Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[ZolaIII]

@pathtonowhere do to phase rise angle let amplifier breed. They aren't exactly very inefficient either with little over 85 dB (1W 8 Ohms to 1m). That Yamaha will give you good 70W, 130W sustained (and on a long run) which is 103, 106 dB (to base of 85) - 6 dB (actually less in the room but not much) for every doubling of distance (93~96 to far range 4 m). So you ain't gonna even use that much and apm will be fine. Let's say woffer (alu coted more linear but higher mass and don't worry dosent ring) won't be remotely happy with more than 100 dB, it will compress. It can probably push out more properly stressed out and if you cut it high enough (120 Hz) you don't have the problem in the first place. Their cabinets really ain't prized enough.
Invest some money in deacent measurement microphone if you didn't done that all ready and see what you need to improve.

 

[Roland68]

I've just ordered the DBR62 at 310€ ($365) here in Romania. This is the current Black Friday price, they normally sell for about $100 more. I've heard in the US they start at $600 and in Germany at 400€, so I guess I got a pretty good deal for a new pair. On the flip side, Klipsch, JBL or Revel are a lot more expensive here than in the US.

I chose the newer all-black version and I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha A-S501. I've seen the posts recommending at least 200W for good results, but I'm not buying it. It's the same as with LS50, with people going crazy, pairing them with 500-1000W amps. The internet is full of blown-out LS50 woofers. Yes, they aren't sensitive, but that doesn't mean they will benefit from more than 100-150W. Not very sensitive doesn't mean they will automatically suck infinite power, they just bottom out at some point. If it says on the back 100W or 120W maximum power (it means they're in danger of blowing out beyond that), I'm going to go with that, people who made it know better.

Currently I'm on a pair of Wharfedale 230. I like them, they have a warm sound, but they don't seem that punchy in the 60-100Hz area. The DBR62 have a 60-100Hz hump, which I like for some of the music. I had that hump in a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 100, but I couldn't stand the wide dispersion bright metallic highs, so I got rid of them. The DBR62 have a wide dispersion in the 3-5kHz area, too, which could be a problem, I'll probably have to better treat the room, we'll see, but at least they're 2-3dB lower in the treble than MA and they don't have the metal tweeters. I would have preferred a back port, too, but it is what it is...hope I won't get any artifacts through the ports.

Have fun with these great speakers!
I run the DBR62s in a desktop setup with a Topping PA5 II and have never needed to use all the power. Not even when I've filled the whole room (about 20 square meters) and the rest of the apartment with music.
However, it's more likely you'll damage speakers with too little power than too much, but an amplifier that has 3-4 times the power the speakers can handle also carries risks.

Do you already own the A-S501?

 

[ksulliva01]

I've just ordered the DBR62 at 310€ ($365) here in Romania. This is the current Black Friday price, they normally sell for about $100 more. I've heard in the US they start at $600 and in Germany at 400€, so I guess I got a pretty good deal for a new pair. On the flip side, Klipsch, JBL or Revel are a lot more expensive here than in the US.

I chose the newer all-black version and I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha A-S501. I've seen the posts recommending at least 200W for good results, but I'm not buying it. It's the same as with LS50, with people going crazy, pairing them with 500-1000W amps. The internet is full of blown-out LS50 woofers. Yes, they aren't sensitive, but that doesn't mean they will benefit from more than 100-150W. Not very sensitive doesn't mean they will automatically suck infinite power, they just bottom out at some point. If it says on the back 100W or 120W maximum power (it means they're in danger of blowing out beyond that), I'm going to go with that, people who made it know better.

Currently I'm on a pair of Wharfedale 230. I like them, they have a warm sound, but they don't seem that punchy in the 60-100Hz area. The DBR62 have a 60-100Hz hump, which I like for some of the music. I had that hump in a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 100, but I couldn't stand the wide dispersion bright metallic highs, so I got rid of them. The DBR62 have a wide dispersion in the 3-5kHz area, too, which could be a problem, I'll probably have to better treat the room, we'll see, but at least they're 2-3dB lower in the treble than MA and they don't have the metal tweeters. I would have preferred a back port, too, but it is what it is...hope I won't get any artifacts through the ports.

For what it's worth, I have a small, reflective room and the DBR62 seem to control horizontal directivity smoothly enough with those mini waveguides that I've never noticed any extra energy in the 3-5K region. If anything they sound somewhat "polite" through upper mids/treble IMO. Quite smooth and agreeable. You may not need additional room treatment. I've run them with a 150 wpc class D amp as well as the new Wiim Amp Ultra and even an old Pioneer Sa-5200 that is 10 wpc (surprisingly loud!). They sound great with all of these amps. Hope you enjoy.

