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$848.00

Our No-Compromise Ultra-High-Performance Compact LCR Speaker

New Klippel NFS optimized version!

Building on the success and enthusiastic feedback from our Luna mini-monitor, we expanded its winning formula to create a speaker that excels as both a main and center channel, while delivering outstanding performance as a premium on-wall solution.

This design features your choice of a custom RAAL true ribbon tweeter or our Titan dome tweeter, paired with two exclusive 4.5" fully custom-designed woofers. All components are housed in our exceptional low-resonance, layered bamboo cabinet for unparalleled performance

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DUO V2 LCR CENTER DESCRIPTION

 

Our new V2 version has been fully optimized using advanced 360-degree Klippel NFS measurements. These optimizations provide significant overall performance improvements, specifically in the area of reducing/eliminating port resonance, enhancing and improving overall directivity, and providing more accurate tonality.

Introducing the Duo: Compact Design, Limitless Performance

As living spaces have grown smaller, the demand for compact, high-performance audio systems has only increased. Customers have long asked for a speaker that combines exceptional sound quality with versatility in a size that fits almost anywhere. Building on the success of our Luna mini-monitor, we delivered the Duo by adding a second Luna woofer. This upgrade enhances efficiency, reduces distortion, and increases overall output. By tuning the response to favor midbass, much like our Horizon, the Duo delivers a dynamic, punchy sound that stands out.

More Than a Mini-Monitor

The Duo’s performance transcends the typical mini-monitor label. When paired with a subwoofer, it becomes a remarkable left/right/center main speaker or a high-performance on-wall solution. Competing with speakers much larger in size, the Duo offers exceptional dynamics, punch, and an immersive soundstage that defies its compact form.

Precision Components, Unmatched Craftsmanship

To achieve such incredible sound quality, we included the custom RAAL ribbon tweeter from our Sierra-2EX or the Titan dome tweeter from our LX, both revered for their remarkable clarity and performance. However, creating a woofer that could match these components while remaining compact presented a unique challenge.

Smaller woofers introduce exponential design complexity. Over the course of a year, we developed and tested more prototypes for this woofer than for any other transducer we’ve ever created. After painstaking refinement, we achieved a design that met—and exceeded—our rigorous standards.

Innovative Design and Stunning Craftsmanship

The Duo pairs an advanced NFS-optimized crossover with a meticulously engineered layered bamboo cabinet. Using state-of-the-art FEA and 3D CAD technologies, the cabinet is as visually striking as it is acoustically optimized. Its design seamlessly combines beauty and performance.

Big Sound, Small Footprint

The Duo’s exceptionally wide and linear horizontal dispersion creates a massive and immersive soundstage, filling even large rooms with ease. Listeners at public auditions consistently share their amazement, saying, “These speakers sound so much bigger than they are!”

Hand Crafted With Pride

Every Duo speaker is hand-assembled, rigorously tested, and carefully packaged in the USA. We stand behind the Duo’s exceptional quality with a 7-year parts and labor warranty. Each left/right pair is hand-matched to within ±1.5 dB, and every speaker includes a printout of its actual production line response measurement for complete transparency.

This level of quality control and craftsmanship is simply unmatched by products mass-assembled in overseas facilities.

The RAAL True Ribbon Tweeter Difference

The Duo’s RAAL ribbon tweeter delivers unparalleled clarity and detail, elevating your audio experience to a new level. Once you hear what they can do, there’s no turning back.

Discover the Duo

Transform your listening space with a speaker that redefines what compact systems can achieve.

Thank you for your interest in the Duo!

DUO V2 LCR CENTER FEATURES

 

  • All Duo LCR are hand assembled, tested and packaged at our factory in Orange County, CA
  • A serialized production line frequency response measurement is included with each speaker
  • 7 year manufacturer's warranty + 30-day satisfaction guarantee

Cabinet:

  • Unique slot port damping system provides dramatic reductions in port resonance and noise
  • Exclusive 3-ply vertically laminated bamboo cabinet construction dramatically reduces cabinet resonance for a cleaner, more detailed, and transparent performance
  • Cabinet is a stunningly beautiful natural hardwood finish, there are no veneers and as such, no need to be concerned about peeling veneers or wraps or veneer cracks
  • Cabinet is fully environmentally friendly as the bamboo we source is a completely renewable resource
  • Unlike MDF, our bamboo cabinets are formaldehyde free (nearly all speaker cabinets use MDF)

