Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[tw 2022]

Sierra 1 v2 with rsl 10e FTW?

That's about as good a value proposition as you can get ....at least in a small room...

 

[hipoagu]

What about Denton 85th anniversary for 489€ (plus shipping through internacional mailbox service)?
How do these comapre to ELAC dbr62, do they have good measurement? Saw some of those fuzzy language reviews (quite positive). Don't have the options to listen to them live unfortunately. Other options budget friendly are q3030i for 300 plus stands..or even q3050i for 540, Diamond 12.2 for 300 pair, Diamond 12.3 540 the pair...

 

[tw 2022]

What about Denton 85th anniversary for 489€ (plus shipping through internacional mailbox service)?
How do these comapre to ELAC dbr62, do they have good measurement? Saw some of those fuzzy language reviews (quite positive). Don't have the options to listen to them live unfortunately. Other options budget friendly are q3030i for 300 plus stands..or even q3050i for 540, Diamond 12.2 for 300 pair, Diamond 12.3 540 the pair...

I don't know about the Denton85... I hear they are good.... But as a value Proposition I'd go with the ascends... The 3030i gets good press, but i haven't seen the graphs... The 12.2s get good press as well , but the 12.1s are the ones that have been measured.... I might chance them, but the Sierra is a good bet..

 

[Guddu]

I don't know about the Denton85... I hear they are good.... But as a value Proposition I'd go with the ascends... The 3030i gets good press, but i haven't seen the graphs... The 12.2s get good press as well , but the 12.1s are the ones that have been measured.... I might chance them, but the Sierra is a good bet..

Someone had this asked to Erin about DBR62 vs Ascends Sierra-1 v2 and his response was that he is fan of DBR62.
I personally want to hear Ascends Sierra-1 v2 to see if it could be potential upgrade to DBR62 but these aren’t available on any HiFi stores (not near me at least).

 

[Guddu]

I'd add the Ascend Sierra 1 V2, KEF LS50 Meta, and Elac UBR62.

Just to add, All these are at least 50% more expensive than DBR62.

 

[Guddu]

I don't know about the Denton85... I hear they are good.... But as a value Proposition I'd go with the ascends... The 3030i gets good press, but i haven't seen the graphs... The 12.2s get good press as well , but the 12.1s are the ones that have been measured.... I might chance them, but the Sierra is a good bet..

I have found DBR62 quite better and clean sounding than Diamond 12.2 (imo).

 

[hipoagu]

I don't know about the Denton85... I hear they are good.... But as a value Proposition I'd go with the ascends... The 3030i gets good press, but i haven't seen the graphs... The 12.2s get good press as well , but the 12.1s are the ones that have been measured.... I might chance them, but the Sierra is a good bet..

Here you have qa 3030i graphs:
https://thenextweb.com/news/review-...-of-my-favorite-budget-speakers-and-adds-bass

 

[levimax]

The Elac's are a great example of a well designed and executed 2 way bookshelf speaker. Looking for an meaningful improvement in performance from another similar size speaker is going to be difficult and any improvements subtle at best. For real audible improvements it would be better to move up to larger 3 way tower speakers or even big 2 ways. You can only get so far with 2 way bookselves and the Elac's are about as far as you can go.

 

[jruser]

Someone had this asked to Erin about DBR62 vs Ascends Sierra-1 v2 and his response was that he is fan of DBR62.
I personally want to hear Ascends Sierra-1 v2 to see if it could be potential upgrade to DBR62 but these aren’t available on any HiFi stores (not near me at least).

I just upgraded from DBR62 to Sierra-LX and feel like it was a massive upgrade. At lower volumes they aren’t too dissimilar, but the Sierra-LX stays cleaner at higher volumes and has stronger bass.

 

[DeadAndCompany]

I just upgraded from DBR62 to Sierra-LX and feel like it was a massive upgrade. At lower volumes they aren’t too dissimilar, but the Sierra-LX stays cleaner at higher volumes and has stronger bass.

Over the last pages this discussion has started trying to find ‘upgrades’ to the DBR62. It started with speakers which cost at least 50 percent more and have no objective measurements to back up opinions.

And now a speaker at 3 times the price has entered the room.

The DBR62 is still punching sky high above its price point. Haha.

 

[DeadAndCompany]

Would you still recommend buying these speakers? Or have they already been surpassed by others at a similar price?

Yes. They are still highly recommended. Did you see the measurements at the beginning of this thread? They haven’t changed.

 

[Guddu]

Over the last pages this discussion has started trying to find ‘upgrades’ to the DBR6w. It started with speakers which cost at least 50 percent more and have no objective measurements to back up opinions.

And now a speaker at 3 times the price has entered the room.

The DBR62 is still punching sky high above its price point. Haha.

