Elac BS U5 Slim 3-way Coaxial Speaker Review

[GelbeMusik]

Always when I measured distortion and 2nd and 3nd and higher harmonics peak'ed at the same freq. there was something rattling. If there was a peak like 2% right in the mids at only 86dB I would consider the product defective.

It's a pitty, because the disperion is promising, but distortion a no go. Whatever else might be good here, it kills the product. ELAC shall take note.

 

[stevenswall]

I don't see how you come to this sweeping statement. I'd say that there's simply a vast difference in R&D between coaxial as a gimmick and as a feature, as Genelec or KEF showed us.
Anyway, ELAC proved that it doesn't belong to the second kind and should content itself with making good/better traditional speakers.

That's sad, because they do have models now with better port design which is what made me return a Navis due to chuffing (same driver sizes as this, but remade, and it is active,) and I would think that Andrew Jones could fix this issue with coaxials... Unless TAD ones also have those issues with their beryllium coaxial drivers.

 

[BurgerCheese]

I have these as well as KEF Q150 and Q350. The KEFs seems better to me (all used with a subwoofer). The UB5 are ok, maybe a bit dull at low volumes, but sound strange when volume is above 85 dB. I did some measurements when I got them, the distortion was bad, but I can't recall it being this bad.

 

[gfx_1]

Hence "tends to be" and "for a second time,"
Budding audiophiles often do ascribe a type of magic to coaxials (I was one of them) because sound emanating from one point in space has to be better than spatially separated drivers.

I listened to the Manger Schallwandlers 21 years ago. That was a point source, but the 4-way next to them had it easier when a lot of music was happening, but indeed more vertical. Ended up with the less expensive 4-way system, still have them.

 

[981CS]

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.

 

[aarons915]

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.

This is interesting and you're not the first I've heard mention this about the UB5 so this comment isn't directed at you but just as this general idea that certain speakers need certain amplification. Have you or anyone measured the UB5 with a cheaper receiver and then with a power amp to confirm that they actually measure differently with an amp because if they sound that different then surely that would show up in measurements. The other odd thing is that based on the distortion measurements, they won't sound good putting anywhere close to 100 Watts into them, you can see they are tapping out with just a couple watts per the distortion measurements.

 

[BurgerCheese]

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.

I have tried mine with amplifiers from 12-300W. Negligible difference. If I give them more than 1 watt they sound odd, even unpleasant depending on source material.

 

[Ty55555]

I guess everyone has different tastes or I'm just to new. I'm using a $299 pioneer AVR and they sound great and I don't have to use much power to get them loud enough

 

[BurgerCheese]

I guess everyone has different tastes or I'm just to new. I'm using a $299 pioneer AVR and they sound great and I don't have to use much power to get them loud enough

I guess it depends whats your point of reference?

The guy I bought mine from contacted me several times and wanted them back. He was using them with a tube amp if I recall correctly. He probably didn't mind the distortion.

I own something like 16 pairs of speakers, the UB5 isn't the worst, but definitely in the bottom half.

 

[GelbeMusik]

I have tried mine with amplifiers from 12-300W. Negligible difference. If I give them more than 1 watt they sound odd, even unpleasant depending on source material.

Sure. With one watts these guys are pretty much over the cliff. Reiterated, distortion matters. If a speaker has a severe peak, say 1% or even below, but acummulating all the harmonics at the same peak, that actually is perceptible as: "ouch!". The hearing would take the information as an alert. That it is highly unmusical is taken for granted.

I cannot imagine to drive a speaker even farther to equalize, sorts of, the distortion profile?! Nobody would do that.

On the other hand, who would actually expect real high fidelity from this product, I mean with some substance in the physical presentation, impact? A lifestyle accustomed to share the latest pop song on the eye-phone with all the gals in the office, doesn't need more. Normal speech is about 60..70dB, only to give a reference. I ask for more from my 4 x 12inch midwoofers plus, ehm, horn. But rarely.

Anecdote 7: Just today I got an 18sound 12NDA520 repaired. It had, at levels way beyond 90dB some sisseling, wheezing. Very very low in level--about minus 50dB or so. The spectrum was contaminated up to a high 10kHz, though. It was abandoned for years. Reason was: an intermediate glue point for the leads at the spider was a little loose. At 554Hz the spider gets into resonance and the miniscule rattle copies through the paper cone to the outside. Nasty ... it spoiled all the fun with these overengineered oddballs.

