Introducing the Luna Mini Monitor!

[ggarner149]

I've got mine. I'm listening to a 2.1 set up right now. The .1 is a ~15 year -old REL Storm subwoofer. I have to say, the quality of the sound from the Luna's exceeds my expectations. They are exceptional. I hear everything in the music that I have ever heard plus some nuances I hadn't heard in my Thiels and Maggie's. And all of this from a box smaller than a shoe box. The imaging is perfect. I hear an amazing sound stage. I'm very happy with these speakers in my bedroom set up. I have Ascend Towers and Center channel in my home theater set up and these sound so similar to the Towers that I'm very happy to have also added a pair of Luna's to that set up for surrounds as well. This Luna's are a great addition to the Ascend line up. Thanks Dave!!!

[chomdh]

Here is a pic of the back of the Luna:

http://forum.ascendacoustics.com/sho...6672#post56672

Thank you.
Now I am curious - why are the binding posts different than the sierra-2 and towers?

[curtis]

Thank you.
Now I am curious - why are the binding posts different than the sierra-2 and towers?

The Sierra-2/Tower binding posts would not allow for flush mounting against a wall. The posts need to be recessed.

[davef]

Thank you.
Now I am curious - why are the binding posts different than the sierra-2 and towers?

I'm glad you asked this...

There are a few reasons for this, - as Curtis stated, the Luna was designed for flush mounting. The binding posts we use on the Sierra's extrude out from the back of the cabinet by just over an inch, thus making flush mounting impossible.

Another reason is that due to the very limited internal cabinet volume and complex slot porting, there is simply no room for mounting the complex crossover inside the cabinet. The Luna uses a complex 12 element crossover so just like with the CBM-170, in order to better isolate the tweeter filter network from the woofer filter network while also minimizing mutual inductance, we went with a dual PCB crossover layout (stacked) which attaches directly to the crossover cup. See the attached pic.

Mounting all of these crossover components on a single PCB - with enough isolation between the inductors to minimize mutual inductance, would have made the crossover PCB far too large to even fit into the Luna cabinet. Note in the pic the dual layers and the orientation of the inductors.

Most speakers this size use very simple crossovers, typically 4-6 elements...

Figuring out a way to fit this complex crossover into this small of a space, while also not interfering with the ~9" long slot port, and having enough cabinet volume for the woofer to perform to spec was, perhaps, the most challenging design aspect in my now 30 years of designing speakers professionally. In fact, this was a bit of a hit or miss as I had to re-layout the PCB's multiple times to both get this to actually fit while also maximizing crossover performance. (notice the components are actually on three layers) This part of the design phase actually took both myself and the company making the PC boards ~ 3 months to nail down...

[gas]

Just picked up my Luna's and am listening to BB King and Clapton. Perfect blend with the Sierra 2's. Every purchase has been a substantial upgrade and a pleasure. I doubt that there will be anyone that won't love these speakers. Well done.
Gary

[davef]

I've got mine. I'm listening to a 2.1 set up right now. The .1 is a ~15 year -old REL Storm subwoofer. I have to say, the quality of the sound from the Luna's exceeds my expectations. They are exceptional. I hear everything in the music that I have ever heard plus some nuances I hadn't heard in my Thiels and Maggie's. And all of this from a box smaller than a shoe box. The imaging is perfect. I hear an amazing sound stage. I'm very happy with these speakers in my bedroom set up. I have Ascend Towers and Center channel in my home theater set up and these sound so similar to the Towers that I'm very happy to have also added a pair of Luna's to that set up for surrounds as well. This Luna's are a great addition to the Ascend line up. Thanks Dave!!!

Excellent - thank you so much for posting some feedback. I always get super nervous with a new product release, often keeping me awake at night stressing if our customers will enjoy them. Every bit of feedback eases my over active mind

If you are able to, please post a few pics of the Lunas in this thread.

[chomdh]

I'm glad you asked this...

Very interesting! Thanks for the explanation of some of the secret sauce.

[sludgeogre]

The Luna uses a complex 12 element crossover so just like with the CBM-170, in order to better isolate the tweeter filter network from the woofer filter network while also minimizing mutual inductance, we went with a dual PCB crossover layout (stacked) which attaches directly to the crossover cup. See the attached pic.

Mounting all of these crossover components on a single PCB - with enough isolation between the inductors to minimize mutual inductance, would have made the crossover PCB far too large to even fit into the Luna cabinet. Note in the pic the dual layers and the orientation of the inductors.

Most speakers this size use very simple crossovers, typically 4-6 elements...

Figuring out a way to fit this complex crossover into this small of a space, while also not interfering with the ~9" long slot port, and having enough cabinet volume for the woofer to perform to spec was, perhaps, the most challenging design aspect in my now 30 years of designing speakers professionally. In fact, this was a bit of a hit or miss as I had to re-layout the PCB's multiple times to both get this to actually fit while also maximizing crossover performance. (notice the components are actually on three layers) This part of the design phase actually took both myself and the company making the PC boards ~ 3 months to nail down...

It's so funny to me that there are several speaker companies out there who claim that crossovers are "tone killers" or some nonsense like that. Two of them are within an hour's drive of each other in Utah. They say this, yet their speakers sound bright and harsh. I'll never understand. I'd love to hear what that camp would have to say after hearing a Sierra speaker that images like a band is in front of you and sounds so perfectly neutral that you get startled in your home theater by home noises in movies because you think someone is in your house and it takes your brain a half second to say "wait, it's your awesome speakers, calm down." If crossovers get me there, well sign me up, and those guys can keep their ancient 1950's designs and 20 pound tweeters.

Such fantastic engineering here. I love following it and being able to see into the design process. Keeps me coming back. Indeed, many crossovers I've seen are far simpler than this, and very few engineers have the skill it takes to implement something this complex and keep it in a box that small at this price point. I just love seeing it. So many designs out there are the same ol' two way setup just in a different, fancier box that uses some slightly revised tweeter that uses a fancy metal. Snooze. Complex design decisions like this, where it really matters, using quality components, just gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling that engineers get (I'm a chemical engineer) when you put together a project that operates smoothly and efficiently (and in my case, with consistently high yield and easy operation).

[theophile]

I agree Alex...Well Stated!

Ted

[ggarner149]

after hearing a Sierra speaker that images like a band is in front of you and sounds so perfectly neutral that you get startled in your home theater by home noises in movies because you think someone is in your house and it takes your brain a half second to say "wait, it's your awesome speakers, calm down." .

Funny! This has happened to me a bunch of times with my Tower/Horizon home theater set up. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I sometimes jump back 10 seconds in the video to make sure it was in the video and not in the house.

Greg