[srb]

Back to the topic, I'm wondering if the B5 is the sweetheart of the line, the larger driver in the B6 often muddies the sound in many inexpensive speakers.  The F5 is not receiving the same accolades as the B5, anyone compare the two bookshelves side by side?

I'm curious too.  Many of these speakers will find themselves connected to a lower cost integrated amplifier or receiver, so I'm leaning toward the additional 2dB of sensitivity of the B6.

I'm sure there will be a number of people who buy both to assemble an HT system, so I'm guessing that within a few months we'll get to hear a few actual hands-on comparisons between B5 and B6.

Steve

[Wind Chaser]

You obviously haven't heard the ELAC line.

A cheap crossover is a cheap crossover regardless of who designed it. I'm sure Mr Jones did the best he could within the allocated budget, but to say or even suggest that Danny couldn't build a better crossover indicates you are heavily invested in rainbows and unicorns. 

[S Clark]

There are quite a number of very good crossover designers here at AC, and they all build to price points.  Jones is a very talented one, but not the only very talented one.  I think it is beyond question that almost any speaker can be improved until you get into the extreme high end.  A $500 speaker surely can be improved with and extra $200 in crossover components, cabinet braces, or deadening material.   

[Whitestix]

Interesting comments from a thoughtful crowd. With another day of listening to my new B6's, they do not fail to satisfy.  However, I did swap back in my Dali Zensor 1 monitors, their lowest-cost speaker I believe or nearly so, and while the sound of the Dali's is not nearly as expansive as the B6's, the Dali's do have a greater sense of delicacy and poise (not very descriptive, I admit) than the B6's.   Remember this is with about 35 hours on the ELAC's so take that into account.  At any rate, AJ has created a hell of a speaker at its price point and after listening to 6 hours of classical music on the B6's today, they are very very enjoyable.  As I listen to 98% jazz, I might be inclined to think that the B6's will truly fit the bill for a rocker and maybe the Dali's shine a bit more in the presentation of jazz.  It is not fair to conclude anything until I get the B6's run in so there is that.  And, as I sit here listening to them, I just smile at the fact that they only cost $300! The LF response of the B6's betters that from the Dali's by a fair margin and I think that aspect of the B6's sound has a lot of appeal.

To the issue of buying US gear only, I appreciate patronizing US companies of all sorts and have done so.  But those that say that they only buy US gear, the fact of the matter is that 90% of all consumer products are built overseas or at least most of their parts are.   I doubt that hardly anyone can say that they have a flat screen TV sourced and built in the US, as an example.  Does anybody have the cell phone or computer built in the US?  Rather doubtful.  On the other hand, lots of Toyota's are assembled in the US.  So, it is an international economy and enjoy your participation in it.  That is my take anyway.

To the issue of tweaks to the new ELAC speakers, I will say that I have had a least a dozen pieces of gear tweaked over the years, going back to a Hafler amp and preamp in the 80's to my current Oppo 103 CD player.  I nearly all cases, the improvement was sonically noticeable and rewarding.  That said, almost never were the cost of the tweaks recoverable upon resale.  If you have a legacy piece of gear, no worries.  However, if you are like me, and have a penchant for swapping gear on a routine basis, the costs of the tweaks never ever pencils out.   Tweaking the B6's with what Danny has in mind might or might not make sense unless you can do the tweak yourself, which I can not.  In closing, it is a joy hooking up with you learned folks on the C&C forum as it took me many years to find this niche in the audio world.  A parting thought, as a frame of reference, I reiterate my earlier comment that I much prefer the B6's to the KEF LS50's, the much heralded, but to my ears, a vastly over-rated speaker and difficult to drive.  All the best, Whitestix

[Hugh]

Well said.

