Elac Adante AS-61 Speaker Review

[Abe_W]

With 30 people, the Revel/Genelec/JBL/Neumann type speakers would almost certainly win any sort of blind test like that, as you're starting to get into sufficient sample size territory. You'd essentially be recreating the blind tests that Harman and Canada did, so I'd expect the results to be similar(ie neutral speakers will win the majority preference) . That said, just like their research, I've no doubt there would be a small minority(of which probably includes you) that prefer less neutral speakers like the Adante. Part of what makes this hobby interesting is that minority of folks who prefer different speakers. It's one of the reasons we have so many different manufacturers out there making speakers that sound best to themselves.

And just to be clear, although I am critical of this speaker, I'm not in any way implying that you chose the wrong speaker, or that you might like something else better. You've obviously heard neutral speakers and learned that they're not something you like. Ultimately we have to choose what we like, as it's our brains we seek to satisfy.

When I criticize these speakers, I'm speaking more to the general populace; a vast majority of whom are far more likely to prefer more neutral speakers(like Revel, KEF, Genelec, etc.).

NEUTRAL does NOT exist in your listening experience no matter how neutral your speakers/gear/etc is. This is simply because every recording you listened to is already colored as per what the mastering apparatus's (engineer, whomever) bias/personal tastes are.

I assume Harman used a small sample of "audiophile recordings" in their test. I could completely skew their results if i expanded the playlist they used...i.e. i went in and inserted a large eclectic playlist with very different recordings in that test. You want me to screw up their test? I definitely can. I have many TBs of all kinds of music man. I will even throw in unique instruments from remote parts of the world that a dude at Harman may hear for the first time in his life.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Okay, @Abe_W, we're looking forward to the tests where you prove all of us "audioscientists" and "bananaheads" wrong. Send invitations when you're ready.

 

[Abe_W]

Okay, @Abe_W, we're looking forward to the tests where you prove all of us "audioscientists" and "bananaheads" wrong. Send invitations when you're ready.

Yeah, yeah, i'll let y'all know when i get a hold of a guy who's properly trained to administer polygraphs.....But, for sure, we could anoint the fallen with a crown made of bananas and provide a few shots of whisky when the tests are done.

Harman!! Neutral!! (my a**), it'd be real nice to put a muffler around those silly talking points.

 

[jokan]

Resurrecting this thread as it is still sold as a new product in Japan where I live. The price, double and a bit more in Japan and it's definitely not worth that price. It's also incredibly difficult to get it to interact in a room, room placement is always an issue with any loudspeaker but these, owing to its huge size for a Japanese home made worse by the completely square appearance is just horrendous.

Getting the negatives out of the way, given the time and patience to set them up in a room, the big brother version can sound fairly impressive. But not at the price that the Japanese distributor wants for them. Cut the price to 1/3 to 1/4 and it's value seems right. There isn't anything particularly special about the drivers or the crossovers. I think it maybe the only true miss made by Andrew Jones whom I have met and spoken to at length every time he came to Japan but not since the year before Covid.

Speakers that are so hard to place to get the best out of them just don't work in a modern living space. Firstly the wife factor, and the men don't like square boxes today. We want a speaker to sound great, and look elegant at the same time.

I didn't take measurements I used my ears so my review is definitely subjective, but they can sound pretty nice. It's the price again that the distributor charges that made this speaker a no-go for me. I liked the fundamental idea of using a 6.5 powered and ported into a secondary sealed enclosure for the 8" passive radiator. The bass had a nice fast and punchy quality to it. You can't hear any port noise as it's killed by enclosure design. There is some ringing which is common place with most coaxial speakers. Now the LS50Meta is just a far better all rounder and costs the "right" price even with the added tax of being an imported product in the Japanese marketplace.

Look elsewhere even if you see some used. I would steer well clear of these speakers, they had a very short production lifecycle. They are a pain to place in a room. Just impractical as a whole. And I am generally a fan of Andrew Jones designed loudspeakers. This particular series or model(s) just failed to hit the mark. A shame as the idea I thought was good. The execution however was very poor.

A link from a local dealer:
ELAC ADANTE AS-61 427,676円 or $3,936.34. You get the idea.

 

[onununo]

Let me also resurrect this thread, as I happen to own a pair for long time now (2 years?) so I think I know them well enough to say what I honestly think of them.
What best describes these speakers is that they are all about accuracy of transient reproduction. If properly driven (because they are not exactly an easy load), and after a long burn-in period to properly loosen the suspensions (internal woofer + passive radiator...), they deliver absolutely world-class detail, dynamics and "holographic" 3-D imaging. I believe this is due to their prerogative to render transients with no compression whatsoever, and in fact these speakers play "live" and make you literally hear everything, every recorded nuance across the entire spectrum (40Hz to 20kHz) that they manage to cover. Everything effortlessly "pops out" from the boxes, precisely located in space.
Regarding the bass: it may not be the deepest, but surely it is deep enough, and so who cares, especially when due to the outstanding transient response capability and low distorsion, it is so clean and fast. Yes men, I repeat for those who have judged it as slow (perhaps pairing the wrong amp?): this is a true to life, damn-fast-bass!
Their frequency response in anechoic chamber may not be purely flat, but I can honestly tell, despite I have a calibrated Neumann studio monitor system which I use daily, consisting of a pair of KH310 and a pair of KH750 DSP subs, which is knowingly flat from 20 to 20kHz, from time to time I sit in the other room to enjoy the Adantes, and when I do it it is always a good surpise. Like switching from a "technical, sterile sound" to a more "emotional" one on the Adantes. More emotional but still tremendously true to life, exactly as I like it to be. When I switch to the Adantes, I get an immediate impression of that "high end" sound so stuck in my mind since first listening to serious equipment in the 80's.
Hope my point is clear and it may be of some use to anyone wishing to consider giving this speaker a try, if he still has the chance.