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Ascension Audio (Adelaide Speakers) Owners & Discussion Thread


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I was once told that there is something like a 600 - 800% markup on speakers by the time you get to buy them at the shop.
u then have to consider the r&d that's gone into the design/testing of the crossover, speaker alignment and cabinets

Well, that's the rub isn't it. Speakers and boxes are not normally particularly expensive in context of the price for a finished product.

It's the R&D .... speakers are not a simple beast to design and perfect by any stretch.

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Well, that's the rub isn't it. Speakers and boxes are not normally particularly expensive in context of the price for a finished product.

It's the R&D .... speakers are not a simple beast to design and perfect by any stretch.

I was talking markup, not necessarily manufacturing costs.

R&D can certainly account for a significant amount. But there are still a lot of fat cat middle men getting rich in the process for doing little more than passing the product along.

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In the real world the costs of any product are hardly reflected in the retail price, it is a mix of supply and demand as well as what the current market will support.

This is not limited to audio products, all products have alot of time and money invested in R&D. If you knew the cost of actual parts, labour and development of a car and saw the difference of that cost to what they vend for you would fall over.

A $20,000 car here will cost you less than $10,000 in a different country simply because of a different economic structure with different income levels.

For small business it's much harder to spread the cost of R&D, labour, cost or parts because of limited business structure and purchasing abilities. So good quality from a small business although it may seem to have a high mark-up when you just look at the costs of parts and labour, they have far greater overheads for their turn-over so margins are often quite small.

large companies it's the opposite, but they have alot more invested too. In the end it's all quite fair if you think about it, and it's us as the end consumer that controls prices for the most part as it's all about what we earn and are willing to pay. There are countries that have higher incomes, yet pay less for some things. In the end it all evens out acounting to our own current local market.

It's just a matter of what the current market will tolerate

On a side note I'm not ready to do a review of my new subwoofer untill it's had more listening but man I'm blown away already to say the least lol.

Edited by Mitcon
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In the real world the costs of any product are hardly reflected in the retail price, it is a mix of supply and demand as well as what the current market will support.

This is not limited to audio products, all products have alot of time and money invested in R&D. If you knew the cost of actual parts, labour and development of a car and saw the difference of that cost to what they vend for you would fall over.

Absolutely agree. A few years ago I did a job at a company that imported high end running shoes. There was a price list on the desk showing costs etc. One pair was something like $46 (cant remember if that was landed from OS or not), with an RRP of around $250. As you say, they will charge what the market will support.

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After reading all the posts here and in the market for a new centre speaker i decided to visit Adelaide Speakers and have a chat with Edward. He is very passionate about his speakers and easy to deal with. I will be getting a 253s though it is very different from the one his web site. Its basically a 4 driver 3 way centre speaker. Its dimensions will be bigger (500mm wide x 240mm high x 315mm deep) and rear ported. Will have 2 Peerless 5" HDS drivers, 1 peerless HDS 4" midrange and 1 SEAS magnesium dome tweeter (same as used in the VAF's). The price was very reasonable and certainly cheaper than all the other centres I looked at. I will have to wait for about 5 weeks for it which will make it a nice xmas present for myself. I will post a pic when i get it. This will replace my old B&W LCR-3 centre speaker. Oh and I listened to his summoners (10" 3 way) while i was there. Very sublime bass on those and a sweet mid and top end.

Cheers

Dazz

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I am going to SA for a week in December (my birthday present from the girlfriend - main purpose to visit her uncle and aunt who have been married 50 years and to see Day on the Green (Proclaimers, B52's, Mental as Anything)).

I hope to visit VAF but also Adelaide Speakers to have a listen.

Jeff

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Hi All

Have been enjoying my Adelaide speakers for a few weeks now. Posted some pics below. Not great quality photography, but you get the idea.

Had a friend over on the weekend. Fired up these new toys. He was blown away. All he could say was:

"Wow. That's a great sound".