 

[981CS]

This is interesting and you're not the first I've heard mention this about the UB5 so this comment isn't directed at you but just as this general idea that certain speakers need certain amplification. Have you or anyone measured the UB5 with a cheaper receiver and then with a power amp to confirm that they actually measure differently with an amp because if they sound that different then surely that would show up in measurements. The other odd thing is that based on the distortion measurements, they won't sound good putting anywhere close to 100 Watts into them, you can see they are tapping out with just a couple watts per the distortion measurements.

Hoffman's Iron law comes into play here. It's a 4ohm speaker in a small box with something like 85db sensitivity. If one expects to get the full dynamics out of such a speaker then you're going to need the power to do so.

 

[amirm]

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 most bookshelf speakers need a lot of power. TO be clear, I use a 1000 watt amp to drive these speakers so power was not an issue in my case.

 

[Ty55555]

I guess it depends whats your point of reference?

The guy I bought mine from contacted me several times and wanted them back. He was using them with a tube amp if I recall correctly. He probably didn't mind the distortion.

I own something like 16 pairs of speakers, the UB5 isn't the worst, but definitely in the bottom half.

Yep, my last speakers were Sony cores and these are much better. I paid $340 and I'm sure if I bought $1000 speakers , they would sound better. Speakers are a blind item. My only way if testing them was through Cruchfield listening and to me these sounded the warmest and had the most dynamic range of the speakers I heard up to $600.

 

[monkeyboy]

Thanks for the great work Amirm...I picked up a pair of Un-fi UB5s based on the review hype...I would have gone for active studio monitors if I had know better at the time...

 

[ROOSKIE]

This is interesting and you're not the first I've heard mention this about the UB5 so this comment isn't directed at you but just as this general idea that certain speakers need certain amplification. Have you or anyone measured the UB5 with a cheaper receiver and then with a power amp to confirm that they actually measure differently with an amp because if they sound that different then surely that would show up in measurements. The other odd thing is that based on the distortion measurements, they won't sound good putting anywhere close to 100 Watts into them, you can see they are tapping out with just a couple watts per the distortion measurements.

They absolutely not tapping out at 86db. These are high distortion numbers relative to some other speakers, that said the jury is way, way, way out on what distortion is readily audible in a speaker. Generally it is a surprisingly high number that is considered an issue.
I need to spend some more time with them but at the higher volumes I listened at (85-90db with peaks much higher) I really did not find the distortion to be a large issue.
This distortion is all lower order as well and many will actually like it. This is why tube amps and vinyl sell.
If you listen to anything with a lot of distortion already such as electronic mixes, electric guitars and much more you already like music with mucho distortion.
All this said I personally need to listen more to the speakers. A few hours is not enough. They are good enough to give them more time. I purchased them for a non personal (for someone else)reason but before I pass them along I do want to play with them for a few more hours.

 

[GelbeMusik]

... the jury is way, way, way out on what distortion is readily audible in a speaker ... This distortion is all lower order as well and ...

Maybe the new saying holds for regular distortion. You say it was only lower order. I didn't find any reference for such a claim. Would You mind to explicate?

 

[richard12511]

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?

That could cause localization problems. The frequency response could go a bit lower, but distortion starts rising <60Hz, and since bass management crossovers aren’t instant, the standard 80Hz crossover would do nicely.

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.

 

[Sonny1]

Wow! This result surprised me. I looked at the original version of these and I’m glad I didn’t pull the trigger. Based on general internet reviews of Elac speakers including the coax designs, I expected more from these speakers. For the money, they do not perform. My views on distortion need to change as well. These types of reviews are what I like best about ASR. Still, I never imagined these speakers would perform so poorly.

Thanks Amir!

 

[Ty55555]

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.

The regular Unifi B5 retail for $579 The Debut Reference retail for $599. The Unifi are Often on sale however

 

[amirm]

Maybe the new saying holds for regular distortion. You say it was only lower order. I didn't find any reference for such a claim. Would You mind to explicate?

They 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.