 

[Saponetto]

DBR62 are a huge step-up in matter of sound quality and dispersion if compared with a lot of similarly priced loudspeakers.
These are also not so inefficient than numbers leave to suppose, I can drive these even with a 4-5 watts tube amp without problems in near field (2-3 mt)

DBRs get the best of two world, smoothness and detail at same time, and generously delivery it to you.

Enjoy'em a lot.

 

[pathtonowhere]

I noticed the DBR62 has a rudimentary waveguide, so the dispersion varies, it isn't that consistent, it's noticeably wider in the 3-5kHz area. But if the tweeter is fairly tame, the partially wide dispersion could still be harmless. The 230s aren't that consistent in the dispersion either, but sound a lot better than the Monitor Audio that had a lot of ringing sound in the room, it was just chaos in some songs, while others sounded nice. The MA had a flat baffle, so worse than a small waveguide, the dispersion was horrendous and the metallic sound and elevated treble all combined into sound torture.

I know it's easier to damage the speakers with a weak amp rather than an overkill amp, but that's in the case of DBR62 or similar speakers, the tweeters blow out usually from amp distortion, but on LS50 the woofers are blown almost all the time, not the tweeters, because of not being able to handle a lot of excursion. They are insensitive, but at the same time they are bad at handling a lot of power, that's why the hundreds of watts amp myth drove a lot of them into the ground, people thought you should just throw hundreds of watts at them until the woofer ruptures. It's the only brand that you can find with tons of broken woofers on the internet if you look it up. The same myth in the case of DBR62 (not taken to the same insane level, thanks god) isn't that dangerous to the speakers itself, like for LS50 (that can blow without much warning), but to the people's pockets.

All in all, I hope I won't be disappointed. I've listened to them a long time ago for a few minutes and they seemed a little too bright, but there was a nasty room, too. We'll see

 

[wyup]

The woofer on the DBR62 is very strong and heavy, oversized magnet.. it can cope with ample power.. you won't reach compression easily.
It's not like the damn smallish LS50..
I've heard my DBR62 sound like a subwoofer at ear piercing volumes, and no distortion. And I've had a SVS SB1000-Pro subwoofer.
It says Max Power Input 120W, but that is raw power. Amplifier had better have in specs more power than that to pump from low volumes, because they say it eats all what's fed to it.

I am driving them with a Hypex NC122MP power amplifier (75W at 8Ω, 125W at 4Ω), yes, it has high aggressive SPL, but it's NOT enough, it does not have good dynamics, it does not control the bass well enough, and of course, it sounds coarse and dry.

 

[Bernard23]

I chose the newer all-black version and I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha A-S501. I've seen the posts recommending at least 200W for good results, but I'm not buying it.

I can vouch for the A-S501 being capable as that's what I use. Pretty confident that the Yamaha isn't current limited such that the phase misalignment that Amir noted would cause it a problem, unless you live in a concert hall of course.

The DBR62 have a 60-100Hz hump, which I like for some of the music.

Thats easy to EQ out, but this is where room correction helps, that hump may or may not be helpful

hope I won't get any artifacts through the ports.

I haven't noticed anything between 90 - 100dB on the few occasions I've gone into stadium rock mode.

 

[Beave]

I noticed the DBR62 has a rudimentary waveguide, so the dispersion varies, it isn't that consistent, it's noticeably wider in the 3-5kHz area. But if the tweeter is fairly tame, the partially wide dispersion could still be harmless. The 230s aren't that consistent in the dispersion either, but sound a lot better than the Monitor Audio that had a lot of ringing sound in the room, it was just chaos in some songs, while others sounded nice. The MA had a flat baffle, so worse than a small waveguide, the dispersion was horrendous and the metallic sound and elevated treble all combined into sound torture.

I know it's easier to damage the speakers with a weak amp rather than an overkill amp, but that's in the case of DBR62 or similar speakers, the tweeters blow out usually from amp distortion, but on LS50 the woofers are blown almost all the time, not the tweeters, because of not being able to handle a lot of excursion. They are insensitive, but at the same time they are bad at handling a lot of power, that's why the hundreds of watts amp myth drove a lot of them into the ground, people thought you should just throw hundreds of watts at them until the woofer ruptures. It's the only brand that you can find with tons of broken woofers on the internet if you look it up. The same myth in the case of DBR62 (not taken to the same insane level, thanks god) isn't that dangerous to the speakers itself, like for LS50 (that can blow without much warning), but to the people's pockets.