Woofer:

  • Fully custom manufactured to our specifications and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
  • Long-throw design for high power handling and extended bass
  • Exceptionally large magnet system combined with symmetrical driving force
  • Specially designed high loss natural rubber surround to improve damping and resonance control, critical for smaller cones
  • Injection molded cast frame for a stiffer basket frame combined with large windows allowing for less material behind the woofer cone reducing back-wave reflections for enhanced detail, better airflow and less cavity resonance
  • Vented pole-piece for enhanced air-flow and cooling, minimizing compression artifacts
  • Glass fiber cone technology that is extremely low mass, stiff, and provides exceptional self-damping providing greater detail while remaining smooth with no harsh cone break-up modes

RAAL Ribbon Tweeter:

  • Fully custom true ribbon tweeter manufactured by RAAL in Serbia to our specifications
  • True ribbon tweeter has no voice coil, the pure aluminum ribbon is the only electrical conductor and the only moving part
  • Extremely low moving mass design, typically less than 1/50th the mass of a dome tweeter, enabling near instantaneous acceleration / deceleration, and no stored energy all combined to provide near perfect transient reproduction
  • Class-leading horizontal dispersion width provides a huge soundstage and precise imaging
  • High powered neodymium magnets in a unique homogenous design (equal strength magnetic field throughout the entire ribbon area) provides lower distortion and less stress on the ribbon diaphragm
  • Critically damped rear chamber to absorb the back wave of the ribbon diaphragm, improving frequency response linearity and overall transparency

Titan Dome Tweeter:

  • Customized version of the SEAS Titan dome tweeter
  • Anodized 26mm aluminum/magnesium dome enabling pistonic behavior throughout the audible range
  • Titanium former for improved damping, better transient response, and massive power handling
  • Copper cap in the magnet system for lower inductance and reduced distortion
  • Large damped and tuned rear chamber for absorbing back-wave energy and lowering the resonant frequency
  • Integrated hexagrid protects the dome while improving dispersion
  • Very high power handling and a low Fs
  • Extremely wide dispersion with near ideal directivity

Crossover:

  • Klippel NFS optimization for enhanced directivity, accurate tonality and improved driver integration
  • Dual layer design separating the tweeter network from the woofer network
  • Metallized polypropylene capacitors in the direct signal path
  • Air-core inductors in the direct signal path

DUO V2 LCR CENTER SPECIFICATIONS

 

Typical In-Room Frequency Response 48Hz - 27kHz
Typical In-Room Sensitivity 89dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Max Continuous Power* 150 watts
Max Short Term Peak Power* 200 watts
Cabinet Detail Exclusive V-LAM™ construction featuring 20mm thick vertically laminated bamboo, internally braced. Bass reflex via dual flared front slot ports with our exclusive slot port damping system. Fully magnetic speaker grille with no visible mounting parts
RAAL Ribbon Tweeter Option Custom made RAAL true ribbon tweeter featuring a 10mm wide pure aluminum ribbon with a total moving mass of less than 1/100th of a gram
Titan Dome Tweeter Option Customized version of SEAS "Titan" dome tweeter, with titanium former, 26mm aluminum/magnesium alloy dome, large tuned damping chamber and copper cap for reduced distortion and inductance
Woofer (2) Proprietary 4.5” long-throw dual compliant glass fiber woofers, non-resonant cast frame, vented pole-piece, exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
Connections (2) gold plated all metal 5 way binding posts
Inserts (2) 1/4-20 threaded inserts for simple mounting to wall mount brackets
   
Bass Extension (-6dB) 62Hz
Anechoic Frequency Response 77Hz - 27kHz +/- 3dB
Anechoic Sensitivity 86dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
   
Dimensions H x W x D** Vertical orientation: 16.25" x 5.75" x 6"   Horizontal orientation: 5.75" x 16.25" x 6"
Speaker Weight (each) 12.25 pounds
Shipping Weight (pair) 30 pounds
   
Minimum Recommended Amplifier Power Rating for Speaker Distance to Listening Position
3 Feet or Less 2 watts minimum
9 Feet or Less 17 watts minimum
15 Feet or Less 47 watts minimum
21 Feet or More 92 watts minimum
   
     *Unclipped peaks      **Grille On

DUO V2 LCR CENTER MEASUREMENTS

 

* The below anechoic measurements are high-resolution full-range 360-degree scans taken with our Klippel Near Field Scanner.  A minimum of 800 individual measurements are taken to generate these advanced measurements, typically requiring a minimum of 6 hours.  These are unsmoothed and fully conform to CEA/CTA-2034 standards.

