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$2,798.00

Introducing our new ELX Horizon!

In development for over a decade, our ELX Horizon represents the current State-Of-The-Art of loudspeaker design. Every performance category has been fully optimized – from shockingly deep bass extension and punch, to incredible spaciousness and ideal tonal balance. Designed to compete with any speaker at any price, be that with the most demanding home theater or the most complex multi-channel music – our ELX are true endgame speakers.

Our ELX Horizon offers a breathtaking synergy such that even poor source material becomes a joy to listen to. This is a near full-range center speaker, a true breakthrough for a center at this price and size!

Midrange is exquisitely detailed yet lush and warm, highs are transparent, airy and fatigue-free, and the bass – well, you must actually listen to comprehend how deep and punchy it is. Soundstage width and depth is remarkable with a spaciousness that makes you glance around the room to see if other speakers are playing.

The dynamic capability of the ELX is hard to describe – from the softest passages to the hardest hitting – everything is reproduced with an ease and grace that continually fool the listener into believing they are at a live concert or listening to massive speakers.  From objective evaluation of the measurements to subjective listening impressions, our ELX Horizon is simply one of the best center channel speakers available at any price point.

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ELX HORIZON DESCRIPTION

 

For as long as we have been manufacturing speakers, we have received requests for a true endgame speaker. A speaker that provides class-leading performance in all the critical performance areas.

• Accuracy
• Detail
• Dynamic capability
• Directivity
• Wide dispersion
• High frequency linearity and extension
• Non-fatiguing
• Bass extension and midbass punch
• Low distortion
• Good efficiency
• Power handling
• Accurate transient reproduction

Our original Horizon, first introduced back in 2012, has truly stood the test of time. With our newer Klippel NFS optimized EX and LX speakers, we have come very close to matching the performance of our Horizon with 2-way bookshelf speakers. Both the EXv2 and LX have surpassed the original Horizon in certain specific performance characteristics, and this was the intention. With the LX, we surpassed in overall dynamics, bass extension, spaciousness and power handling – with the EXv2, directivity, midrange accuracy and detail.

Taking full advantage of the most advanced acoustic R&D lab equipment combined with sophisticated computer modeling and optimization, we integrated the very best of what our EX and LX speakers offer and expanded upon this by developing an advanced 3-way crossover technology that has taken us over a decade to perfect.

Add to this the most critical design element, direct customer feedback. We have closely tracked and logged customer feedback on these 3 speakers (original Horizon, EX and LX) and applied this most valuable data to our ELX design formula. This critical data was the catalyst to developing something truly special.

The result is a line of speakers that truly define the phrase, "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts." Which in the case of our ELX is truly remarkable as every component used is truly as good as it gets.

With our ELX, there is no reason to look for a speaker that performs well for home theater or is better suited for music. From the most demanding home theater and gaming, to critical multi-channel music listening, in huge rooms or small rooms – there is no source material that is too demanding or too complex. Everything is reproduced accurately with lifelike dynamics and with an ease that just makes you want to sit back, close your eyes and get lost in the production – be that low volume levels or live concert or cinema volume levels.

Featuring our custom Titan dome tweeter built for us by SEAS in Norway, the Titan provides high frequency extension to 28kHz with exceptional transient response and ideal directivity. It features extremely wide dispersion, low distortion and very high-power handling. Highs are crisp and airy with effortless dynamics and multiple layers of detail without ever sound harsh or fatiguing.

For those seeking even higher levels of detail and transparency combined with improved soundstage width and imaging, we offer a tweeter upgrade using our customized version of the best true ribbon tweeter on this planet, the RAAL 70-20xram, utilizing an amorphous core transformer (as opposed to iron/ferrite core.)

Our 6” EX Curv cone midrange driver is housed in its own dedicated critically damped sealed enclosure within the cabinet and is designed to reproduce the critical midrange response. By isolating the midrange from the rest of the drivers, intermodulation distortion is greatly reduced and detail and separation between individual instruments is greatly improved.

Dual 6” LX woofers with class-leading excursion handle the low end but don’t let the small size fool you, our ELX will deliver tight, accurate and punchy bass well into the mid 20Hz range in most rooms. Many listeners will prefer to simply run the ELX full range with no subwoofer – the bass response will shock you.

