Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[wje]

Thanks for you early review and the pictures... But the really great question is elsewhere. From the kitchen, does your wife has noticed the now organic retranscription bla bla bla?

Andrew Jones eplained in an interview the difference between USA and Europe. In USA the public in audio fair is 99.9999% men. In Europe all the family is coming to the show. It means also some women are interested in the subject and listening to music is not a pleasure only for the man in the house.

LoL. I'm in a condominium and have a half-wall with a bar that divides my living room. I always perform a listening test from that position too because I love to cook. In my living room, I'm about 8 feet from the speakers. In the kitchen, about 18 feet from the speakers and the sound is good there, too. Even my girlfriend likes the new Elacs, but told me not to sell the JBL 530s as we'll redeploy them to the guest room at some point.

I have a vaulted ceiling in my condominium and I'm currently in the process of building a sound wall because I think my upstairs neighbor isn't too happy with the bass. I'm up on my ladder - and the ceiling there is about 11' from the floor. ALL the bass is up there from the Monoliths. Seriously. No wonder why my neighbor isn't happy. I didn't answer the door last time she tried to reach me a few weeks back. If she does, I'll ask her if she has any special requests for me to play.

 

[estuardo4]

LoL. I'm in a condominium and have a half-wall with a bar that divides my living room. I always perform a listening test from that position too because I love to cook. In my living room, I'm about 8 feet from the speakers. In the kitchen, about 18 feet from the speakers and the sound is good there, too. Even my girlfriend likes the new Elacs, but told me not to sell the JBL 530s as we'll redeploy them to the guest room at some point.

I have a vaulted ceiling in my condominium and I'm currently in the process of building a sound wall because I think my upstairs neighbor isn't too happy with the bass. I'm up on my ladder - and the ceiling there is about 11' from the floor. ALL the bass is up there from the Monoliths. Seriously. No wonder why my neighbor isn't happy. I didn't answer the door last time she tried to reach me a few weeks back. If she does, I'll ask her if she has any special requests for me to play.

Living in a condominium is a nightmare for both my neighbors and me. I have to listen to whatever they are playing at all hours and they have to listen to my excellent taste in music

Walls and floor/ceilings are so thin...

edited because there are a LOT of sites giving advise on how yo isolate rooms without braking the bank.

 

[wje]

Do any of you have an idea on how to isolate your room without braking the bank? I rarely listen at loud volumes, but my neighbors do

My place was built 28 years ago, so it's pretty sturdy. Just that one section of the wall by the vaulted ceiling I'm working on (3' x 11'). Otherwise, the did put insulation in between the floors, and 2" of self-leveling concrete over the sub-floor. I usually don't tend to overdue it with the volume, but just that "bass pit" that I noticed on the ladder has me glad I'm spending a few bucks to do the wall. I'm isolating the studs with air wrap and using rockwool insulation and sound-proof drywall - but it's $56 for a 4' x 8' sheet.

Aside from that, headphones can be an option, but I've been there done that, with many of the Focal models. I didn't like to isolate myself in a corner to listen and would much rather prefer speakers to listen to.

I'd love to see how the Elac Debut Reference would compare to the Buchardt S400. Not that I'm proclaiming huge and unreal amounts of love for the Elac Debut Reference, but I do believe in the board rooms of many competing manufacturers, Andrew Jones' name is equivalent to a cuss word with what he's delivering for the cost.

 

[beefkabob]

The opposite to me!
One of the reasons I have never bought a Porsche was the plethora of options and their cost!
They are good cars and until recently one of the few manufacturers still making small lightweight cars. I detest big, heavy inefficient cars.

FRS/BRZ/GT86.

I could have bought a Porsche. Decided not to. Super happy with my decision 7 years later. I do wish I didn't get an auto transmission, though. JUST KIDDING! I'm not stupid.

 

[aarons915]

FRS/BRZ/GT86.

I could have bought a Porsche. Decided not to. Super happy with my decision 7 years later. I do wish I didn't get an auto transmission, though. JUST KIDDING! I'm not stupid.

I hope I never say something like this...that will mean I'm officially over the hill lol...

 

[Daverz]

I'm in a similar situation in a 2nd floor condo sharing 3 walls with neighbors. However, our insulation seems to be pretty good (terrible single pane windows, though, which I should really get replaced). I do wonder about adding a subwoofer just to reinforce the bass of my Buchardt S400s just a tad in the 30-80 Hz range, but I'm afraid it might be too much.

 

[beefkabob]

I hope I never say something like this...that will mean I'm officially over the hill lol...

I'm not stupid as in I did get the manual.

 

[aarons915]

I'm not stupid as in I did get the manual.

Aww good man, I thought you got the auto!

 

[AmadeusMozart]

Could be, any contemporary versions available? (Harbeth at $2k+ per pair is a little steep).

Proac Tablette 10 perhaps?

 

[tuga]

Could be, any contemporary versions available? (Harbeth at $2k+ per pair is a little steep).

What about a pair of ATC SCM7s or SCM11s?

 

[wje]

Acoustically transparent? To what degree? It appears that the same "tweed" grills are used on both the Walnut and the Oak versions of the Debut Reference speaker - from the pictures I've seen. They are actually some nice grills - sleek, thin, attractive with many decors. Yet, I'm questioning the level of acoustic transparency. I'm currently listening with both the grill on, as well as off. I've provided some thumbnails of the grills below, that you can click on an view larger versions. The tweed fabric does have any additional backing as you'll see in the 2nd photograph. I believe all grills can potentially have some degree of affect on acoustic transparency.

