Ascendo Audio's goal was to create a subwoofer with great extension in an enclosure that was modest in size, and with exceptional punch and speed. A sealed enclosure was chosen for The16, as a sealed design delivers the utmost precision and musicality.

Ascendo wanted to go beyond a 15-inch cone, and ultimately were able to fit a 16-inch woofer in an enclosure not much larger than The12. They achieved this by designing a narrow but high roll surround. No expense was spared to make this a low distortion yet very high linear excursion surround. For the cone material, they designed a triple material sandwich cone, with a Rohacell core, to be very stiff and light enough to provide the extension needed for such a small enclosure.

The motor is a triple stack magnet that provides the magnetic strength to bring the system Q low enough to have high electrical control over the woofer, but still high enough to work perfectly in a sealed enclosure. The woofer has a linear Xmax one way of 21mm, hence 42mm linear Xmax both ways.

For the amplifier section, Ascendo uses a linear power supply that can be switched between 110V or 230V, depending on the markets where it is being used. The amplifier section has a 1kW (RMS) output, with tons of dynamic headroom for undistorted peak dynamics.

The connectivity remains the same excellent design of the model The12, with Balanced XLR inputs for LFE, which is a full range design with no processing, allowing the surround processor to handle bass management. Two RCA inputs for stereo applications complete the input section, featuring a variable crossover from 50 to 150Hz. There is also a variable phase control and a gain knob to perfectly level the woofer. An auto sense feature turns the subwoofer on automatically, or there is the option to remain on at all times.

The enclosure is made from HDF, with a black ash vinyl wrap that looks clean and is easy to maintain. The16 comes with a grille covered in a black stretch fabric, that can be removed if desired.

Measurements