Interesting comments from a thoughtful crowd. With another day of listening to my new B6's, they do not fail to satisfy.  However, I did swap back in my Dali Zensor 1 monitors, their lowest-cost speaker I believe or nearly so, and while the sound of the Dali's is not nearly as expansive as the B6's, the Dali's do have a greater sense of delicacy and poise (not very descriptive, I admit) than the B6's.   Remember this is with about 35 hours on the ELAC's so take that into account.  At any rate, AJ has created a hell of a speaker at its price point and after listening to 6 hours of classical music on the B6's today, they are very very enjoyable.  As I listen to 98% jazz, I might be inclined to think that the B6's will truly fit the bill for a rocker and maybe the Dali's shine a bit more in the presentation of jazz.  It is not fair to conclude anything until I get the B6's run in so there is that.  And, as I sit here listening to them, I just smile at the fact that they only cost $300! The LF response of the B6's betters that from the Dali's by a fair margin and I think that aspect of the B6's sound has a lot of appeal.

To the issue of buying US gear only, I appreciate patronizing US companies of all sorts and have done so.  But those that say that they only buy US gear, the fact of the matter is that 90% of all consumer products are built overseas or at least most of their parts are.   I doubt that hardly anyone can say that they have a flat screen TV sourced and built in the US, as an example.  Does anybody have the cell phone or computer built in the US?  Rather doubtful.  On the other hand, lots of Toyota's are assembled in the US.  So, it is an international economy and enjoy your participation in it.  That is my take anyway.

To the issue of tweaks to the new ELAC speakers, I will say that I have had a least a dozen pieces of gear tweaked over the years, going back to a Hafler amp and preamp in the 80's to my current Oppo 103 CD player.  I nearly all cases, the improvement was sonically noticeable and rewarding.  That said, almost never were the cost of the tweaks recoverable upon resale.  If you have a legacy piece of gear, no worries.  However, if you are like me, and have a penchant for swapping gear on a routine basis, the costs of the tweaks never ever pencils out.   Tweaking the B6's with what Danny has in mind might or might not make sense unless you can do the tweak yourself, which I can not.  In closing, it is a joy hooking up with you learned folks on the C&C forum as it took me many years to find this niche in the audio world.  A parting thought, as a frame of reference, I reiterate my earlier comment that I much prefer the B6's to the KEF LS50's, the much heralded, but to my ears, a vastly over-rated speaker and difficult to drive.  All the best, Whitestix

[Russell Dawkins]

I did swap back in my Dali Zensor 1 monitors, their lowest-cost speaker I believe or nearly so, and while the sound of the Dali's is not nearly as expansive as the B6's, the Dali's do have a greater sense of delicacy and poise (not very descriptive, I admit) than the B6's.   

I wonder to what extent this difference, break-in aside, is attributable to the 5.25" driver vs the 6.5" driver of the B6. This does make me curious about this aspect and now wonder whether the B5 sounds better in the mids than the B6 and, for me, outweigh the value of the 2 dB extra sensitivity and the greater bass extension.

[Zero]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Whitestix.   I absolutely love the Dali Zensor 1's.  Treat em' right, and they'll give you GREAT tone!

[Tomy2Tone]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Whitestix.   I absolutely love the Dali Zensor 1's.  Treat em' right, and they'll give you GREAT tone!

Dude, just saw your review of the Dali's that was posted on Audioshark. Well done!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4s1XJ4Rr8

I'm glad you mentioned the type of component that would go best with them. I have a Lepai 2020a that I use at work and I'm hoping the ELAC B5 will be a good mate whereas from your description of the Dali's they may not.

[Whitestix]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Whitestix.   I absolutely love the Dali Zensor 1's.  Treat em' right, and they'll give you GREAT tone!

