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.
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
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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/ |
Thank you to those who responded;..... MOFI,, you must live at CES. However, I hope you respond again to my comments about the CNET review link provided of the new Elac bookshelf speaker to be released in April. I generally respect your judgment on all things audio, BUT I don't know who this reviewer is or whether he has chronic earwax build-up .I don't have to be reminded that we all hear differently, or prize certain types of sound;, however, this reviewer candidly admits that the forthcoming Elac speaker has a "brightness" or bright side that made headbangers at CES show smile. So, unless this speaker does 99 things better, a brightness factor places it in the same category as about 90% percent of the other so-called uberkind.bookshelves. Case in point: Steven Guttenberg who is an occasional contributor to Stereophile gushed over the Wharfdale Jade 3 ($1500) which I later discovered has both a glacial break in period (1000 hours), but also has a hot or edgy top end. So much for reviews and reviewers!! I recall a new member who posted up and claimded the Jade 3's did not sound right, and was suicidal or suffered chronic buyers remorse. I responded as did about 37 other members about what he should do I advised him to return the new speakers to the dealer, and take the demoes home to see if they sounded better in his system\ as they did im the showroom Yes, he may have had a system compatibility problem which many of us hardened audiophiles think we have solved. Believe me I hope the Elac ( freakin model number needs decryption by Belchley Park) is as good as it gets for $500. With all due respect to MOFI and others, I fear that new Elac will suffer from the same post CES runaway overhype and enthusiasm. I wish the L.A. Forum (Metro) would have a hi-fi show like CES. We have just as good restaurants, hotels, escort services, acupuncture and tofu crystal practitioners as Las Vegas. As MOFI recommends, I will/might wait to April to hear the new Elac, or just buy a pair of well-refurbished of Dynaco A-25's (which I ask about in other threads related to vintage speakers that convey emotion ), and hope they don't explode from old age while playing Yes's "Close to the Edge". |
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