Elac B5 and B6??? Just another flash in the pan speaker?? or worth it


Has anyone bought or now own either the Elac B5 or B6  bookshelf speaker designed by Andrew Jones.  I ask because I recall when the Wharfdale 10.1 speaker can on the market, there was a lot of good reviews and testimonials,  The same occurred with arrival of Music Hall's  "Marimba" speaker" and to a certain degree the  Dali Sensor 3. 

At the time, I was looking for a speaker to just play around with and compare to other speakers I familiar with their sound.  However, I owned the firs two models , and though they were decent sounding speaker, they were not anything special or so called "keepers"  I sold both at a lost.  My Bad!!   BTW, I did not expect a pair of Magico or Wilson's Duettes to emerge from these boxes 

However, I think it unconscionable of reviewers to hype up a product to a level of it being able to take on the "big boys" ,or ".....speakers costing 10X  as much...". Or in, the case of Elac bookshelf speakers  to cite the designer as some type of genius who whipped up these babies in his spare time!!!   

Therefore, I would like some feedback as to either how good to outstanding the Elac speakers are, or whether they are just another passing sky banner of springtime hype.  Thanks    

sunnyjim
I bought B6s for background music in my toddler grandson's basement rec room. Squeezebox Touch through autoformer passive through Pass Aleph clone amp. They are warmish, but very pleasant to listen to.  Worth thec $227 I paid. For a $1000ish system they are a nice fit.
I agree with JB0194. I bought the ELAC Debut B6 speakers and they are a VERY fun pleasant speaker to listen to. I'm powering mine with a Class D amp but I have a tube front end though. I wouldn't say they bested the Ohm Walsh Micro Short SE speakers I have as well in the same system but they are a nice warm change of pace.
I have/had both the B5 and B6 and they are indeed an excellent speaker for the money.

If you can wait for a few months and have around $500 to spend, the new ELAC Uni-Fi UB5 is even better.  Got to hear these just a few weeks ago and WOW!

http://www.cnet.com/products/elac-uni-fi-ub5/