Elac BS U5 Slim 3-way Coaxial Speaker Review

[GelbeMusik]

The harmonic order is actually labeled in the graph (click on it for larger image):
The 270 Hz one is almost entirely 2nd harmonic. The next one though 2.7 kHz) is 2nd and 3rd order.

There is so much info here, I overlooked the details. Nevertheless, the ELAC is a quite special design. Again, if it was mine I would have dumped it, taking care that nobody ever would take note. Maybe I'm a bit shy, though.

The story I could tell about locally accummulating distortion is told in post #50. The system simply gets out of hand. From an engineering perspective that should be considered a limitation, a "never exceed" warning is in order.

For the time being I'm happy to have repaired the said 12NDA520 from 18sound, that in contrast to its 0,05% distortion in the midrange (@some 100dB) had this miniscule issue with a rattling glue point. Actually it was detected with recreational listening first. Only after I've seen it in the measurements, using adopted tech to find it. My hypothesis is, that a technically experienced listener would detect mechanical issues with a driver easily. Because there is a specific signature to it.

On the other hand, ELAC addresses the Slims to an audience, which isn't really that fond of high fidelity. Of course they want to buy the best for general economic reasons. But once done, these people settle easily to what they have, not questioning its merits or flaws further. And listening volume, lets say, 75dB is way enough. Even that would make it hard to speak to each other ( measured and blind tested sighted ).

But one caveat: these are no way capable of giving the sensation of standing right besides a Bechstein grand piano. Some others can.

 

[Steve Dallas]

Old version, NO slim

http://noaudiophile.com/ELAC_UB5/

http://noaudiophile.com/ELAC_UB5_Listening_Impressions/

Interesting that he uses the term "shout" to describe these speakers. I bought a pair when they first came out, and thought the sounded like edgy, metallic shout boxes. I tried very hard to make them work, but eventually returned them.

 

[JW001]

Interesting that he uses the term "shout" to describe these speakers. I bought a pair when they first came out, and thought the sounded like edgy, metallic shout boxes. I tried very hard to make them work, but eventually returned them.

From that review:
"Back to the story of Daedalus and Icarus. Icarus's wings were amazing in design, but limited. If only he would not have flown so close to the sun, the story would have a happy ending. The ELAC UB5 speakers are technical marvels, that Jones and the team at ELAC should be proud of, but will perform well as long as you don't turn them up too much."

This, and Amirm's charts, pretty much tell why I don't hate these speakers. My office is small and I never turn the volume up beyond 1W. At that level, whether playing jazz or classical, they sound better than any other speakers I listened to. But then, my speakers were never too expensive. For UB5s I paid $350...

 

[GelbeMusik]

... "shout" ... like edgy, metallic shout boxes.

Though analogue this is a perfect recording: Alicia de Larrocha, Granados, Goyescas

The piano is trimmed to have this bell-like hardness**, no Steinway "singing", less room than usual today, no distance whatsoever, no modulated hiss (eff dlby), it penetrates the torax. So it should be, play it loud!

The ELAC are simply not made to do this. They are far from being true to the feel of music.

** every note sports a set of strings that are all slightly out of tune

 

[MediumRare]

Once again @amirm saved me a lot of money. Thanks! Still on the hunt for a wall-mountable passive speaker for large rooms.

 

[wwenze]

No point getting these over the Reference I guess, unless coaxial directivity is needed somehow. I would probably just get a KEF in that case anyway. Put some stuff around the speakers to deal with that boxy baffle and we're set.

 

[GelbeMusik]

I shut up in half a second. Only that You don't think of me as an audiophool. This the Slims could neither deliver:

Behold ... the arctopus, Exospacial Psionic Aura

A lot fun with ( intentionally ? ) verry odd mixing

CU, sorry for becoming a bit personal

 

[Laederofmen]

Which base model?

B6.2 for sure. Would love to see how they compare to the Reference model you adored.

 

[ROOSKIE]

B6.2 for sure. Would love to see how they compare to the Reference model you adored.

He has a pair of the B6.2 in line to be tested.

 

[maty]

Though analogue this is a perfect recording: Alicia de Larrocha, Granados, Goyescas

The piano is trimmed to have this bell-like hardness**, no Steinway "singing", less room than usual today, no distance whatsoever, no modulated hiss (eff dlby), it penetrates the torax. So it should be, play it loud!

The ELAC are simply not made to do this. They are far from being true to the feel of music.

