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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
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!
Cabinet:
Woofer:
RAAL Ribbon Tweeter:
Titan Dome Tweeter:
Crossover:
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 |
* 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
*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.
*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.
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…