ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 Speaker Review

[mhardy6647]

Just wonderin' if anyone has tried modifications to this speaker and can comment on results:
1. Careful removal of the tweeter mesh grille. GR Research mentioned this improved the treble response.
2. Addition of dampening material to the midwoofer pressed steel frame legs. The frame legs ping noticeably. Which dampening material is best?
(1) can be done within waranty period. (2) probably best done after warranty period expires.
Thanks in advance, Trevor.

No -- but (in disclosure) I was strongly encouraged by someone over at the Polk forums to remove the mesh over the grille "for best results".
That poster definitely felt it was an improvement.

The basket damping seems like a do no harm kind of modification -- although it's not one I've heard of.

Now that my pair are gone, I am a little more objective in my assessment of them. The one thing that these ELACs do remarkably well (given their very modest price) is disappear. They can provide a convincing illusion of sound not emanating from the two little boxes! I still, all in all, didn't care for their sound, but I cannot fault their spatial properties (i.e., for the price).

 

[Steve Dallas]

Just wonderin' if anyone has tried modifications to this speaker and can comment on results:
1. Careful removal of the tweeter mesh grille. GR Research mentioned this improved the treble response.
2. Addition of dampening material to the midwoofer pressed steel frame legs. The frame legs ping noticeably. Which dampening material is best?
(1) can be done within waranty period. (2) probably best done after warranty period expires.
Thanks in advance, Trevor.

0. GR will say pretty much anything to get you to spend money with them.
1. What part of the treble response are you looking to improve? These speakers are already pretty bright. Removing the grill makes them slightly brighter in certain frequencies. In the review on page 1, @amirm pulls down the treble with EQ to tame the brightness a bit. This mod is most likely unnecessary, unless the speakers are shoved up against a wall.
2. There is no harm in doing this, but it will likely make little difference. For the ping to be audible, it has to be excited by a tone played through the speaker that is not otherwise damped by the cabinet and stuffing, and it has to leak through the port or cause a cone resonance. Andrew Jones would have taken this into account when he designed the speaker, and it is very likely not an audible concern. Any of the sticky asphalt products will work.

 

[trevor_bartram]

0. GR will say pretty much anything to get you to spend money with them.
1. What part of the treble response are you looking to improve? These speakers are already pretty bright. Removing the grill makes them slightly brighter in certain frequencies. In the review on page 1, @amirm pulls down the treble with EQ to tame the brightness a bit. This mod is most likely unnecessary, unless the speakers are shoved up against a wall.
2. There is no harm in doing this, but it will likely make little difference. For the ping to be audible, it has to be excited by a tone played through the speaker that is not otherwise damped by the cabinet and stuffing, and it has to leak through the port or cause a cone resonance. Andrew Jones would have taken this into account when he designed the speaker, and it is very likely not an audible concern. Any of the sticky asphalt products will work.

1. I believe GR said the treble response was smoother with the mesh grille removed. I use the regular speaker grille.
2. The resonator is close to the cone and that's where any ping exits. I will wait for a reply from someone who has actually tried dampening before attempting this.
3. Any advice on the port resonance? An old trick was to load the port with large drinking straws (correct length). It allows port action but damps internal port resonances.
Thanks for the fast replies everyone. It never hurts to ask and I'm surprised at the interest this topic has generated.

 

[trevor_bartram]

I'll need to run these in for a couple days in our guest bedroom. Any recommendations for a source of pink noise that'll last a couple of days?

I'd rather not use music as it'll call attention to itself.

 

[mhardy6647]

Well, in my day we used interstation hiss on the (US) FM radio band as white-noise-equivalent. That might not be all that helpful, I realize -- but, heck, maybe you have an AVR which actually has an FM tuner in it! Just turn off the FM muting and voila!


That's actually an AM antenna booster -- the AM band was being used when this photo was taken!

 

[MLaranjeiras]

I have three pairs of high rated speakers (bought them based on reviews only). With less bass than ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2, Paradigm Premier 200B wins with a more refined sound, justifying its three times more expensive price. Dali Spektor 2 is pure listening pleasure. ELAC sounds like a floorstanding speaker due its good bass, with a more discrete (neutral?) sound than Paradigm.

 

[trevor_bartram]

I have finally given in to my hearing impairment (completely deaf now in my left ear) and repositioned my present speakers (Paradigm Reference Studio 20 IIs) to favor my right ear. I tried mono but the sound lacked dimensionality. The speakers are 4ft apart on the right side of my listening room. I've fancied a change in speakers, after over twenty years listening to the Paradigms, just for change's sake. I've been listening to speakers on YT and while I can still appreciate the extra qualities of speakers costing 3-5 times the price of this Elac, the Kef LS50 Metas and Monitor Audio Silver 50s etc come to mind, the Elac cannot be beat for value for money.

 

[Teeter]

I have three pairs of high rated speakers (bought them based on reviews only). With less bass than ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2, Paradigm Premier 200B wins with a more refined sound, justifying its three times more expensive price. Dali Spektor 2 is pure listening pleasure. ELAC sounds like a floorstanding speaker due its good bass, with a more discrete (neutral?) sound than Paradigm.