For me, the sub-base and base is the issue with DBR62 which I am trying to sort, and for my 12/12 ish room a subwoofer is a problem from space & placement prospective.
It might be difficult to sort out with 1K$ ish budget for speakers but I am still hopeful.
I had some hopes from Sierra-1 v2 but it has got kind of impossible to audition because "Hi-Fi" stores don't keep it, at least not in Atlanta/GA.

Which one have you got new?

 

[DeadAndCompany]

For me, the sub-base and base is the issue with DBR62 which I am trying to sort, and for my 12/12 ish room a subwoofer is a problem from space & placement prospective.
It might be difficult to sort out with 1K$ ish budget for speakers but I am still hopeful.
I had some hopes from Sierra-1 v2 but it has got kind of impossible to audition because "Hi-Fi" stores don't keep it, at least not in Atlanta/GA.

Which one have you got new?

I use the DBR62. Most reviews, even the ones from magazines I know of, comment on their great bass performance (of course, physics are real and they are a smallish speaker, so that it’s hard to get really low). I have no need for more with mine. At normal apartment volumes I use the variable loudness control (Yamaha amplifier).

Edit: And don’t forget the front port, which makes the DBR62 so much more practical than back ported speakers.

 

[ninetylol]

so tldr
DBR62 still great (especially for the money)
there are better speakers for more money

nothing to see here

 

[wyup]

DBR62 is an hyped speaker by Amir. No other website has praised this speaker that much. Not even Erin, who said it's just good for the price. (with which amp? He tests with Benchmark or the like). It's not that great:

1- It needs (a lot) of good (class D, AB) power to offer decent bass. Otherwise, the bass is boring and not well controlled.

2- Top end is rolled-off. There is no way out of this. Tweeter is very conservative. This makes the speaker boring to most people.

3- This speaker has a good midrange response, but again you will have to spend on a 1.5k+ AB (not D) amplifier to unveil it.

 

[DeadAndCompany]

DBR62 is an hyped speaker by Amir. No other website has praised this speaker that much. Not even Erin, who said it's just good for the price. (with which amp? He tests with Benchmark or the like). It's not that great:

1- It needs (a lot) of good (class D, AB) power to offer decent bass. Otherwise, the bass is boring and not well controlled.

2- Top end is rolled-off. There is no way out of this. Tweeter is very conservative. This makes the speaker boring to most people.

3- This speaker has a good midrange response, but again you will have to spend on a 1.5k+ AB (not D) amplifier to unveil it.

I’m sorry you don’t like measurements.

 

[TonyJZX]

I’m sorry you don’t like measurements.

the charts are there for everyone to see

i think the reason why the speakers arent as well received outside in the real world is obvious... a lot of folks dont like neutrality

that's it

i mean that's fine, we arent machines and its ok to admit that some people like a curve

 

[ZolaIII]

DBR62 is an hyped speaker by Amir. No other website has praised this speaker that much. Not even Erin, who said it's just good for the price. (with which amp? He tests with Benchmark or the like). It's not that great:

1- It needs (a lot) of good (class D, AB) power to offer decent bass. Otherwise, the bass is boring and not well controlled.

2- Top end is rolled-off. There is no way out of this. Tweeter is very conservative. This makes the speaker boring to most people.

3- This speaker has a good midrange response, but again you will have to spend on a 1.5k+ AB (not D) amplifier to unveil it.

Not even remotely! This is what you can do with very, very much effort and time invested in with very minimal budget and great majority of it went into cabinet. And that is if you are veteran designer who pretty much did it all from golden days to now and luckily enough to push it up to the end.
1) Needs deacent 100~150 W amplifier that's available even on budget for more than 20 years now.
2) tweeter response is what it needs to be, if you want cheap excitement this is not for you.
3) really take a look at measurements...
Of course it's not best speaker ever, many things could have been done better but for lot more money. Neither Amir or Erin did it right and this whose Erin's mocking bird entry to copycat Amir's measurements into speakers measurements world to start with.

Elac DBR62's crossed high @ 120 Hz are easy to drive and almost have no resonances whatsoever which is a huge achievement in such category and will remain that way.
I love when they talk dirty not really knowing even basics.

 

[wyup]

1) Needs deacent 100~150 W amplifier that's available even on budget for more than 20 years now.
2) tweeter response is what it needs to be, if you want cheap excitement this is not for you.
3) really take a look at measurements...