Understated, but to the point I guess.

[ATTACH]11474[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]11475[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]11476[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH]11477[/ATTACH]

Dave

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Very nice set-up Dave. I do prefer the look of the speakers without the grills though, what do you prefer?

I think the grills look the way they do in the photo because of the flash on the camera. It tends to give the grills a rather 'transparent' look due to light passing through and reflecting off the cabinet underneath. I took some photos of my DCXs and they came out the same way, but its not how they look in daylight or normal room lighting.

Looks good Dave. I've never had a listen to Adelaide speakers, but must admit to being more than a bit curious about them.

PS: I once took a photo of a female friend of mine using a flash, with a similar effect. The light from the flash went straight through her dress and reflected back from what was underneath, and, well... you know.....

I thought the result was rather photogenic, but she was not impressed. (And no, I don't have the photo any more, so don't ask me to post it!)

Edited by emesbee
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Very nice set-up Dave. I do prefer the look of the speakers without the grills though, what do you prefer?

Thanks for the comments.

I also much prefer the look of the speakers without the grilles. However, I have 2 yo and 4 yo boys with whom I have to share this "entertainment room". (The Wiggles never sounded so damn fine!)

I have already had the experience of my 2yo pushing in the diaphram on one of the Celestion DL6s that I use for HT / TV (the 2-ways beside the TV in the pics). I learnt my lesson. Doesn't matter how many times I threaten "if any one touches the (insert: amp / TV / speaker / TT / CD / DVD etc.) i'm getting the scissors and you're losing fingers", it just doesn't sink in.

So, the grilles stay on.

emesbee is correct. it is just the flash of the camera that makes the grilles appear very thin. In reality, you cannot see the woofers and tweeters behind the cloth.

Dave

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Very nice Prana! So when's the GTG?

haha. having just checked out the pics of your setup it won't be for a long time. My dinky system can't hold a candle (valve?) to your setup. I hate to think how much $$$ is invested in such a config.

But if there is anyone in Vic / Melbourne area who is considering Adelaide speakers kit and wants to have a listen, you are welcome to PM me and we'll tee up an audition.

Dave

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Don't be like that Prana ... i'm not out to compare yours vs. mine! I am curious about AS speakers given how much people talk about them. You are of course more than welcome to listen to mine as well. I'm in Mont Albert.

Sorry mate. Didn't mean to offend. I just suspect you would be disappointed with what you hear from my system, compared to yours.

I'm in Mordialloc. You're welcome to cruise on down the Nepean, pay me a visit and have a listen some time.

Dave

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This is my first post here (although I've had an account for a while now over at dtv), but I wanted to also say that I've much enjoyed speaking with Edward over the phone.

Must admit, I was a bit disappointed at first, because he no longer makes the subs with the 15" drivers. That said, he really came to the party, so to speak, and he will put together whatever you want.

I wanted something really powerful, and he said he could do a me a custom 2 x 12" setup with a bigger box and more powerful amp. I was really impressed with him doing that.

Told him about this place too, said the guys at stereo.net are generally speaking very highly of you. He knows he's talked about :cool:

I'm not sure if I'll go with him, but I couldn't help but be really impressed with his customer service.

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This is my first post here (although I've had an account for a while now over at dtv), but I wanted to also say that I've much enjoyed speaking with Edward over the phone.

Must admit, I was a bit disappointed at first, because he no longer makes the subs with the 15" drivers. That said, he really came to the party, so to speak, and he will put together whatever you want.

I wanted something really powerful, and he said he could do a me a custom 2 x 12" setup with a bigger box and more powerful amp. I was really impressed with him doing that.

Told him about this place too, said the guys at stereo.net are generally speaking very highly of you. He knows he's talked about :cool:

I'm not sure if I'll go with him, but I couldn't help but be really impressed with his customer service.

