Ascendo The12 Be PRO

The12 Be PRO takes The15 Be PRO platform and puts most of it into a smaller and more affordable footprint. It is a 12-inch axisymmetric point source with a beryllium compression tweeter arranged centrally behind the mid-woofer, so the loudspeaker radiates from a single point and the two drivers arrive together.

Beryllium is the reason it sits above the standard The12 PRO. Its stiffness-to-weight ratio is the highest of any known metal and sound moves through it around two and a half times faster than through aluminium or titanium, which pushes the first cone breakup above anything the ear can register — taking with it the amplitude non-linearity and the stored, late-released energy that breakup produces.

It is offered passive, as an on-wall or a pre-angled wedge, and as an Active EXT model where the DSP and two-channel digital amplification are racked rather than mounted on the loudspeaker, controlled over audio-over-IP. The passive versions use the same flat wound OFC copper air core coils and silver capacitors as the rest of the PRO range. In a large theatre it takes left, centre and right; in a very large one it also makes a credible surround bed.