[JeffB]

I was at The Show in Newport Beach today and was surprised to find
Andrew Jones demonstrating a new line of speakers.
He has left Pioneer and has designed a new budget line of speakers for Elac.
He was demonstrating a new bookshelf (the B5).
I must say that it sounded fantastic and will have an MSRP of $229 a pair.
In all, it looks like there will be two bookshelf models, one with a 5" cone and one with a 6" cone,
a tower speaker model, and 3 different sub-woofer models.  Two of the sub-woofer models have
built in room correction and an IPad app to configure them.
I felt that most people in the room were shocked by the quality to price ratio.
Elac is shooting for a September release.  Andrew Jones says he has spent
only 3 months on these, including custom designing all the drivers.

[srb]

http://elac.us/speakers

[jtwrace]

Did he happen to say if he will design a flagship? 

[JLM]

Thanks for the heads up, do like the idea of room EQ on the subwoofer apps, but full of questions:

- Why would Jones leave Harmon/JBL to go to ELAC?
- Why offer a 5 inch and a 6 inch 2-way of nearly the same (very average) specifications?
- Why offer a tower with nearly the specifications as stand-mounts?
- Why offer subs that require a mobile app to set up (no controls on the cabinet)?
- Specifications for the subs are not impressive (F3 of 28 - 35 Hz) and incomplete (spl at what frequency)?
- Is the S10 a pass band sub or have they chosen to only show the fancied up port side?


jtwrace: after $$$$$ Tannoys what would constitute a "flagship" ELAC??

[JohnR]

- Why offer subs that require a mobile app to set up (no controls on the cabinet)?

I think it's a great idea! Good chance of most people getting a good result and no extra hardware needed.

[poseidonsvoice]

Thanks for the heads up, do like the idea of room EQ on the subwoofer apps, but full of questions:

- Why would Jones leave Harmon/JBL to go to ELAC?
- Why offer a 5 inch and a 6 inch 2-way of nearly the same (very average) specifications?
- Why offer a tower with nearly the specifications as stand-mounts?
- Why offer subs that require a mobile app to set up (no controls on the cabinet)?
- Specifications for the subs are not impressive (F3 of 28 - 35 Hz) and incomplete (spl at what frequency)?
- Is the S10 a pass band sub or have they chosen to only show the fancied up port side?


jtwrace: after $$$$$ Tannoys what would constitute a "flagship" ELAC??

Andrew left Pioneer/Technical Audio Devices (TAD) for I'm sure personal and business reasons and not anything to do with competency. It's TAD's loss and ELAC's gain. Hopefully he'll be able to design state of the art at ELAC as well. Looking forward to it, he's at least a designer who understands the engineering and psych acoustics involved in designing a loudspeaker to perform in a ROOM unlike the others who just spew marketing gobbledygook...how their latest cabinet wall material is the next best thing, etc...! Andrew has never been afraid to bare it all (i.e. the measurements) for all to see.

A big cheers to his new collaboration.

JLM, do understand that these new designs are 'budget' designs and I'm sure Andrew was constrained by the marketing department. The differences between Andrew will lie in the crossover and waveguide implementations, compared to others. I know marketing was involved because any designer will tell you that an MTM based center channel will exhibit horizontal off axis errors, comb filtering, etc...Andrew knows that. I'm sure an upgraded version (at higher cost) will have a 5 inch mid/waveguide tweeter, flanked by a pair of 6 inch woofers. That's the way to design a center that has to 'fit' into a *horizontal* box.

The S10 appears to be just a simple ported sub, not band pass; judging from the specs.

Best,
Anand.

[brother love]

I think it's a great idea! Good chance of most people getting a good result and no extra hardware needed.

Not to mention the convenience of adjusting EQ from your listening position.

For a long time mid-fier, it's refreshing to see some interesting non-esoteric, affordable products garner attention that sound good (esp. for the money).

Lately this place has started getting a wee bit too hi-end for my budget.   Nice to see some down to earth offerings.

[JLM]

I know/understand the value of the features in the mobile app in this case and do appreciate them, but begrudge not having controls on the cabinet itself.  In general I prefer full cabinet based control with convenience features on the remote.  Like losing/breaking a remote, what happens when the app/phone dies or you lose/replace your phone and find out that the app is no longer available?  Just a dinosaur trying to live through the next mass extinction event.

IMO EQ is icing on the cake, the last step in proper setup, and should (especially for the sake of fried amps/blown drivers) never be overdone.  Am leery that most mid-fi folks would appreciate that.

Yes, I'm a fan of Andrew too.  Hope the market finds him at ELAC (don't know anything about the company). 

And am a fan of accessibly priced gear too.

[jtwrace]

jtwrace: after $$$$$ Tannoys what would constitute a "flagship" ELAC??

Cost means very little in this example.  It's the design and then the execution that means something.  This is something that Andrew Jones has a proven track record with.  ELAC has a great track record too with the construction.  I did hear their 249BE and was impressed.  However, it's not an Andrew designed speaker and that s what I want to see/hear what he does at ELAC. 

[seikosha]

Was Andrew Jones actually an employee of Pioneer?  I was always under the impression that they just contracted with him to design equipment and that he was free to work for whoever he chose, so for example, if another company wanted to use his services they could.

Anyone know the true story?

[jtwrace]

Was Andrew Jones actually an employee of Pioneer?  I was always under the impression that they just contracted with him to design equipment and that he was free to work for whoever he chose, so for example, if another company wanted to use his services they could.

Anyone know the true story?

He was an employee of TAD.

[Phil A]

They look nice.  Wouldn't mind considering the bookshelves for the office.

[zieglj01]

Yes, I'm a fan of Andrew too.  Hope the market finds him at ELAC (don't know anything about the company). 

And am a fan of accessibly priced gear too.

ELAC is from Germany - some of their products
http://www.elac.com/en/products/

I also would like to see more on the back of the Debut subs

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

[Phil A]

The sub interface is kind of different.

[Phil A]

The prices of the subs are pretty reasonable too.

[Tomy2Tone]

.

[Phil A]

The B5 speakers that Andrew was showing today at the Newport Show are nothing short of amazing. I visited 3 or 4 times because I was in denial about the cost. When I heard the gentleman running the room yesterday say $229, I thought to myself oh he must have meant $2029. Andrew was a great host and I swear every time I was in there at least 4 or 5 people would ask "where's the subwoofer?"

The term punching well above its weight definitely applies to these speakers. I'm getting a pair when they come out just for fun because I still can't believe what I heard at that price point. Very musical, engaging, and dynamic. Absolutely incredible...

That's good to hear.  From the earlier post in the thread I was looking at those for the office and wondering if they cost too much.

[Tomy2Tone]

That's good to hear.  From the earlier post in the thread I was looking at those for the office and wondering if they cost too much.

.

[DaveC113]

Cool, I can't wait to see what AJ comes up with given a larger budget!  He's a genuinely nice and humble guy, his work with TAD has produced some of the best speakers, if not THE best speakers in the world, imo.

I wonder what's up with him leaving Pioneer though, they have to have some of the best resources in the world for developing speakers... those TAD beryllium drivers were made in house, this isn't something most speaker companies are capable of.

[TomS]

I wonder what's up with him leaving Pioneer though, they have to have some of the best resources in the world for developing speakers... those TAD beryllium drivers were made in house, this isn't something most speaker companies are capable of.

Except maybe Elac