passive speakers where the amp is not affected by cabinet vibrations. While the convenience of connecting satellites via Speakon from the subwoofer is attractive, I’d really appreciate having the option to use my own amp.


Stand-mounted subwoofers are still rare, but they are ideal for studio use. I believe offering extensive manual controls could significantly increase their appeal in the professional audio market.


I’d love to see this idea considered.

 

[BossBunos]

@OnAir Yes like that it would be easy to do a nice round over on the edges to merge flawlesly with the waveguide. Maybe it's done for pure estethics... idk.

 

[kemmler3D]

Thanks, will do!

From what I do understand it looks pretty good, Linearity looks very very good (I think). and F3 seems to be around 35hz.

What's most special about this speaker is that it has cardioid dispersion, i.e. it cancels it the sound traveling around the back of the speaker, and maintains good directivity down to a very low frequency, in this case it's solid all the way down to nearly 100hz. You can tell this from the graph based on where the on axis and sound power and ER lines diverge.

Also the directivity is very wide and smooth, which shows up in how low and smooth the DI lines are on the bottom. Those lines are also almost flat instead of rising which shows very good control of directivity, it's almost constant which you normally only see for horns.

You are right about the on axis, but trying to explain why these graphs catch my eye and want to start saving $$...

 

[kharan]

@OnAir Yes like that it would be easy to do a nice round over on the edges to merge flawlesly with the waveguide. Maybe it's done for pure estethics... idk.

Basically your idea is to start machining the outer edge of the waveguide in the front panel so that the connection between the front panel and the waveguide doesn't happen at an edge but slightly recessed and there's no discontinuity between the front panel and the waveguide?

If that's doable, that's a brilliant idea, it would give the speakers a more polished look.

 

[kemmler3D]

Q2 ends in 2 weeks, are they still on schedule for this?

Maybe they are, maybe not, but I'd like to point out that this is an insanely aggressive release schedule for a small / new speaker company. Even if the designs were all complete on Jan 1, and even if the production lines were ready to go on Jan 1, and even if they did basically zero marketing, it would still be a huge job to actually ship 10 new models in a year, it also takes a lot of cash to buy the parts up front, which also takes some effort to get together.

KEF hasn't shipped this many speakers in the past year, have they?

Of course it seems that many parts are used in common and the speakers can at least mostly be built using the same processes. So at least they are not totally out of their minds. And being D2C saves some work getting inventory placed and sold to distributors and crap. But there is still a lot to do between finishing a design and getting it into our hands.

Honestly until I saw this pic I didn't realize they had such a schedule for this year, frankly it's almost alarming. Hey @AsciLab don't forget to sleep and drink water once in a while!

 

[DearSX]

Maybe they are, maybe not, but I'd like to point out that this is an insanely aggressive release schedule for a small / new speaker company. Even if the designs were all complete on Jan 1, and even if the production lines were ready to go on Jan 1, and even if they did basically zero marketing, it would still be a huge job to actually ship 10 new models in a year, it also takes a lot of cash to buy the parts up front, which also takes some effort to get together.

KEF hasn't shipped this many speakers in the past year, have they?

Of course it seems that many parts are used in common and the speakers can at least mostly be built using the same processes. So at least they are not totally out of their minds. And being D2C saves some work getting inventory placed and sold to distributors and crap. But there is still a lot to do between finishing a design and getting it into our hands.

Honestly until I saw this pic I didn't realize they had such a schedule for this year, frankly it's almost alarming. Hey @AsciLab don't forget to sleep and drink water once in a while!

100% agree, very big and fast deployment schedule, specially with sales seemingly increasing very fast. I'll just need to be patient

 

[BossBunos]

@OnAir Yes like that it would be easy to do a nice round over on the edges to merge flawlesly with the waveguide. Maybe it's done for pure estethics... idk.

Basically your idea is to start machining the outer edge of the waveguide in the front panel so that the connection between the front panel and the waveguide doesn't happen at an edge but slightly recessed and there's no discontinuity between the front panel and the waveguide?

If that's doable, that's a brilliant idea, it would give the speakers a more polished look.

Its not really my idea. I saw this at Audiohorn.
They sell them with roundover included or as a square that requires a 25mm roundover to make it blend in the baffle. I also read that the shape of a round axisymmetric waveguide can be transformed to a rectangle without changing it's directivity properties. Just starting to get in to it but it's very interesting. So far it looks that (in general) you sacrifice wide dispersion for constant directivity. But purifi seems to have done the trick with 70 degree dispersion AND constant directivity.