Hi Ventura,

Welcome to SNA and yes Edward is one of the good guys! The vast majority of his customers are more than happy with his product, knowledge, value for money, and willingness to discuss your needs thoroughly.

However, because he essentially builds custom jobs most of the time it's hard to listen before you buy and basically you're taking a risk, when you order from him, that the finished product will not be as you imagined it - however I'm certainly satisfied.

Welcome again,

Boots.

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Hi Ventura,

Welcome to SNA and yes Edward is one of the good guys! The vast majority of his customers are more than happy with his product, knowledge, value for money, and willingness to discuss your needs thoroughly.

However, because he essentially builds custom jobs most of the time it's hard to listen before you buy and basically you're taking a risk, when you order from him, that the finished product will not be as you imagined it - however I'm certainly satisfied.

Welcome again,

Boots.

Thanks for the welcome mate, it's good to be here. These forums have come up in my google searches every now and then, so it was only a matter of time :cool:

Not being able to listen to stuff first is a bit of a blow, especially when having something custom done, but I've become used to that here in Perth anyway, where there aren't (honestly) a lot of good stores.

To cut a long story short, I'm looking for a good sub to complement my home theatre. I'm honestly either thinking about going with Edward here, buying an SVS PB13-Ultra from Peter @ deephz, or importing a Seaton Submersive from the US.

While I'll end up with much better subs with those other two options, they will also cost a hell of a lot more, and I don't make a lot of money.

On the plus side, because I'm trying to save for this, I have plenty of time to think about it :)

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Hi Ventura and welcome!

There are a few options around for custom subs in Australia. Edward is only one of them.

Try Aslan http://www.aslanacoustics.com.au/

SGR http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php?t=19448

They will most likely cost a more but have very good reputations and are sponsors on the forum.

I personally love my towers from Edward, but options are never a bad thing! I have considered a sub from him, but when my towers go to around the 24Hz I can't justify the money! :cool:

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I personally love my towers from Edward, but options are never a bad thing! I have considered a sub from him, but when my towers go to around the 24Hz I can't justify the money! :cool:

I'd agree that for music, you can probably do without subs (depending on your speakers and taste in music), but for decent HT that gives you those trouser flapping kick in the guts moments, you can't beat a dedicated sub!

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Thanks for the links. I looked into both options, but they're both a bit too expensive for my liking. I really liked Edward because he was willing to do you something custom AND he seemed to care a lot about keeping the costs down for you.

Even better, I couldn't really care less about how these things look. Not to say his work looks bad, but what's really important is how it sounds. You're not looking at your equipment when the movie's playing, after all :cool:

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Thanks for the links. I looked into both options, but they're both a bit too expensive for my liking. I really liked Edward because he was willing to do you something custom AND he seemed to care a lot about keeping the costs down for you.

Even better, I couldn't really care less about how these things look. Not to say his work looks bad, but what's really important is how it sounds. You're not looking at your equipment when the movie's playing, after all :cool:

I see you are looking into a Submersive as well (on DTV). Good luck with which ever way you decise to go!

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I see you are looking into a Submersive as well (on DTV). Good luck with which ever way you decise to go!

Yeah I think I'm gonna go that route, to be honest, because if I didn't, I think I'd always be wondering "what if".

Bottom line is that I'd rather save up another month or two, and get something really good. No disrespect to Edward or anything like that, but people are absolutely raving about it, and since I'd be spending close to $1500 anyway, I might aswell go all out.

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I really liked Edward because he was willing to do you something custom AND he seemed to care a lot about keeping the costs down for you.

Yep me too.

I currently use a DIY sub from The Loudspeaker kit. When I explained to Edward that I wanted more, he was quite complimentary regarding the driver (Peerless 12" XLS) and the plate amp in use (Redgum 200w/8ohm). He suggested that instead of replacing the whole unit, I could send him the driver and amp and he can add another driver to give me a dual down firing arrangement. This would cost me less than half of a new sub from him. I plan on taking him up on that in the future. :cool:

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