These measurements are as accurate as is currently technically possible.

Due to the costs, space requirements and complexity, very few manufacturers own or have access to a Klippel NFS, nor would they ever publish such detailed data on their products. Ascend Acoustics is and always has dared to be different.

For information regarding the CTA-2034 standard, please click here: CTA-2034

For information regarding the Klippel NFS, please click here: Klippel NFS Video and Technical Data

** All measurements below are with the speaker positioned in horizontal orientation, as is typical for center channel usage.

*** For measurements of the Duo V2 in vertical orientation, please see the measurements tab here: Duo LCR 

 

Duo V2 Center On-Axis

 

Duo V2 Center CEA2034

 

Duo V2 Center PIR

 

Duo V2 Center Early Reflections

 

Duo V2 Center Impedance and Phase

 

Duo V2 Center Off-Axis PIR

*Note: Our exclusive Off-Axis Estimated In-Room Response measurement is a critical performance metric. It is an accurate comparison of the differences a listener should expect to hear sitting at different off-axis angles from the speaker; on-axis, +/- 10 degrees horizontally, +/- 20 degrees horizontally and +/- 30 degrees horizontally.

This is a modern and more accurate prediction of in-room speaker performance at different listening angles compared to a simple off-axis measurement graph. This measurement graph accounts for both direct sound and indirect sound and requires thousands of individual off-axis measurements that are then processed through complex algorithms to derive the results. In comparison, an off-axis measurement is just a single response measurement that does not account for the actual directivity of the speaker and is not representative of what we actually hear.

Even with the Ribbon Duo V2 positioned horizontally (with proper orientation of the ribbon tweeter) these measurements show excellent horizontal dispersion. There is minimal deviation between the different off-axis positions and this is based on accepted science determining what the listener will hear from this speaker in a typical listening environment.

 

Titan Duo V2 Center On-Axis

 

Titan Duo V2 Center CEA2034

 

Titan Duo V2 Center PIR

 

Titan Duo V2 Center Early Reflections

 

Titan Duo V2 Center Impedance and Phase

 

Titan Duo V2 Center Off-Axis PIR

*Note: Our exclusive Off-Axis Estimated In-Room Response measurement is a critical performance metric. It is an accurate comparison of the differences a listener should expect to hear sitting at different off-axis angles from the speaker; on-axis, +/- 10 degrees horizontally, +/- 20 degrees horizontally and +/- 30 degrees horizontally.

This is a modern and more accurate prediction of in-room speaker performance at different listening angles compared to a simple off-axis measurement graph. This measurement graph accounts for both direct sound and indirect sound and requires thousands of individual off-axis measurements that are then processed through complex algorithms to derive the results. In comparison, an off-axis measurement is just a single response measurement that does not account for the actual directivity of the speaker and is not representative of what we actually hear.

Even with the Titan Duo V2 positioned horizontally these measurements show excellent horizontal dispersion. There is minimal deviation between the different off-axis positions and this is based on accepted science determining what the listener will hear from this speaker in a typical listening environment.

DUO V2 LCR CENTER SUMMARY

Ascend Acoustics Ribbon Duo V2 LCR

 

 

Perhaps our most versatile speaker yet, the Duo punches way above its small stature. It is an ideal horizontal center for any of our ribbon speakers. When placed vertically as a main these speakers will fill even a large room when combined with a sub and provide incredibly wide dispersion. Their compact size, stunning good looks, easy wall mounting, and minimal depth make them an ideal on-wall speaker.

The Duo combines extraordinary dynamics, realism, spaciousness, transparency and detail while doing so with such finesse and refinement that there is never a hint of harshness. Although bass is limited, it is impressive for a speaker this size and there are no issues running them full range. Music and home theater simply sound more realistic, providing a more satisfying emotional connection. We must warn you though, once you have heard what these true ribbon tweeters are capable of, there simply is no turning back…

DUO V2 LCR CENTER

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