Which center? Luna, S2, or Horizon?

[davef]

I really don't see how or why you would have thought he'd go another direction. I didn't get that at all reading this thread and I think some of your comments are misplaced and influenced by the empassioned replies from a couple other members here. Dave seems genuinely concerned and sincerely tackled the issue, even through some serious injuries. You assuming anything else seems unfounded to me.

Shaz hasn't been around here long enough to know how we do things, and having someone express doubt and uncertainty is never a bad thing IMO.

Btw Dave, glad to see you recovering! I've broken a couple of ribs and it's the most pain I've gone through over an extended period of time. I didn't puncture any lungs tho! Holy crap.

Thanks - I hit the gym Monday night for the first time since before my accident. That felt good, just very light weight and stretching. Yes, the only thing I have experienced that was more painful was a broken clavicle. That pain was worse in the short term, but after about 2 weeks it dramatically subdued and was easy to manage. Overall, the pain endured from this injury over about a 6 week period was simply horrible. I promised myself that I would never experience something like this again!

Until someone breaks a rib, they will never understand how something as simple as getting in and out of bed, or even just sitting up from laying on your back becomes a real challenge in dealing with pain. Even breathing was a painful chore for a while...

[Shazb0t]

Thank you, that really means a lot.

Any desire to post your response series over at ASR in the Luna/Duo thread? I think it would add a lot of value to that prior discussion.

[Pogre]

Until someone breaks a rib, they will never understand how something as simple as getting in and out of bed, or even just sitting up from laying on your back becomes a real challenge in dealing with pain. Even breathing was a painful chore for a while...

Oh it's awful. I only broke 2 ribs, tho they were clean breaks. The pain was bad enough in the short term, but it dragged out for months. They can't really set or cast anything so you just have to grin and bear it til things knit themselves back together naturally, and it seems like it takes forever. I had to sleep sitting up in my recliner for almost a week, and yeah, even breathing was painful. Literally every breath. Almost any movement was painful. I can only imagine more broken ribs, clavicle and a punctured lung. Good to hear you're getting back to the gym man. I'm sure you're still in some pain, but it's gotta feel good to get back to it.

[racrawford65]

Sounds like a similar experience when I had a torn rotator cuff repaired. Months sleeping (sort of) in my recliner and physical therapy - excruciating pain. pain killers didn’t help.

[natetg57]

Price increases on just about every product is inevitable at this point. Material costs are skyrocketing right now with no relief in sight. Add to that massive increases in transportation and labor costs - our already thin margins are not sustainable at this point.

Yes, there will be some price increases, but this is not due to the V2 versions. V2 versions do cost us a bit more to manufacture but we can and are willing to absorb that increased production cost.

Upgrading Luna / Duo to the new V2 standard will be available. I haven't worked out the details for this just yet, but if there is a cost - it will be extremely reasonable. Thankfully, there are no cabinet changes from V1 to V2.

Thanks for all your work on this. I don't know of another company who is so dedicated to providing a superior product at such reasonable prices. I'm excited to hear that the Luna's can be upgraded without needing new cabinets. Thanks again!

[Robert]

Thanks for all your work on this. I don't know of another company who is so dedicated to providing a superior product at such reasonable prices. I'm excited to hear that the Luna's can be upgraded without needing new cabinets. Thanks again!

I agree! Special thanks to Dave on all his hard work on updating the speakers, taking the feedback given, and doing something very constructive with it. I contacted Dave earlier this year via email after reading the initial review of the Duo and Lunas. I asked if there were any modifications offered on the Duo and Lunas and offered to send mine in for an upgrade. General disclaimer, I'm a fairly new Ascend customer and started purchasing my first set (Sierra 2 EX), along with the Duo and Lunas back in 2019.

I thought the Lunas sounded great and the Duo was great too (it is still a smaller MTM design, so if you still want the best of the best in a larger room and have the space, go with the Horizon, but the Duo isn't a slouch either). Overall, for their size, they performed really well. After shipping them back to Ascend and having him perform the modifications, they returned looking not much different than before. Within the ports is the foam he mentioned for port dampening. It doesn't draw attention to itself. Overall, they still sound great and perhaps a tad warmer (keep in mind audible memory is not very long term and I don't have two different types to perform blind testing). However, based on the new measurements, you can have more peace of mind. See attached photos of the Satin Expresso finish Duo and Luna:

IMG_2833.jpgIMG_2844.jpg

Special thanks to Dina as well! She is one of the best at customer service that I have ever come across! The one thing that sets Ascend apart from many other companies, and I've been an audio guy tinkering with electronics since the mid-90s, is that you get that "old-fashioned" personal treatment that seems so rare these days. It's refreshing to have that level of friendly support. Dave isn't too bad at being helpful either.

