Ascendo The16 SUB PRO Passive Sealed Shallow

The16 SUB PRO Passive Sealed Shallow exists to solve a room problem rather than an output problem. By removing the electronics compartment and using neodymium magnets in place of conventional ceramic, Ascendo reduced the cabinet to 47 by 47 by 29.5 centimetres — under twelve inches deep — while keeping a full 16-inch driver.

The cone is a carbon rohacell composite sandwich, and the motor carries a four-inch ultra-high-temperature voice coil with 20 mm of excursion in each direction, 40 mm linear, with the coil staying inside the homogeneous part of the magnetic field throughout. That last detail is what keeps distortion low at full travel rather than only at modest levels.

Being passive, it needs Ascendo amplification behind it — the AIA2-2704, AIA4-6004, AIA2-6004 or DSP4-10K2 with DSP-4D. In exchange it fits into soffits, risers and stage fronts that will not take a conventional subwoofer of this capability.