Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[NotARobot]

Hi everyone!

Since nov 2025 I'm the almost happy owner of a pair of ELAC DBR69. I like the speakers as they are more linear than my old Atom Paradigm Atom V6.

Unfortunately things start to fall apart as soon as I turn up the volume (e.g anything above 70-75db with 80 db peaks).
Female vocals sound robotic and unpleasantly sibilant. Things in the 200-300Hz area sound bad. To my ears it seems like distortion, but it's probably it's not the speakers themselves but the room and / or the amplifier.

I've noticed something really strange when performing the REW sweeps: a pure sine (e.g 241 Hz or 1Khz) uses up a lot more amplifier power than -10dbfs pink noise, at the same volume.

This was measured independently with both a cheap multimeter (voltage increase) and a mains wattmetter (wattage increase) and 2 separate amplifiers, including a high-current one.

Any rational explanation why a pure sine would require a lot more power than pink noise ? Is the amplifier at fault here ?

Many thanks to Amir and the wonderful community he has gathered here!

 

[Roland68]

Hi everyone!

Since nov 2025 I'm the almost happy owner of a pair of ELAC DBR69. I like the speakers as they are more linear than my old Atom Paradigm Atom V6.

Unfortunately things start to fall apart as soon as I turn up the volume (e.g anything above 70-75db with 80 db peaks).
Female vocals sound robotic and unpleasantly sibilant. Things in the 200-300Hz area sound bad. To my ears it seems like distortion, but it's probably it's not the speakers themselves but the room and / or the amplifier.

I've noticed something really strange when performing the REW sweeps: a pure sine (e.g 241 Hz or 1Khz) uses up a lot more amplifier power than -10dbfs pink noise, at the same volume.

This was measured independently with both a cheap multimeter (voltage increase) and a mains wattmetter (wattage increase) and 2 separate amplifiers, including a high-current one.

Any rational explanation why a pure sine would require a lot more power than pink noise ? Is the amplifier at fault here ?

Many thanks to Amir and the wonderful community he has gathered here!

What kind of amplifier do you have?

 

[NotARobot]

What kind of amplifier do you have?

I tried with a Fosi Audio V3 with the 48V PSU and a harman kardon PM650 VXi (the manual states high current of max 35A, I'm taking it as marketing with some truth to it).

 

[JW001]

Take 20 - 20,000 Hz frequency response of the speakers in your room. It might provide some helpful answers...

 

[NotARobot]

Take 20 - 20,000 Hz frequency response of the speakers in your room. It might provide some helpful answers...

Thank you for your suggestion.... Yes, I'm constantly measuring my room, with some strange results (some clearly having to do with my measuring technique and the rest with the subpar room). Bottom line: EQ doesn't fix the issue. At least for now.

I'm trying to keep things simple and trying to figure out if any of my amplifiers is adequate or not.

In the meantime, I redid the power tests with Fosi V3 + 48V PSU, volume at 12:00, OS volume max,
- no sound, 6.4Watts
- pink noise, 20-20Khz, -9dbfs, 8watts, 1,7Volts@speaker terminals
- sine 241Hz, -9dbfs, 10.3 watts, 2.1V
- pink noise, 20-4000Hz, -9dbfs, , 8.3Watts, 1.8V
- pink noise, 241-304Hz, -9dbfs, , 9.7Watts, 1.9V
- sine 1KHz, -9dbfs, , 7.8W, 2.1V

So no huge power draw difference between sine and pink noise. I think there was a measuring issue initially; I was using REW's check levels function which is affected by the SPL meter calibration and was producing a quieter pink noise with a lower power draw.

But the 60wpc H/K sounds better to my ears even if the difference is subtle (and I don't have full data to back it up).

 

[olds1959special]

I'm selling my DBR62's, not because I didn't like them, but because I have active studio monitors I'd rather use.

 

[iNetRunner]

Since nov 2025 I'm the almost happy owner of a pair of ELAC DBR69. I like the speakers as they are more linear than my old Atom Paradigm Atom V6.

Unfortunately things start to fall apart as soon as I turn up the volume (e.g anything above 70-75db with 80 db peaks).
Female vocals sound robotic and unpleasantly sibilant. Things in the 200-300Hz area sound bad. To my ears it seems like distortion, but it's probably it's not the speakers themselves but the room and / or the amplifier.

Are you referring to the DBR62? I don’t think that there’s are DBR69 models.

Anyway, if you look at the multitone distortion measurements by Erin, there is consistent peak at around 3.5kHz. (Regardless of SPL/power.)

 

[lazpete]

Guys, first of all I'm thankful for the work Amir is putting into this, huge respect. And all the thoughtful comments and contributions from members of this community. Im a middle aged (or old at 57) musician from Sweden that always had a soft spot for hifi and can enjoy hours of good reproduction of music. Mixing and writing (mostly lyrics) is a passion of mine.
Found the thread and review of the Elac DBR62 and, after hours of reading, pulled the trigger and got myself a pair from a store in Germany.
And all I can say is thank you for the direction and the “unfolding” of this remarkable speaker.

To me, in my room with my little AVR as an amp, it's just perfect. I rarely enjoy music at home at ear crunching levels.

So Amir, and all of you making this place alive, thank you!

Lasse

 

[Bernard23]

I had contemplated swapping mine for something new and shiny, but in the end decided to simply add two thumping great subwoofers to help them out.