Floorstanding loudspeakers — Ascendo D9 Active

The D9 Active is the powered version of the D9 floorstander made by the German company Ascendo, whose production is in Heilsbronn. A stereo pair is supplied together with two DNA 1000.2 HE power amplifiers. Besides the coaxial point source, the D9 carries four further drivers, and it is offered as the standard D9 and as the D9-C, whose cabinet is 1.5 cm taller.

Key specs that matter

With its rear tweeters active the D9 Active works as a four-way loudspeaker based on SASB MKII technology, and switching them off turns it into a three-way. Up front a shielded coaxial driver combines a 25 mm neodymium soft dome with an 18 cm XP membrane midrange cone. Two 18 cm drivers inside the bass module use NRSC carbon fibre membranes, and Ascendo rates the woofer at 30 Hz for -3 dB. The rear Double TOS array consists of two 27 mm magnesium tweeters, free of ferrofluid. Ascendo gives 1,000 W of total system power for each speaker. Width and depth are 24 cm and 45 cm, height is 112.5 cm for the D9 and 114 cm for the D9-C, and the weights are 43 kg and 48 kg respectively.

Engineering and use context

Ascendo states that the amplifier power goes directly into the drivers. Every DNA 1000.2 HE can be set up as a 1,000 W sinus mono amplifier, as a two-channel unit with 500 W sinus per side, or as double mono with 500 W on each channel. Adjustable input and output channels let the owner match the system to volume habits, repertoire, taste and the drivers themselves, and the company says this improves how the loudspeaker behaves in the time domain. The amplifier housing is 360 x 155 x 255 mm, the last two figures depending on orientation, needs another 15 mm for its feet and weighs 16.3 kg. Four removable magnetic bases allow it to be placed facing any direction. When the amplifiers run in mono, all of them are operated from a central browser interface. Cabinets are lacquered in high-gloss black or white, with further piano lacquer shades available to order.

Pairing

With amplification already included, the D9 Active connects to a preamplifier or to a source with a variable output. Via the AVB network a DNA 1000.2 HE accepts any input signal and distributes as many as 8 channels without loss over CAT lines, feeding additional DNA amplifiers, other active Ascendo speakers or Ascendo subwoofers, which lets the electronics sit far from the loudspeakers. The amplifier is also suitable for passive designs.

Alternatives

The Ascendo D7 Active is the slimmer model of the same series, using a single rear TOS tweeter and a woofer section rated to 32 Hz.