Your observation is welcomed per your ears, in your environment. Then again, it may depend on the grade of amplifier, $300 vs $1000, for example. Or the AVR one is using. Lots of variables for what speaker sound the best in one's environment. Just me talking, that's all.

 

[trevor_bartram]

I have finally given in to my hearing impairment (completely deaf now in my left ear) and repositioned my present speakers (Paradigm Reference Studio 20 IIs) to favor my right ear. I tried mono but the sound lacked dimensionality. The speakers are 4ft apart on the right side of my listening room. I've fancied a change in speakers, after over twenty years listening to the Paradigms, just for change's sake. I've been listening to speakers on YT and while I can still appreciate the extra qualities of speakers costing 3-5 times the price of this Elac, the Kef LS50 Metas and Monitor Audio Silver 50s etc come to mind, the Elac cannot be beat for value for money.

I received these speakers and I'm completely satisfied with my choice. I ran them in for two days using pink noise. Their bass response is a perfect complement to their semi corner positioning (their lean bass was one reason for choosing them) without needing bass equalization* and I'm noticing more detail in the music (without them being bright). I can now replace the electrolytic capacitors in the 20+ year old Paradigms. Highly recommended.
*As with many mini monitors, the Paradigms have the boosted bass trick and require equalization (3dB at 150Hz notch filter) for male announcer vocals to sound natural.

 

[Mordor]

Little help here:

Looking for Speaker Stands For ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2, here in Europe. Target price no more than 100 euros.
USA and U.K are out of questions due taxes issues.....

Any advice?

 

[trevor_bartram]

Basically if L2, C2 and R1 were non existent L1 and C1 would form a 2nd order lowpass with an F3 of about 640 Hz. L2, C2 and R1 create a damped resonance circuit which has its impedance peak at 735 Hz The combination of both however changes the behaviour of each and the resulting FR is not so easy to calculate, especially when the impedance of frequency of the driver is not known. I would expect that F3 of the L1/c1 is moved higher.

I believe the parallel resonant circuit L2, C2, R1 compensates for a woofer anti-resonance at 700Hz. Both Erin & Amir show this resonance. I can only conclude that the woofer has changed since the original design work & the anti-resonance has disappeared. It is strange that the parallel resonance does not show up in the impedance plot.
The parallel resonant circuit could be replaced by a resistor. At high frequencies capacitors C1 & C2 are in series therefore if the parallel resonant circuit is removed C1 must be reduced. If I had a good model of the woofer these changes could be accurately predicted using a SPICE simulator.
Has anyone (other than Amir) electronically equalized the resonance, how did the sound change?
Equalization will not eliminate the 700Hz stored energy effect that shows up in the waterfall chart?

 

[reserv1990]

Hello, I need the FRD and ZMA files of an elac b6.2 tweeter. Please share these files.

 

[sool]

No -- but (in disclosure) I was strongly encouraged by someone over at the Polk forums to remove the mesh over the grille "for best results".
That poster definitely felt it was an improvement.

The basket damping seems like a do no harm kind of modification -- although it's not one I've heard of.

Now that my pair are gone, I am a little more objective in my assessment of them. The one thing that these ELACs do remarkably well (given their very modest price) is disappear. They can provide a convincing illusion of sound not emanating from the two little boxes! I still, all in all, didn't care for their sound, but I cannot fault their spatial properties (i.e., for the price).

Has anyone tried to remove the mesh from the tweeters and noticed any sound difference?

 

[trevor_bartram]

Has anyone tried to remove the mesh from the tweeters and noticed any sound difference?

In my case, the idea for removing the mesh came from a GRresearch YT vid, Danny stated a measured improvement.
My Elac's are still in warranty, might try it when warranty runs out. Good luck!

 

[MLaranjeiras]

Your observation is welcomed per your ears, in your environment. Then again, it may depend on the grade of amplifier, $300 vs $1000, for example. Or the AVR one is using. Lots of variables for what speaker sound the best in one's environment. Just me talking, that's all.

Sure. As all around. But with te time, these impressions remains.

 

[MLaranjeiras]

Your observation is welcomed per your ears, in your environment. Then again, it may depend on the grade of amplifier, $300 vs $1000, for example. Or the AVR one is using. Lots of variables for what speaker sound the best in one's environment. Just me talking, that's all.

Sure. As all around. But with the passing of the time, these impressions remains.

 

[MLaranjeiras]

In time: For me, to remove the ELAC grills without breaking the fixation tips is an adventure. Broke three already

 

[mhardy6647]

Has anyone tried to remove the mesh from the tweeters and noticed any sound difference?

Reputed in many circles to be a Very Good Idea.
I never tried it, though.

 

[mhardy6647]

In time: For me, to remove the ELAC grills without breaking the fixation tips is an adventure. Broke three already

interesting. I found the grilles to be easily removable.
I've only had trouble (in the past) with similarly-installed grilles' plastic knobbies becoming brittle over time (years!) and then breaking when the grille was removed. BTDT, as they say.

 

[Teeter]

In time: For me, to remove the ELAC grills without breaking the fixation tips is an adventure. Broke three already

I leave the grills on all my speakers. My listening distance from the mains is 6 feet. Speakers are as clear as can be to my ears.