Ascendo The12 Coaxial Cinema Monitor

The12 sits in the middle of the Ascendo monitor range — more dynamic and higher in output than The10, and the value proposition against the considerably more expensive The12 PRO above it. For a great many rooms it is the right answer rather than the compromise answer.

It uses a time-coherent 12-inch coaxial driver with a compression tweeter arranged centrally, so the loudspeaker behaves as a single source rather than two drivers a handspan apart. The enclosure is internally braced MDF, refined over more than two decades of cabinet work, and built to keep parasitic vibration out of the sonic image.

Efficiency is the practical headline, and at 99 dB it is the highest in the range. 121 dB continuous with 133 dB peaks means the loudspeaker reaches cinema levels without an amplifier chosen for wattage alone. At 175 mm deep and 22 kilograms it mounts on a wall without dominating it, in matte black or white gloss, taking screen channels in a moderate room or surrounds in a large one.