[petmotel]

There was, to me anyway, a bit of a disconnect between part 4 and part 5c. In part 4 you were trying to get to the heart of the matter, namely why the significant difference between the Klippel measurements, and your previous system.

I appreciate this is likely complicated, possibly difficult to translate to a layman's level of understanding, but you really had my curiosity piqued with the deep dive in part 4. I also appreciate that the appearance of a whitewash would be unacceptable to your professional ethics, but I'm still curious about the journey that took you from part 4 to part 5c?

Jay

[Pogre]

There was, to me anyway, a bit of a disconnect between part 4 and part 5c. In part 4 you were trying to get to the heart of the matter, namely why the significant difference between the Klippel measurements, and your previous system.

I appreciate this is likely complicated, possibly difficult to translate to a layman's level of understanding, but you really had my curiosity piqued with the deep dive in part 4. I also appreciate that the appearance of a whitewash would be unacceptable to your professional ethics, but I'm still curious about the journey that took you from part 4 to part 5c?

Jay

I think after some trial, tweaking and dialing up the resolution Dave was able to at least partially replicate Amir's results.

Using MLSSA to do nearfield testing is rather simple, but to gain maximum resolution I had to reconfigure various setup parameters to make sure I was using the same measurement distances as the NFS. After much research and even more trial and error, I found that allowing a few minor reflections so that we can increase the time window from about 8ms to a massive 23ms, we were able to match Amir’s measurements from about 200Hz and up.

Bam, there it was… that nasty high Q port resonance.

[Pogre]

I agree! Special thanks to Dave on all his hard work on updating the speakers, taking the feedback given, and doing something very constructive with it. I contacted Dave earlier this year via email after reading the initial review of the Duo and Lunas. I asked if there were any modifications offered on the Duo and Lunas and offered to send mine in for an upgrade. General disclaimer, I'm a fairly new Ascend customer and started purchasing my first set (Sierra 2 EX), along with the Duo and Lunas back in 2019.

I thought the Lunas sounded great and the Duo was great too (it is still a smaller MTM design, so if you still want the best of the best in a larger room and have the space, go with the Horizon, but the Duo isn't a slouch either). Overall, for their size, they performed really well. After shipping them back to Ascend and having him perform the modifications, they returned looking not much different than before. Within the ports is the foam he mentioned for port dampening. It doesn't draw attention to itself. Overall, they still sound great and perhaps a tad warmer (keep in mind audible memory is not very long term and I don't have two different types to perform blind testing). However, based on the new measurements, you can have more peace of mind. See attached photos of the Satin Expresso finish Duo and Luna:

IMG_2833.jpgIMG_2844.jpg

Special thanks to Dina as well! She is one of the best at customer service that I have ever come across! The one thing that sets Ascend apart from many other companies, and I've been an audio guy tinkering with electronics since the mid-90s, is that you get that "old-fashioned" personal treatment that seems so rare these days. It's refreshing to have that level of friendly support. Dave isn't too bad at being helpful either.

Man, that espresso finish looks great!

[XEagleDriver]

I have none of the issues Amir claims with my Duo center. It is not bright nor do I hear any port chuffing. It was a nice step up from the S2 I was previously using for a center in terms of dialog clarity.

+1 on racrawford's S2 to Duo center experience.

I found ASR's Luna & Duo reviews troubling and confusing. I own both speakers, for Surround and Center duty respectively to complement S2 mains.

Being a data guy professionally, I trust measurements generally and view them as a valid piece of the audio puzzle (troubling).
However, ASR's subjective comments were very much at odds with my experience (confusing).

I will be interested to see what remedy/upgrade options Dave is able to provide us V1 Duo and Luna owners down the road post his injury recovery (most important) and pandemic supply chain disruptions (a distant second).
Cheers,
XEagleDriver