You Guys Wanna Hear About Some Custom Speakers?

I've been a big fan of Ascend speakers for a long time. Fell in love with the CBM-170 (the originals, not even the "SE" versions!) a long time ago, and I've remained a fan ever since.

But I had no idea just how far Mr. Fabrikant is willing to go in order to satisfy his customers and make their speaker dreams come true! Ascend doesn't immediately present itself as a custom speaker company. They've got their lineup of speakers, and they're all tremendous performers and value!

But it just so happened that my IDEAL setup required customizations to each and every speaker that I wanted to buy! Folks, here is what's on my Ascend Acoustics sales order :)

(2) x Custom "Low-profile" Horizon Main speakers in a vertical orientation: 32.5" tall x 8.5" wide x 11.5" deep - front slot ported. RAAL ribbon tweeters with the mid-range drivers above the tweeters (just like the Sierra Towers). Matte Black finish.

(1) x Custom "Skinny" Horizon Center speaker: 11" tall x 40" wide (:eek:) x 7.5" deep (:eek::eek::eek:) - front slot ported. RAAL ribbon tweeter. Tweeter above the mid-range driver (just like standard Horizon). Matte Black finish.

(6) x Custom Finish Sierra-1 Surround, Surround Back & Front Height speakers. NrT tweeters in all 6. Q-Plugs in all 6. And a custom Matte Black finish for all 6.

(2) x Custom Sierra-1 Front Wide speakers. RAAL ribbon tweeters. Same mid-range drivers as the Horizon speakers! Q-Plugs for the pair. Custom Matte Black finish.

Yes, indeed, folks! Every single one of the 11 speakers I am ordering is custom in some way! The Sierra-1 NrT speakers are the most "normal". But even those are getting a custom Matte Black finish.

And honestly, check out that "skinny" Horizon Center, and the super custom RAAL ribbon and Horizon mid-range Sierra-1 bookshelf Wides! Now THAT'S some seriously customized work!

Truthfully, I never expected Dave to take on this much work. But he wasn't just open to it, he seems to genuinely get a kick out of it! As I mentioned in the Sierra Horizon sticky thread on this forum, he even worked up a CAD plan for the "skinny" Horizon that I wanted before he even knew if I would buy the darn thing!

Just tremendous.

And the price? I won't give the exact figure here out of respect, but believe me when I say that it was considerably lower than what I had imagined, what I would expect to pay anywhere else for this type of design and these types of parts, and lower than what I was prepared to pay. You can probably imagine, it's a pretty good chunk o' change. But for what I'm getting, and for all the service that Mr. Fabrikant has provided? It's a bargain. And the sound quality of these speakers all working together is going to be second to none!

Speaking of service, I'm truly just amazed at how patient, courteous, open and willing Dave and Dina have been. I've no idea where Dave finds the time to take on an order like this first hand! The money he'll be making from my order isn't nothing, but it's definitely not so much that most people would put in the time and effort that he has. Certainly no one so busy!

And I haven't been the easiest client. I wanted everything "just so". Like I say, every single one of these speakers is custom in some way, and the "skinny" is basically a one-off! And, on top of that, I'm in Canada, and I use a strictly online-only bank, which has created some rather unexpected headaches when it comes to getting the payment ready. Dina and Dave have both been unbelievably patient and considerate - wanting to make absolutely sure that I pay the minimum possible in fees, and going well out of their way to accommodate my somewhat odd banking hurdles.

To say I am excited and happy is a massive understatement. This is a genuine "dream system" I will be getting here. But what REALLY makes me happy is that I am buying it from such wonderful people. THAT turns a pleasure into a joy.

:D :D :D

Wow! Cha-ching$$$!!

Sounds like this will be an awesome setup. Did you run out of budget for a pair of 15" Rythmiks?

Thanks, Mag_Neato!

Nope, didn't run out of budget for subs; I already have a pair of SVSound PC13-Ultra DSP Sledge cylinder subs. Those shall suffice :D

Quite the setup, congrats to you! Looking forward to some pics after its all up and running.

Thanks, merrymaid520!

Yup, it's going to be very impressive. I fully expect the, "my god, it's full of...speakers" reaction from anyone who visits :D

What size room will you be putting this beast in?

For now, a small one - 13' x 16' x 8' roughly. Enclosed. And rather heavily treated with acoustic panels and bass traps.

But this speaker system will also be with me for a long, long time to come, hopefully :) My house is still 3 years away, but these will surely be coming with me at that time. In the meantime, I'll be making great use of the RAALs' lower volume output detail :D

We want pics when you get it all setup!!

Woohoo!

Well, my deposit cheque is cleared, and my order is underway! Dave and Dina have kindly offered to give me regular updates along the way, so I plan on sharing those here :D

Can't believe how much custom work this wound up being. Depending on how all the timing works out, my dedicated theater room (a converted 2nd bedroom in my apartment ;) ) might still be under renovation when the speakers ship. So my first pics might be a temporary setup in my den :p Lots of renos and building going on in my life - haha. But one way or another, I'll get all these beauties fired up as soon as they arrive! Should be around 8 weeks, I believe.

Let the countdown begin!

:D :D :D

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So, here are a few sketches of the custom "skinny" Horizon Center!

Please note: some critical internal details and measurements have been removed from these drawings.

Dave has done a tremendous amount of work on the CAD drawings, and that work needs to be protected (it wouldn't be right for someone else to just come along and pilfer his unique designs and work!). So, if you look at these sketches and figure some details might be missing, you are right! ;)

But the point here is just to tease, and get an idea of what this beauty will look like when it's built! And man oh man, I'm drooling over this thing :p

As you can see in the last image (which is a top-down view), the cabinet is a mere 7.50" from front to back, and it's a very tight squeeze to get the sealed mid-range chamber and the space for the RAAL ribbon tweeter in there! There is ZERO room for error in making this cabinet!

Personally, I love the look of the front slot ports on the far left and right sides. And I think the front fascia just looks gorgeous, with the woofers nicely spaced apart to make the unusually wide 40" stance look completely natural.

I'm jazzed! :D And I can't wait to hear from Dave as to how the build goes!