Right on, Zero. I love the detail and precision of the Dali's, everything sounds just about right from such a small cabinet.  I would like to hear more of their speakers in the future, of which they seem to have dozens.  I listened to them for a while with a Dared SL2000a tube preamp and Primaluna Prologue 4 35 wpc amp and, just as one expects from tube amplification, the soundstage was just HUGE!   Much wider and deeper, for sure.  I find that sound to be very intoxicating, but after a while, I missed the more tuneful precision and particularly, the LF control with my Music Fidelity 3i ss integrated amp, but at the loss of the huge soundstage.  It is a plus/minus deal with the sound of tubes vs.SS gear, unless one spends mega-bucks.  I am going to split the difference later today and swap the Dared preamp back into the system with a DIY ClassD amp to see if I get the best of both worlds.  The ClassD amp costs all of about $100 and is very clean sounding.  We did an A/B test at a past San Francisco Audio society event of the ClassD amp against a highly modified full Class A amp (I forget the brand) and 2/3's of the listeners preferred my ClassD amp.  The Dared, at its price point, with some better Mundorf caps, is quite satisfying for those of us devotees of cheap and cheerful gear.

I suspect a lot of speakers will give the B6's a run for their money in the budget speaker realm, but listening to them again all day, I am very happy with them.  One observation I could make of the B6's it that they sound like big floor standing speakers with a good deal of LF energy, but of course are modest-sized monitors.  I can't find really anything to fault them on, other than they are not quite as resolving of inner detail as the Dali's.  I am going to pick up a pair of B&W 686 S2 monitors to compare to the B6's and the Dali's, based on their uniformly great reviews.  Of course the B&W speakers cost 2X the price of the B6's. 

[Meicheng]

I don't think the Elac Debut speakers will be giant killers, slaying speakers costing many times more.  But I do think if you compare the Elacs to many other speakers in the sub-$1000 price range they will more than hold their own (at least based on my hearing them at a couple of the audio shows).  It is no small feat selling a decent or good sounding speaker at the price point of the Elac Debut series.

[Whitestix]

I don't think the Elac Debut speakers will be giant killers, slaying speakers costing many times more.  But I do think if you compare the Elacs to many other speakers in the sub-$1000 price range they will more than hold their own (at least based on my hearing them at a couple of the audio shows).  It is no small feat selling a decent or good sounding speaker at the price point of the Elac Debut series.

Sir,
I agree with your observation, particularly that ELAC has created such an excellent-sounding monitor for a small price. I keenly await a comparison between the B5 and B6 versions, and more particularly, a comparison of either of them to the KEF LS50's.  If lots of folks prefer the ELACs to the $1500 KEFs, then they might be judged to be "slayers of speakers costing many times more".  While I haven't had the KEF's in my system for a couple of years, my recollection is that the B6's are much more musical to my ears.  The KEF's always were perceived by my ears as a being very aggressive and tapped out the ability of my then 175 wpc Plinius integrated amp to drive them to decent SPL's.  In contrast, my 35 wpc Music Fidelity integrated amp drives the B6's to thunderous SPL's with clarity and with ease.   YMMV, of course.  Sorry for drifting off topic and I again say I agree with the thrust of your comment.  With the robust offerings of sub-$500 monitors on the market, it bewilders me why every home and dorm room in the US doesn't have a pair of such speakers. 

[Zero]

Hey Tomy -   Thanks for watching my review!  I think you're right on the money.  There's a good chance that the Lepai won't mesh all too well with the Dali Zensor 1's.  It's not a power issue so much as a tonal issue.  The B5's would be a safer bet.

Meicheng -   I think you're right.  The ELAC's are unquestionably excellent loudspeakers.  I wouldn't go so far as to call them giant killers, but I do believe that Andrew and the team just set the bar for what can be achieved for the money.  After all, it's important to note that the aforementioned Dali Zensor 1's are double the cost of the new ELAC B5 monitors.

Whitestix -   Class-D can positively kick ass when done the right way.  Couple a cheap n' cheerful amp like that with something like your Dared, and you should get a very well-rounded, enjoyable presentation.   Let us know how you like the combo with your new ELAC's.   

