Finally grabbed a pair of these (used on ebay for $450 "like-new" condition). I have to echo a lot of what's been said already in this thread. These are excellent speakers and a welcome and notable upgrade over the 6.2's. I bought the 6.2's last year after reading all of the rave reviews and from day one I was disappointed with them. I was turned on to Elac by my father who had a pair of the original 6.0's which really surprised us with their strong bass and smooth/warm signature in such an affordable package. So I bought the 6.2's which I soon learned don't have strong bass, or a warm signature and they always felt lean and slightly brittle/bright/harsh. They are neutral and accurate and fine for the price, but I just couldn't understand why so many reviewers claimed massive improvements over the originals. I feel they overly compensated for the negative feedback of the 6.0's in the second generation design. The debut 6.2's actually have a quite similar sonic character to my powered Yamaha HS8 studio monitors - bright and accurate but not "enjoyable." This had me wary to upgrade to the references, as a few of the youtube guys claimed they are more like a 6.2+ and not really worth it. Granted, I prefer a warm presentation with ample bass, but I couldn't disagree more. Here are my subjective impressions of the dbr62.
In comparison to the 6.2's, the dbr62's have a punchier bass response and deeper perceived bass extension, a smoother and less overly-forward midrange, and somehow retain all of the high-end detail while presenting it in a less harsh manner. For me, the high end really hits that difficult balance between resolution and softness, so they never sound "veiled" but also do not sound harsh, grating or sibilant. I always wonder how this is achieved, as it seems more than just recessed highs, because even with heavy dsp EQ on the 6.2's I never got them to show a smooth tonality to the upper frequencies. Imaging is great, and in my room seems to envelope the ears with a more pronounced stereo-ness, vocalists/dialogue in movies is dead center, and panning effects are super accurate. There just really seems to be no gaps in the frequency response - nice and full and balanced all the way through, and I actually enjoy the little hump between 100 - 300 hz which adds a nice meatiness to the presentation without sounding "bloated." I have them paired with the newer Sonos amp and the clarity and slightly clinical nature of the little (yet powerful) Sonos class D seems to pair well with the slightly laid-back nature of these speakers. Overall just a great balance between warm/lush/musical and resolving/accurate/detailed. Amir said it in his review - what a joy!
These are a proven winner on these forums, but I'm not sure why these didn't get more love from the youtube reviewers - the overwhelming consensus is that they are boring, particularly in comparison to the Klipsch RP600M (which measured horribly here) and Triangle Bro3, neither of which I've heard so I can't comment. Does boring just mean not bright or not "U" curved in the response? I don't really find these boring at all - they bump bass nicely without a sub, have a natural mid range and smooth, resolving highs - they make almost anything I throw at them sound great. I think the hype train is just tired of solid, affordable bookshelves from A. Jones that do exactly what they are intended to do - and reviewers are looking for a new narrative. Are these speakers really too polite?
Bit out of my price range as well