** every note sports a set of strings that are all slightly out of tune

In my modded KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial I listen to a lot of piano, classical and jazz. The piano sounds very well ALWAYS. It is amazing how well orchestral masses reproduce with such a small woofer but with small instrument groups is when they stand out. Almost always from old analog masters with acoustic instrumentation and voices without autotune. Well, Hotel California sounds incredible too.

 

[rebbiputzmaker]

In my modded KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial I listen to a lot of piano, classical and jazz. The piano sounds very well ALWAYS. It is amazing how well orchestral masses reproduce with such a small woofer but with small instrument groups is when they stand out. Almost always from old analog masters with acoustic instrumentation and voices without autotune. Well, Hotel California sounds incredible too.

If I may ask, what are your mods?

 

[GelbeMusik]

In my modded KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial I listen to a lot of piano, classical and jazz. The piano sounds very well ALWAYS. It is amazing how well orchestral masses reproduce with such a small woofer but with small instrument groups is when they stand out. Almost always from old analog masters with acoustic instrumentation and voices without autotune. Well, Hotel California sounds incredible too.

Ja, I once had 7" coax from SEAS, no sub. It disintegrated at slightly elevated domestic levels. For the time being, actually since a decade or so I'm ok to have big loudspeakers around. No stand needed, which I always found a bit pretentious. This delicate 'icon' style … no, I like it to be inornate but handsome. Let alone the easy turn on the volume knob without any worries.

 

[Shazb0t]

If I may ask, what are your mods?

OMG @maty, this is the moment you've been waiting for!

 

[QMuse]

OMG @maty, this is the moment you've been waiting for!

Yep, we're seriously doomed now.

 

[PresbyByrd]

“For a second time we see that the magic of coaxial drivers tends to be more for the eye than the ear.” My first coveted speakers were the Jensen coaxials that I paired with a Craig 8-track. Went right there on the dash of my 1970 Pontiac LeMans Sport. That was likely a sign of early onset audiophoolerie . This sight has been therapeutic!

 

[Steve Dallas]

OMG @maty, this is the moment you've been waiting for!

I'm new here, and even I get this joke!

 

[maty]

I have commented on the modifications that I have been making in various threads, here and in other forums.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?search/2773254/&q=kef+q100+maty&o=relevance

The small 5.25 "coax from KEF is very good. The problem is in the savings in its implementation (furniture and crossover). Plugging the front bass-reflex and with one or two subwoofers you can get fantastic sound up to a distance of 3 meters. In the near field, without a subwoofer, it is how I use them in my second system and they are very revealing: they need excellent recordings to take advantage of them, the usual ones being counterproductive, that is, of low production quality.

What KEF has not yet achieved is its perfect integration with other woofer (KEF R300 / R3).

 

[maty]

If you want more info write me privately. In old threads images that I uploaded after closing the FTP server (January 2020) after 22 years of operation have been lost, but most of them I have saved.

 

[bobbooo]

I'm a little confused on Elac's speaker lines. I was thinking Unifi was a tier above the Debut series, but looking on their site, these seem to be cheaper?


I cross over at 100hz and don't have any problems with localization. I've tried 120hz, too, with still no problem. I think most people can't localize below 300Hz, and it gets even more true with multiple subs.

300Hz might be pushing it, but as this paper showed, a crossover frequency of 120 Hz is not localizable, with half of the listeners not even being able to localize the subwoofers at the highest crossover frequency tested of 227 Hz.

Anecdotally, I've read that the often quoted standard crossover of 80 Hz was recommended by THX partially because it was two standard deviations below the lowest frequency localizable, just to be sure. It should also be considered that the LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channel on movie soundtracks goes up to 120 Hz, which is specifically for subwoofers, definitely not intended to be localizable, so this frequency was most likely chosen for a reason.

 

[richard12511]

Just from my personal testing...

The UB5's need a very stout amp in order to sound their best. A lot of folks complain about them being fatiguing and shouty...which they 100% are if you don't feed them enough juice. Their 40WPC requirement is somewhat a joke. If you're not bringing well over 100WPC then you aren't really getting all the speaker has to offer.

Most reviews at the time reflect this as well. I think Elac did themselves a huge disservice in not spelling any of this out.

I think this should only matter if you listen really loud. Amplification shouldn't affect the sound, so if they're fatiguing and shouty on one amp, then that should be true for all amps.