[DaveC113]

Sir,
I agree with your observation, particularly that ELAC has created such an excellent-sounding monitor for a small price. I keenly await a comparison between the B5 and B6 versions, and more particularly, a comparison of either of them to the KEF LS50's.  If lots of folks prefer the ELACs to the $1500 KEFs, then they might be judged to be "slayers of speakers costing many times more".  While I haven't had the KEF's in my system for a couple of years, my recollection is that the B6's are much more musical to my ears.  The KEF's always were perceived by my ears as a being very aggressive and tapped out the ability of my then 175 wpc Plinius integrated amp to drive them to decent SPL's.  In contrast, my 35 wpc Music Fidelity integrated amp drives the B6's to thunderous SPL's with clarity and with ease.   YMMV, of course.  Sorry for drifting off topic and I again say I agree with the thrust of your comment.  With the robust offerings of sub-$500 monitors on the market, it bewilders me why every home and dorm room in the US doesn't have a pair of such speakers.

They are nice sounding speakers for the price but not at the same level vs the LS50 imo. There's no getting around the fact the ELAC uses an inexpensive tweeter and good tweeters aren't cheap. Not that the ELAC tweeter sound bad, it's fine... probably very good for the price of the speaker but the LS50's concentric drivers are far better imo.

[Meicheng]

Hey Folks.  I am interested in hearing peoples comments/observations/reviews of the ELAC speakers, in particular the bookshelf speakers, now that some people have had them for a little while.  Thanks. 

[MLS]

I have had a pair of B6's since Monday evening.  I have let them play as much as possible while I am home and away.  They sounded pretty good out of the box.  Two nights later did not sound very good at all.  I spent a couple hours listening today and they sound great.  Different than the Pioneers.  They have ample bass and seem very balanced.  The mid range was a little hot today but that may be part of the break in process and the fact that I have them hooked up to a SMSL Q5 right now.  I will hook them up to my main rig when they have another week or so of hours on them to see how they sound in my main rig.  They are a no brainer if you are looking for a great sounding speaker.

They are much bigger than my assortment of other bookies.

Scott

[Tomy2Tone]

So has anybody who attended the show at Newport or the CAS in northern CA and heard the ELAC B5's had an opportunity to get a pair for themselves? I've had the B5's for about a week now and had intended to set them up at work for a desktop kind of setup. Unfortunately they didn't quite workout as they need more space than I was going to give them. My little Nappa Acoustics work much better and have much better detail.

I've tried since Friday to get them in my home system with some pretty decent electronics to get them to perform they way they sounded at Newport. They seem to be pretty particular about placement, not too close to the back wall but not too far away. About 7 to 8 feet apart appear to be the best sounding in my room. They don't sound anywhere near what I heard at Newport. Almost to the point I'm wondering if  they're the same speaker. They sounded so good at Newport I wondered what could they possibly come out with next that will garner someone paying more money for the performance the Debut was giving.

Just curious if it's just me or if anybody is experiencing the same thing. Since they didn't work out for my office/shop I will be either selling them or giving them back to Amazon.

[JLG440]

They are nice sounding speakers for the price but not at the same level vs the LS50 imo. There's no getting around the fact the ELAC uses an inexpensive tweeter and good tweeters aren't cheap. Not that the ELAC tweeter sound bad, it's fine... probably very good for the price of the speaker but the LS50's concentric drivers are far better imo.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Maybe the drivers are better but the sound not as good as the Elac. That's why Mr. Jones is so good creating this kind of sound with inexpensive drivers.                                                                                                                                        

[DaveC113]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Maybe the drivers are better but the sound not as good as the Elac. That's why Mr. Jones is so good creating this kind of sound with inexpensive drivers.                                                                                                                                        

Or, the marketing campaign was really good. 

[RDavidson]

Andrew Jones is an awesome engineer, not a miracle maker. Enjoy the Elacs for what they are : Budget speakers that perform highly in many parameters similar to more expensive speakers. Stop being so concerned about their place in the market. If you bought them and enjoy them, then what else really matters?

[Hugh]

I can't say any better.

Andrew Jones is an awesome engineer, not a miracle maker. Enjoy the Elacs for what they are : Budget speakers that perform highly in many parameters similar to more expensive speakers. Stop being so concerned about their place in the market. If you bought them and enjoy them, then what else really matters?