Though, this morning, I do have the grills on the speakers and am listening to some simple jazz with the Elac Debut Reference speakers. Through most of Saturday, as well as yesterday, I didn't have truly "alone" time with these speakers as my girlfriend was home with me. However, now is where the rubber hits the road. I'll be teleworking today and spending a lot of solo time with the Elacs. I'm using my shorter 24" stands because I'm in the process of painting the 28" stands. But, I'm also feeling, and hearing, maybe the 24" stands might be the better stand height - even though my new listening seat is a few inches higher than the old listening chair that I move to the side after use for about 3 years. Ah... the madness never ends. Back to some more Cubano coffee and jazz.

 

[FrantzM]

A bit O.T.

I'm in a similar situation in a 2nd floor condo sharing 3 walls with neighbors. However, our insulation seems to be pretty good (terrible single pane windows, though, which I should really get replaced). I do wonder about adding a subwoofer just to reinforce the bass of my Buchardt S400s just a tad in the 30-80 Hz range, but I'm afraid it might be too much.

A bit OT. Adding a subwoofer or more is not a quantity of bass issue, it is quality and quantity. More subwoofer allows you to have better bass in any rooms, the smaller room counter-intuitively require subwoofers for better not more bass. Adding low frequency radiators aka subwoofers allows more output in the bass of course but ...

I would love to see Amir test the Linkwitz LX Mini speaker. I am frankly waiting for that review to make a decision.

 

[hardisj]

Thumbnails of more pictures of the speakers and the finish are attached below. Just click on the thumbnail for a larger image.

View attachment 56179View attachment 56180View attachment 56181View attachment 56182View attachment 56183

This is killing me! Haha. I can't wait to get mine back, but I told Amir to not worry about rushing; I know he's got a lot on his plate as it is. Still, I'm looking forward to getting them and getting some time with them. Good news is I can probably put them in my living room and my wife might not even notice with all the bookshelving around the TV.

In the meantime I need to order stands. I saw you mention you have monoliths... Are you happy with them?

 

[wje]

In the meantime I need to order stands. I saw you mention you have monoliths... Are you happy with them? I'm currently between them and another set that's about $40 cheaper than the 36" monoliths I'd need.

Yes, the Monolith stands are very solid stands. I believe I've read that they're the same as the Pangea Audio stands - without the label on them. The Pangea stands run about $200 a pair. You need 36" stands? For regular music listening, or surround duty?

 

[lonewolf]

Acoustically transparent? To what degree? It appears that the same "tweed" grills are used on both the Walnut and the Oak versions of the Debut Reference speaker - from the pictures I've seen. They are actually some nice grills - sleek, thin, attractive with many decors. Yet, I'm questioning the level of acoustic transparency. I'm currently listening with both the grill on, as well as off. I've provided some thumbnails of the grills below, that you can click on an view larger versions. The tweed fabric does have any additional backing as you'll see in the 2nd photograph. I believe all grills can potentially have some degree of affect on acoustic transparency.

Those grills actually look nice. Reviews always comment that grills affect the FR and I've seen some basic measurements showing so. I imagine testing speakers is a lot of work and time consuming so I don't want to add to Amirs load, but it would be fun if a few speakers were measured with grills on and off. Would be nice to know how much exactly a typical grill affects the sound.

 

[hardisj]

Yes, the Monolith stands are very solid stands. I believe I've read that they're the same as the Pangea Audio stands - without the label on them. The Pangea stands run about $200 a pair. You need 36" stands? For regular music listening, or surround duty?

Funny enough, I was looking at Pangea stands. These. (ironically, they just went up $15 compared to yesterday). As you can tell, these particular versions are not the same design as the monoliths, though.


Whoops. I meant 28" (give or take).

 

[Frank Dernie]

Those grills actually look nice. Reviews always comment that grills affect the FR and I've seen some basic measurements showing so. I imagine testing speakers is a lot of work and time consuming so I don't want to add to Amirs load, but it would be fun if a few speakers were measured with grills on and off. Would be nice to know how much exactly a typical grill affects the sound.

Manufacturers usually state whether a speaker is intended for use with grilles or not.
The long-running LS3/5a has a little metal perforated grille over the tweeter which improves the frequency response and old fashioned grilles which are supposed to remain on.
My main speakers were designed to be listened to with the grilles on but I have had others where the advice was to remove grilles for critical listening.
@amirm should obviously measure the speaker as the manufacturer intended but seeing the difference with and without grille would be quite interesting though

 

[ferongr]

So, I may end up buying them, how high is the tweeter's acoustic axis (center...) from the bottom?

 

[lonewolf]

Manufacturers usually state whether a speaker is intended for use with grilles or not.
The long-running LS3/5a has a little metal perforated grille over the tweeter which improves the frequency response and old fashioned grilles which are supposed to remain on.
My main speakers were designed to be listened to with the grilles on but I have had others where the advice was to remove grilles for critical listening.
@amirm should obviously measure the speaker as the manufacturer intended but seeing the difference with and without grille would be quite interesting though

That was my thinking. I didn't know some speakers are intended to be listened too with the grills on! I'm not sure if the Revel F35s are recommended to be used with grill on or off, but the white speakers look awful with the grills on so I listen with the grills off. With the quality of measurements here, one could get a good picture of what the grills actually do to the sound and whether it's worth worrying about or not.

 

[sejarzo]

On the topic of speaker stand height...assuming a listening distance of 8 feet/96 inches, a difference of +/- 4 inches is +/- 2.4 degrees. The smallest division on the vertical directivity graphs is 10 degrees.

There's not huge variation in response between +/- 5 degrees in most of these, but the notation at the top shows r = 10 meters, which I assume is to show true far field response.

Perhaps being dead on with respect to the relationship between ear and tweeter/acoustic center height isn't very important?