All in all, I hope I won't be disappointed. I've listened to them a long time ago for a few minutes and they seemed a little too bright, but there was a nasty room, too. We'll see

I suspect that the harsh ringing sound you sometimes heard from the Monitor Audio speakers comes not from their tweeter but from the woofer. It has a couple of resonance peaks at the top of its passband, in the crossover region, that aren't sufficiently suppressed by the crossover. The peaks are at about 2.5kHz and 4.2kHz. If content hits those, the cone will ring and sound harsh.

 

[stefanovesa]

I've just ordered the DBR62 at 310€ ($365) here in Romania. This is the current Black Friday price, they normally sell for about $100 more. I've heard in the US they start at $600 and in Germany at 400€, so I guess I got a pretty good deal for a new pair. On the flip side, Klipsch, JBL or Revel are a lot more expensive here than in the US.

I chose the newer all-black version and I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha A-S501. I've seen the posts recommending at least 200W for good results, but I'm not buying it. It's the same as with LS50, with people going crazy, pairing them with 500-1000W amps. The internet is full of blown-out LS50 woofers. Yes, they aren't sensitive, but that doesn't mean they will benefit from more than 100-150W. Not very sensitive doesn't mean they will automatically suck infinite power, they just bottom out at some point. If it says on the back 100W or 120W maximum power (it means they're in danger of blowing out beyond that), I'm going to go with that, people who made it know better.

Currently I'm on a pair of Wharfedale 230. I like them, they have a warm sound, but they don't seem that punchy in the 60-100Hz area. The DBR62 have a 60-100Hz hump, which I like for some of the music. I had that hump in a pair of Monitor Audio Silver 100, but I couldn't stand the wide dispersion bright metallic highs, so I got rid of them. The DBR62 have a wide dispersion in the 3-5kHz area, too, which could be a problem, I'll probably have to better treat the room, we'll see, but at least they're 2-3dB lower in the treble than MA and they don't have the metal tweeters. I would have preferred a back port, too, but it is what it is...hope I won't get any artifacts through the ports.

I'm driving them with Topping LA-90 Discrete in high gain mode, the room is 20 sq m, volume is around 9 o'clock. There is plenty of volume. Tested also with Naim 70 W amplifier, same feelings, so i think there is no need of a monster amplifier

 

[Doenerkunde]

I've seen the posts recommending at least 200W for good results, but I'm not buying it.

Congrats! Good speakers, good deal. I think you'll be happy with them.

I think some part of the amp power recommendations can be explained by differences in housing (and maybe attitude ^^) between the US and the rest of the world. 75+sqm per person, dry wall buildings, many single family homes and low population density in the US vs <50sqm per person, brick wall buildings, many multiplexes and high population density in the EU.

I'm mostly using a very quiet and old 1V output voltage DAC and a 70w into 8 Ohm amp with my DBR62s and never have to move the volume control past 11 o clock. When using my 2,3V output voltage CD player 11 o clock would likely lead to the police getting involved for public disturbance within less than an hour, so I virtually never go past 9 o clock.

 

[Scrivs]

FWIW, I was using an NC252MP with my DBRs, and my experience is that “too much” power isn’t an issue with them. IME these speakers really start to shine at higher SPL levels, as long as your amp has the appropriate headroom to drive them. That being said, I’ve got an 1200AS2, and NC502MP that will take amplification duties over, as the NC252MP recently shit the bed. Whichever board I find an enclosure first to house them in will be what powers them next.

 

[Roland68]

FWIW, I was using an NC252MP with my DBRs, and my experience is that “too much” power isn’t an issue with them. IME these speakers really start to shine at higher SPL levels, as long as your amp has the appropriate headroom to drive them. That being said, I’ve got an 1200AS2, and NC502MP that will take amplification duties over, as the NC252MP recently shit the bed. Whichever board I find an enclosure first to house them in will be what powers them next.

With the Topping PA5 II and Sabaj A30a, the DBR62s sound surprisingly detailed even at low volumes. Even when I occasionally run them at higher volumes, I can't confirm the claim that "these speakers really start to shine at higher SPL levels." The A30a has a similar power output to the NC252MP.
Perhaps it also has something to do with the amplifiers, the room, and the speaker placement.

Too much power is always better than too little. The danger, as I see it, lies in the point where there is so much power that it could destroy the speakers in seconds or fractions of a second. This is a problem in the event of an accident or human error.

