Напольная акустика — Ascendo System M5S SE Active

The System M5S SE Active is the S.E. grade of the active M5S from German company Ascendo. Its roots go back to the System MS of 1999, which Ascendo kept developing through several MK versions, and the firm describes the M5S Active with 2 x 1,650 W sinus as the next step of that concept. The active speaker is supplied as a system with four DNA 1000.2 HE or HE.SE amplifiers.

Key specs that matter

Ascendo lists the active M5S family as four-way loudspeakers built around its SASB bass technology and a TOS section. In the passive M5S.SE that shares this cabinet, a magnetostatic planar tweeter faces the listener and a second magnetostatic panel radiates rearward as a switchable TOS dipole. The bass module holds a 21.5 cm outer driver using an HPC diaphragm and a phase plug, plus a 28 cm inner driver with a Hexacone honeycomb cone. That passive S.E. version measures 40 x 148.5 x 45 cm for the transducer and 50 x 159 x 65 cm with its stand, and weighs 129 kg. The stand is 50 x 131.5 x 65 cm and comes in mirror-polished or matt brushed stainless steel, while the cabinet is finished in black or white high-gloss lacquer, with custom piano lacquer colours available.

Engineering and use context

SASB joins a current-dynamically damped outer woofer to a semi-symmetric bandpass enclosure. Drivers are held in a modular mounting that decouples them from cabinet resonance, and time alignment is adjustable to suit ear heights from 50 to 190 cm. Low-magnetic V2A steel is combined with highly damping bitumen and compressed fibreboard to reduce structure-borne noise. On the passive S.E. the terminals are rhodium carbon types, where the standard M5S uses plain rhodium. Each of the four DNA 1000.2 HE amplifiers offers three modes - 2 x 500 W sinus stereo, 500 W plus 500 W double mono, or 1,000 W sinus mono - and weighs 16.3 kg in a 360 x 155 x 255 mm chassis. Four detachable magnetic feet let each unit stand in any orientation, and settings can be tailored to listening level, genre and individual preference.

Pairing

A preamplifier or source is the only extra electronics required. Input signals can be converted into an AVB network stream that carries up to 8 channels over CAT cable to further DNA amplifiers or to Ascendo active speakers and subwoofers, and every amplifier in mono mode is controlled from a web browser.

Alternatives

The Ascendo System M5 Active is built on the lower M5 cabinet, 132.3 cm tall and 40 cm wide, instead of the stand-mounted M5S structure.