I’ve just completed a trial of these speakers, courtesy of @The Sound Counsel , and given that I’ve found almost no information about them online I thought it may be worth posting my impressions. First of all though, I’d like to thank Dan and Nick for absolutely first-class service and advice - exactly the sort of retailers that you hope to find.
As far as the speakers are concerned - I really think these are something quite special, and I’m more than a little gutted that I couldn’t quite get them to work in my setup (more on that later). For anyone wondering, my benchmark for comparison includes M&K MP150s, which I trialled a couple of years ago, a set of KEF LS50 Meta that I could bring in from another room, and a modest set of EPOS ES11 that are something of a family heirloom. I’ve also spent time listening to some of the M&K and Steinway Lyngdorf systems at Gecko.
For me the Ascendos were easily in a different class to any of the other speakers I’ve had in my home, and I feel they even offer a little taste of the sort of really high-end stuff that I’ve heard at Gecko. Given that they are currently only £790 each that makes them a bit of a bargain in my view, and I can only imagine what the offerings higher up the Ascendo range can do!
What do they sound like? Well for a start, the soundstage they produce is absolutely immense - a real “wall of sound” experience, which is startling given the diminutive size of the speakers (only 88mm deep!). Imaging and detail extraction is also incredible. On certain familiar tracks I was for the first time able to hear that the vocalist was in a recording studio - the sound of the ‘room’ was quite obvious. The dynamics of these speakers also made listening to large orchestral works really exciting in a way I’ve never experienced at home before. Although I was unable to push them to their limits, they appeared able to go very loud indeed without any sense of strain whatsoever - this would appear to be backed up by Ascendos figures for sensitivity (93dB/w/m) and power handling (200w/300w peak).
So why am I not keeping them? As a proper satellite speaker they are designed to hand over to a quality sub for anything under 80hz. Unfortunately, I was just unable to get that crossover point to sound ‘correct’ using the equipment I have (Anthem MRX-310 with ARC Genesis and a single SVS SB3000). Based on readings produced by the quick-measure tool I think it’s possible my room has a partial null right around that 80hz cross-over point, but I’m by no means an expert on sub integration, so take that with a pinch of salt. In either case, with a heavy heart I’m going to have to look elsewhere for my next speaker upgrade, but hopefully my experience will be interesting to others who may be considering these relatively unknown little speakers.
As far as the speakers are concerned - I really think these are something quite special, and I’m more than a little gutted that I couldn’t quite get them to work in my setup (more on that later). For anyone wondering, my benchmark for comparison includes M&K MP150s, which I trialled a couple of years ago, a set of KEF LS50 Meta that I could bring in from another room, and a modest set of EPOS ES11 that are something of a family heirloom. I’ve also spent time listening to some of the M&K and Steinway Lyngdorf systems at Gecko.
For me the Ascendos were easily in a different class to any of the other speakers I’ve had in my home, and I feel they even offer a little taste of the sort of really high-end stuff that I’ve heard at Gecko. Given that they are currently only £790 each that makes them a bit of a bargain in my view, and I can only imagine what the offerings higher up the Ascendo range can do!
What do they sound like? Well for a start, the soundstage they produce is absolutely immense - a real “wall of sound” experience, which is startling given the diminutive size of the speakers (only 88mm deep!). Imaging and detail extraction is also incredible. On certain familiar tracks I was for the first time able to hear that the vocalist was in a recording studio - the sound of the ‘room’ was quite obvious. The dynamics of these speakers also made listening to large orchestral works really exciting in a way I’ve never experienced at home before. Although I was unable to push them to their limits, they appeared able to go very loud indeed without any sense of strain whatsoever - this would appear to be backed up by Ascendos figures for sensitivity (93dB/w/m) and power handling (200w/300w peak).
So why am I not keeping them? As a proper satellite speaker they are designed to hand over to a quality sub for anything under 80hz. Unfortunately, I was just unable to get that crossover point to sound ‘correct’ using the equipment I have (Anthem MRX-310 with ARC Genesis and a single SVS SB3000). Based on readings produced by the quick-measure tool I think it’s possible my room has a partial null right around that 80hz cross-over point, but I’m by no means an expert on sub integration, so take that with a pinch of salt. In either case, with a heavy heart I’m going to have to look elsewhere for my next speaker upgrade, but hopefully my experience will be interesting to others who may be considering these relatively unknown little speakers.