1) Which budget 100~150 W amplifier can drive this speaker well? You won't mean Fosi V3: it's been reported that it can't drive the woofer well, it's anemic, and it has load dependence. Which other? 400€ hypex NC12MP? No, it doesn't sound good, treble sounds damn metallic, I tried it. A 45W Onkyo sounds better, more realistic. Cheap class D doesn't have good tonality from midrange to high frequencies. Measurements can say whatever, you listen to real sounds, not pulse sweeps.
2) I don't seek for excitement. I don't mind this tweeter conservative, but I reckon (as do others) that it is. I miss a little bit more of hi-hats. High frequencies begin to roll off soon, it's on the measurements.
3) This speaker also has resonances. And It has a little bit of boxy sound. It is not well damped inside.
4) The crossover cheaps out on electrolytic capacitors. Now I won't get into comparisons since this is not the place, but kit speakers are designed around polypropilene and not polyester or electrolitics unless price conscious.

This is not a bad speaker: it can sound fine but prepare to spend x3 its price to get it. It is not the cheap star it's been hyped about: many people have given up on it: unexciting, boring.. A speaker is to enjoy not to revel on measurements with reference gear. This speaker sucks in current at 90-120Hz, -50-60º phase (said Erin & Amir). Minimum EPR above 80Hz: 2.4Ω.

P.D. Adding subwoofer to this speaker didn't help. I tried a SVS SB1000Pro, it helps with <80Hz, but it won't help above. The sub doesn't add tonality. it is a SUB-WOOFER, not replacement to bass from the speaker. I tried up crossing it at different frequencies and slopes with the Hypex, carefully levelling. And you know what? Crossing up from 80Hz sounds booming and tiresome. Yes, it adds some sub bass when crossed with care at 80Hz (recommended from a speaker database from SVS), but it doesn't help with 80-130 region if the amp isn't powerful enough. So I returned it and realised where is the problem. People enjoy it with subwoofer? I understand, but not me.

 

[ZolaIII]

1) Which budget 100~150 W amplifier can drive this speaker well? You won't mean Fosi V3: it's been reported that it can't drive the woofer well, it's anemic, and it has load dependence. Which other? 400€ hypex NC12MP? No, it doesn't sound good, treble sounds damn metallic, I tried it. A 45W Onkyo sounds better, more realistic. Cheap class D doesn't have good tonality from midrange to high frequencies. Measurements can say whatever, you listen to real sounds, not pulse sweeps.
2) I don't seek for excitement. I don't mind this tweeter conservative, but I reckon (as do others) that it is. I miss a little bit more of hi-hats. High frequencies begin to roll off soon, it's on the measurements.
3) This speaker also has resonances. And It has a little bit of boxy sound. It is not well damped inside.
4) The crossover cheaps out on electrolytic capacitors. Now I won't get into comparisons since this is not the place, but kit speakers are designed around polypropilene and not polyester or electrolitics unless price conscious.

This is not a bad speaker: it can sound fine but prepare to spend x3 its price to get it. It is not the cheap star it's been hyped about: many people have given up on it: unexciting, boring.. A speaker is to enjoy not to revel on measurements with reference gear. This speaker sucks in current at 90-120Hz, -50-60º phase (said Erin & Amir). Minimum EPR above 80Hz: 2.4Ω.

P.D. Adding subwoofer to this speaker didn't help. I tried a SVS SB1000Pro, it helps with <80Hz, but it won't help above. The sub doesn't add tonality. it is a SUB-WOOFER, not replacement to bass from the speaker. I tried up crossing it at different frequencies and slopes with the Hypex, carefully levelling. And you know what? Crossing up from 80Hz sounds booming and tiresome. Yes, it adds some sub bass when crossed with care at 80Hz (recommended from a speaker database from SVS), but it doesn't help with 80-130 region if the amp isn't powerful enough. So I returned it and realised where is the problem. People enjoy it with subwoofer? I understand, but not me.

1) try starting with Yamaha R-S/A-S 20x series and that's good (enough) old class AB.
2) - 7 dB on 12.5 KHz is fine with me, it will really depend on room and it holds to up to 17 KHz. Advice is that you look how little there is in recorded music above 12~12.5 KHz in the first place.
3) very little of them and nothing which will influence anything above 120 Hz (take a look at waterfall plot and keep in mind those are higher order harmonics).
4) if you want 500€ crossover which is strained in under 400€ speakers contact Dany (after all he have to eat same as everyone else) at least Andrew used high enough impedance drivers that such won't kick it down too low.

Yes woofers Fs is in relative high angle to phase and that's why you cut it just little above it at 120 Hz (typical for 6.5 woofers) and for another reason is that it translates right way with equal loudness compensation (100~105 Hz transition range with low self filter) of course then you preferably need two sub's. You have to pay attention to do a crossers correctly Butterwort model preferable especially in transition crossing range. If you do it bad with a hump in mid bass then it sounds like that. You first PEQ the range on both sides (sub and speaker) and then cross them to as close as possible to mathematical model and Butterwort for sake of better reproduction of real peeks in transition range. It's not a easy task to make good crossover active or pasive.
For the money you still won't find better pasive home speakers. There are lots of things that I can imagine better but that will be DIY and cost 10x more.