All this performance housed in our exclusive environmentally friendly minimal resonance 3-ply layered bamboo cabinet, the results speak for themselves… This is a loudspeaker that has few, if any, peers… ENDGAME!

Hand assembled, tested and packaged in the USA, we are so confident of the component and build quality of ELX that we are backing them by a comprehensive 7 year parts & labor warranty. ELX Horizon are matched by hand to within ± 1dB of our reference and we are including a printout of the actual production line response measurements of each speaker. We dare say it, but you simply cannot find this type of quality control, care and pride from products that are fully assembled and tested in overseas manufacturing facilities.

We thank you for your interest!

ELX HORIZON FEATURES

 

  • All ELX Horizon 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:

  • 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
  • Fully magnetic speaker grille with no visible mounting parts
  • Unlike MDF, our bamboo cabinets are formaldehyde free (nearly all speaker cabinets use MDF)

Bass Woofers:

  • Fully custom manufactured by SEAS of Norway to our specifications and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
  • Class-leading excursion, maximum peak-to-peak travel of a massive 22mm
  • Titanium former for improved damping, better transient response, and massive power handling
  • 2 layer pure copper 39mm diameter voice coil
  • Custom cast magnesium frame for a stiffer and lighter basket frame allowing for less material behind the woofer cone reducing back-wave reflections for enhanced detail, better airflow and less cavity resonance
  • Radially reinforced surround reduces surround resonances at higher excursions and provides for better overall damping
  • Exceptionally large magnet system combined with symmetrical driving force
  • FEA optimized magnet system with fitted copper rings for excellent linearity, low distortion and very low inductance
  • Vented pole-piece and open spider for enhanced air-flow and cooling, minimizing compression artifacts
  • Lightweight optimized aluminum cone is extremely stiff pushing breakup modes several octaves above crossover point
  • Woofer cone acts a pure piston throughout its usable frequency band, providing excellent directivity

Midrange Woofer:

  • Fully custom manufactured by SEAS of Norway to our specifications and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
  • Exclsuvie SEAS Curv™ cone technology (woven polypropylene) featuring a newly developed damping treatment for exceptional self-damping, extremely low mass, high stiffness combined with exceptional self-damping providing greater detail while remaining smooth with no harsh cone break-up modes
  • Massive pure copper phase plug improves off-axis dispersion, greatly reduces any beaming, improves power handling and thermal compression by acting as a massive heat sink, and enhances the functions of the upper and lower shorting rings
  • SEAS’s exclusive SpiderRing® technology improves suspension alignment for higher long term reliability, improved power handling and improved mechanical linearity
  • Custom cast magnesium frame for a stiffer and lighter basket frame allowing for less material behind the woofer cone reducing back-wave reflections for enhanced detail, better airflow and less cavity resonance
  • Radially reinforced surround reduces surround resonances at higher excursions and provides for better overall damping
  • Large magnet system combined with symmetrical driving force
  • Pure copper upper and lower shorting rings to reduce distortion, linearize magnetic flux, and dramatically reduce inductance
  • Vented pole-piece and open spider for enhanced air-flow and cooling, minimizing compression artifacts

RAAL 70-20 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
  • Amorphous core transformer as opposed to ferrite reduces saturation and compression for much improved micro-dynamics and detail

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:

  • NFS optimized, highly advanced 3-way 2-layer design with a newly developed circuit topology that preserves dynamics and improves driver phase integration
  • Large open topology with proper inductor spacing and orientation to reduce mutual inductance and saturation
  • Heavy gauge pure copper traces to reduce resistance and provide higher power handling
  • Featuring metallized polypropylene capacitors
  • Air-core inductors in the direct signal path

ELX HORIZON SPECIFICATIONS

 