 

[tw 2022]

Perhaps it also has something to do with the amplifiers, the room, and the speaker placement.

speaker *placement* is huge in soundstage and clarity... don't let anyone fool you into believing differently.. some speakers are *less* affected (imo) than others though...edit: my opinion is: a good budget ($500 or so, kinda like this ) speaker *can* sound a lot more "expensive" if you set it up right...

 

[pathtonowhere]

I've considered woofer break-up as the reason for MA's shrill highs, but the only strong resonance can be seen at 2.5kHz and is very on-axis, the metallic ringing disturbed the whole room in my case. Also, I disconnected the tweeters and listened only to the woofers and didn't hear the ringing. But it could still be the woofer and only noticeable when in tandem with the tweeter. It doesn't even matter, anyway. On songs with mild highs they sounded wonderful, but one in every 10 or 20 tracks became unlistenable because of the ringing. Wharfedale 230 are a very little bit less exciting than the MA on some songs, but I've never encountered any song that I couldn't listen, like in the case of the MA. DBR62 seem the have MA's bass boost and the treble a little more exciting than Wharfedale, but I hope even the worst mixed songs will be at least listenable on the DBR. With the MA I had to skip the entire Led Zeppeling IV album because of the cymbals. I can hear the cymbals pretty loud with the Wharfedales, too, but somehow the sound isn't harsh and doesn't have the nasty ringing of the MA.

 

[silent-amp]

I chose the newer all-black version and I'm going to pair it with a Yamaha A-S501.

I want all-black version too! Someday..


>I would have preferred a back port, too, but it is what it is...hope I won't get any artifacts through the ports.

I am eyeing on DBR62 mainly because it's front ported over the new Elac B6.3.
BTW why not Elac B6.3 if you prefer a back port?

 

[pathtonowhere]

I don't have a strong reason for not buying the DB63, but a few small reasons. I saw that amir had a problem with the same tweeter in the floorstanding version. He said it was only on on song, but I was still a bit afraid. Maybe it's the metal thing in front of the tweeter ringing at some frequency that song excites a lot compared to other songs, who knows. Honestly, I hate that they put a metal grill in front of the DBR62 tweeter, too. Hope it was tested extensively and doesn't bring surprises. Also, the tweeter in the DB63 is Al, not soft dome, like in DBR63. The bass on the DB63 has a straight slope from 100Hz to 40Hz, while the DBR62 has a hump. I could have probably lived with either of them, but I chose the DBR62.

 

[silent-amp]

I don't have a strong reason for not buying the DB63, but a few small reasons. I saw that amir had a problem with the same tweeter in the floorstanding version. He said it was only on on song, but I was still a bit afraid. Maybe it's the metal thing in front of the tweeter ringing at some frequency that song excites a lot compared to other songs, who knows. Honestly, I hate that they put a metal grill in front of the DBR62 tweeter, too. Hope it was tested extensively and doesn't bring surprises. Also, the tweeter in the DB63 is Al, not soft dome, like in DBR63. The bass on the DB63 has a straight slope from 100Hz to 40Hz, while the DBR62 has a hump. I could have probably lived with either of them, but I chose the DBR62.

I see, I haven't read DB63 review, but I prefer the look (all-black with black grilles) and proportions of DBR62 more over DB63

 

[Roland68]

I am eyeing on DBR62 mainly because it's front ported over the new Elac B6.3.
BTW why not Elac B6.3 if you prefer a back port?

A friend recently wanted to compare the DB63 with my DBR62 and Carina BS243.4, and neither of us liked it. He returned the DB63 immediately and ordered the DBR62.
The DB63 wasn't bad, but it just didn't compare to the other two.

 

[pathtonowhere]

A friend recently wanted to compare the DB63 with my DBR62 and Carina BS243.4, and neither of us liked it. He returned the DB63 immediately and ordered the DBR62.
The DB63 wasn't bad, but it just didn't compare to the other two.

There is nothing more I hate on the internet than the "I listened to X, but it was horrible, Y was a lot better" without any details. Or 1 star reviews with comments like "Horrible, I returned it, don't recommend".
So, what was bad about the DB63 and what does DBR62 do better? Besides the bass hump in the 60-100Hz, I can't see any difference in measurements or people's reviews.

 

[Doenerkunde]

So, what was bad about the DB63 and what does DBR62 do better? Besides the bass hump in the 60-100Hz, I can't see any difference in measurements or people's reviews.

I can see clear differences between them.