- Ascendo Immersive Audio launches new 64-inch and 100-inch subs
- “The largest subwoofers in the world for home cinema”
- Expect a six-figure price tag
If, like me, you think your hi-fi or home theater system’s subwoofer is pretty hot stuff, prepare to feel very small indeed. The new subwoofer from German audio firm Ascendo Immersive Audio is probably 10 times bigger than yours, and 12 times bigger than mine.
My idea of a big subwoofer is 15 inches, like the biggest KEF Kube: my own Cambridge Audio sub is a perfectly decent eight inches, and that delivers more than enough boom to fill my room. But Ascendo’s new sub is so big that it’ll fill any room before you turn it on. It’s a whopping 100 inches in diameter, making it over 7,800 square inches of surface area.
Who’s going to buy a 100-inch sub?
The new 100 Sub is designed for a very particular kind of customer: the kind who looked at the prior model, the 80 Sub (yes. that was 80 inches), and thought “oh, that’s far too small and quiet”. The driver alone weighs over 570lbs (260kg).
The 100 Sub moves as much air as 40 normal 18-inch subwoofers, the firm says, and there’s a slightly smaller 64-inch model too. “These two new subwoofers are the largest in the world for home cinema, and are incredibly powerful, efficient and fast,” Ascendo’s Geoffrey Heinzel says.
Despite the ridiculous power, these aren’t designed to be total brutes. There’s a shallower curve than the previous 80-inch model for improved performance, optimized quad suspension for greater movement, and “advanced” materials for noise-free operation. The cabinets have been redesigned too, with a reported boost to the low-end frequency response and improved damping to reduce resonance.
The price is firmly in the “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it” territory and hasn’t been officially announced, but the 80 Sub was well into six figures.
