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What's everyone's opinion on Ascendo?

Is there any data, measurements?


JSmith
If you are referring to the specific speaker I posted above, in the AVS Forum thread someone said they saw Klippel measurements but they haven't been publicly posted yet.
 
Are measurements a big deal for gimmick/effects speakers (if that's what they are for)?
I would think the main thing could be compactness (I have not checked them).
 
Are measurements a big deal for gimmick/effects speakers (if that's what they are for)?
I would think the main thing could be compactness (I have not checked them).
I wonder what the measurements are like for Ascendo's main/LCR speakers.

Based on my brief research, ChatGPT said that Ascendo speakers are designed for large home theaters where high SPL and huge dynamics are the goal. However, they might not measure as well as, say, Genelec.
 
Is it a BMR? Could be pretty interesting, someone send it to Amir!
That would be my guess, although there's next to nothing to go on. I don't think we've seen one here measured when operating as a BMR - IIRC the Philharmonic BMR uses one as a mid where it's still pistonic. Erin measured the LCM which uses the 2" Tectonic TEBM35C10-4 and is a little odd at the high end.
 
It could be a BMR but it looks way too big, plus they only work properly on circular diaphragms. My educated guess is that it’s a DML (distributed mode loudspeaker) as the panel aspect ratio is not 1:1 which can help distribute the modes more evenly. I have a fair bit of experience designing these from my engineering days at Amina Technologies who still make speakers using this technology (originally under license from NXT). They are a pig to get good results from! The oft’ promoted advantage of very wide dispersion is countered in reality by erratic directivity. The polar plots would horrify you. One of the big problems with a DML is the coincidence frequency which is where the speed of sound in air matches the speed of the bending wave. At this frequency (which depends on the material stiffness) you get very efficient coupling to the air and a huge peak in off axis SPL. It can be managed with floppy and heavy materials but you can’t escape the truly awful directivity of these things.
 
Looks like a giant phone speaker

Or maybe it's a modern Sony APM
 
I heard at Cedia and tough to tell as not played by itself. However, Ascendo typically has their measurements on their website so when it starts shipping we should be able to see them.
 
TLDW so mostly going by skimming the transcript and the thumbnails, but it seems to be saying what's wrong with other sorts of speaker without presenting any significant detail about theirs or how it works.

Starts with explaining narrowing dispersion with a horizontal dispersion plot from a pretty poor 2-way, and suggesting that the 'ideal' omni, or at least hemispherical radiator would be red out to 180 degrees rather than variable. Covers a bit about relationship between pistonic driver diameter, frequency and beam width, and a bit of some of the trade-offs with small tweeters, trying to counter the limited output of a tiny tweeter with an array etc. One of the guys is asking for confirmation that this is a single driver with no crossover, which it seems to be. What they don't do is show the horizontal or vertical plots for this speaker, which would actually have been useful.

They then get a bit into room size and why a 'small room' to an acoustician isn't what we think of as a domestic small room, before going into room modes, how many people a speaker will effectively cover, people being close to the speaker in a home theatre.

Output said to be ~95dB 1W 1m, 1000W power handling, max output ~125dB to 130dB (around 25 minute mark). Designed for 80Hz to 20kHz.

32 minutes in they talk a bit about BMR and its problems like efficiency, but don't entirely deny that it's a BMR while not explaining how theirs work.

39 minutes - it's sealed.

At this point I gave up...
 
TLDW so mostly going by skimming the transcript and the thumbnails, but it seems to be saying what's wrong with other sorts of speaker without presenting any significant detail about theirs or how it works.

Starts with explaining narrowing dispersion with a horizontal dispersion plot from a pretty poor 2-way, and suggesting that the 'ideal' omni, or at least hemispherical radiator would be red out to 180 degrees rather than variable. Covers a bit about relationship between pistonic driver diameter, frequency and beam width, and a bit of some of the trade-offs with small tweeters, trying to counter the limited output of a tiny tweeter with an array etc. One of the guys is asking for confirmation that this is a single driver with no crossover, which it seems to be. What they don't do is show the horizontal or vertical plots for this speaker, which would actually have been useful.

They then get a bit into room size and why a 'small room' to an acoustician isn't what we think of as a domestic small room, before going into room modes, how many people a speaker will effectively cover, people being close to the speaker in a home theatre.

Output said to be ~95dB 1W 1m, 1000W power handling, max output ~125dB to 130dB (around 25 minute mark). Designed for 80Hz to 20kHz.

32 minutes in they talk a bit about BMR and its problems like efficiency, but don't entirely deny that it's a BMR while not explaining how theirs work.

39 minutes - it's sealed.

At this point I gave up...
It’s not a BMR.
DML for sure.
 
It’s not a BMR.
DML for sure.
What makes you say that? The roll surround, response down to 80Hz and sealed box suggest it's pistonic at LF, and the HF dispersion claims suggest DML at HF. Combining both in one driver is pretty much what defines a BMR isn't it?
 
What makes you say that? The roll surround, response down to 80Hz and sealed box suggest it's pistonic at LF, and the HF dispersion claims suggest DML at HF. Combining both in one driver is pretty much what defines a BMR isn't it?
There's no reason at all that a DML can't be pistonic at LF. The first mode even if it's an edge clamped DML is pistonic. It looks like Ascendo's is the ideal DML, but I agree now, it could also be classed as a BMR. However, being as large as it is means it will have a lot of bending modes, so DML behaivour will dominate. BMRs usually try to limit the number of bending modes. Apologies, though, as I think I'm now splitting hairs. Ascendo's secrecy over the tech is annoying though, and it seems like their marketing is going down the route of contradictorary messaging - like going back 20 years for me when we were pitching DML (NXT) against point source pistonic speakers.
 
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