Typical In-Room Frequency Response 30Hz - 27kHz
Typical In-Room Sensitivity 91dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
Nominal Impedance 8 ohms
Max Continuous Power* 400 watts
Max Short Term Peak Power* 600 watts
Cabinet Detail Exclusive V-LAM™ construction featuring 20mm thick vertically laminated 3-ply bamboo, internally braced. Bass reflex via dual front slot ports. Fully magnetic speaker grille with no visible mounting parts
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
RAAL 70-20xram Ribbon Option Custom made RAAL true ribbon tweeter featuring a 20mm wide pure aluminum ribbon with a total moving mass less than 1/100th of a gram, large rear damping chamber and Amorphous core transformer instead of ferrite
Midrange Woofer Proprietary 6” low mass treated Curv™ cone Excel woofer, non-resonant cast magnesium frame, radially reinforced surround, SEAS SpiderRing® technology, solid copper phase plug, upper and lower copper shorting rings, vented pole-piece and vented spider. Custom made for us by SEAS of Norway and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
Woofer (2) Proprietary 6” high excursion, high power, aluminum cone woofer, non-resonant cast magnesium basket frame, vented pole-piece, dual layer pure copper voice coil, copper shorting rings, vented spider and titanium former. Custom manufactured for us by SEAS of Norway and exclusive to Ascend Acoustics
Connections (2) gold plated all metal 5 way binding posts
   
Bass Extension (-6dB) 35Hz
Anechoic Frequency Response 45Hz - 27kHz +/- 3dB (based on Klippel NFS measurements)
Anechoic Sensitivity 88dB @ 2.83v / 1 meter
   
Dimensions H x W x D** 11" x 23" x 12.5"
Speaker Weight (each) 52 pounds
Shipping Weight (each) 58 pounds
   
Minimum Recommended Amplifier Power Rating for Speaker Distance to Listening Position
3 Feet or Less 2 watts minimum
9 Feet or Less 14 watts minimum
15 Feet or Less 38 watts minimum
21 Feet or More 72 watts minimum
   
     *Unclipped peaks      **Grille On

ELX HORIZON 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

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon On-Axis

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon CEA-2034

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon PIR

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon Early Reflections

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon Contour Plot Horizontal

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon Beamwidth Horizontal

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon Contour Plot Vertical

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon SPL Horizontal

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon Impedance and Phase

 

ELX Ribbon Horizon 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.

This measurement clearly shows the unprecedented off-axis response of the ELX Ribbon Horizon. There is less than 1/4dB of deviation (inaudible) 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. This is an incredible achievement for a center speaker!

 

ELX Titan Horizon On-Axis

 

ELX Titan Horizon CEA-2034

 

ELX Titan Horizon PIR

 

ELX Titan Horizon Early Reflections

 

ELX Titan Horizon Contour Plot Horizontal

 

ELX Titan Horizon Beamwidth Horizontal

 

ELX Titan Horizon Contour Plot Vertical

 

ELX Titan Horizon SPL Horizontal

 

ELX Titan Horizon Impedance and Phase

 

ELX Titan Horizon 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.

This measurement clearly shows the unprecedented off-axis response of the ELX Titan Horizon. There is less than 1/2dB of deviation (inaudible) 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. This is an incredible achievement for a center speaker!

ELX HORIZON SUMMARY

 

A high-performance center speaker is critical to any home theater system, it is the single most important speaker for this type of system.  The performance of our ELX Horizon is unmatched, offering remarkable dialogue intelligibility from low volume levels to reference level volumes, even when sitting far off-axis. The ELX Horizon offers best-in-class off-axis horizontal dispersion, while providing a smooth and detailed presentation with stunning dynamics.

Suitable for use as a center with any of our left/right speakers, or even as mains, the ELX Horizon is a true endgame speaker, finding better center channel performance, regardless of price, would be most challenging.

Both subjectively and objectively, our ELX Horizon is a true endgame speakers.  From its shockingly deep and punchy bass, near perfect tonal balance and accuracy, stunning spaciousness, and a dynamic capability that will have you believe there is a live concert right in front of you – these speakers do it all.

From the most demanding home theater and gaming, to critical multi-channel music listening, in huge rooms or small rooms – there is no source material that is too demanding or too complex. Everything is reproduced accurately with lifelike dynamics and with an ease that just makes you want to sit back, close your eyes and get lost in the production – be that low volume levels or live concert or cinema volume levels.

Utilizing the most advanced R&D and components presently available, the ELX represent a level of performance that only a handful of elite manufacturers can compete with, regardless of price. 

ELX HORIZON

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