Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[Gatordaddy]

Then see where I line up, where I don’t, and see if the data can help me get better correlation (for example, if I noticed something seemed lacking, maybe the data will show a peak nearby that skewed my perception as opposed to a trough in the response in that area).

I dialed about +3db of EQ centered at 750Hz from 125Hz to 4KHz and that seems to have resolved my complaints with these being "thin." Or my impression that they lacked authority with stoner-metal sludge guitar riffs. This was in itunes since I'm a plebus.

Glad to hear more people are impressed with the stability of the image. The horizontal window is impressive!

Edit: Forgot BB Code

 

[McFly]

I appreciate the caution but what should I be looking out for?

Topic for another thread. Quickly, I love my minidsp studio and the power it brings but man has it been a right b to get working properly with dirac. I think the very latest firmware has sorted a big chunk of it however.

 

[StevenEleven]

It’s a lot of fun comparing notes here!

Agree with @Gatordaddy about the highs sparkling. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing I guess is subjective? I really enjoy it as a fun aspect of this speaker and think of it as a realism where a lot of other speakers might back off in an effort not to offend. This is not your 4-5 khz crashy edgy sound I don’t think, I think it‘s like @Gatordaddy said, something going on more toward the 10 khz area. I think we would agree it’s a little attention-grabbing anyway.

Agree with @hardisj about the mid-to-low level bass being impressive even at moderate volumes so you can still “feel“ the music. I like that @hardisj made the grille rattle! That’s awesome! Agree these sound best with grilles off, the difference is noticeable. Can I say they sound glossier and smoother with the grilles off? Does that make sense? Or it could be my mind playing tricks.

Agree with both the stability of the stereo image as you move around is remarkable.

As far as the mids, I can see the jigs and jags in the measurements, they’re not the very smoothest in the mids, but any change I make in EQ, whether by ear or by known measurements, does not really seem to make any subjective improvement for me. I’m not so sure I am not just gilding the lily. Or messing something up I don’t understand. So I have everything set flat and leave it at that. Right now I am just listening to hours of music streamed from Qobuz to my iPad to a Raspberry Pi 4 to my receiver, with the receiver in ”direct” mode, it’s a pleasure.

 

[ferongr]

Welcome to my empire of dirt. This is my first speaker with a modern design that tries to control directivity. My previous speakers were a pair of "old school" Audio Spectrum S37III-Golds, 90s locally produced big cabinet standmounts using SEAS drivers (that's an 8" driver so imagine the size). They flanked the desk in a suboptimal "ultra-wide arrangement. Back before the euro, tariffs made importing consumer goods infeasible, so many local manufacturers produced designs with good value, though lacking in technical excellence. But I digress.

I'm still acclimating myself to the sound of the DBRs, but after setting the angle right (stands lean towards the listening position 4 degrees to point the tweeter axis to my ears) I can say that I'm really enjoying. them. Surprising amounts of clean bass, very enjoyable and comfortable voicing and they can also play loud when required. With the ears 80cm from the speaker I also perceive it as a point source, and soundstage is very good. I still haven't run REW though, I've just adjusted the subwoofer by ear.

Thanks for the review @amirm. You've just made my quarantine a lot more pleasant.

 

[blodsbror]

View attachment 58115

I'm still acclimating myself to the sound of the DBRs, but after setting the angle right (stands lean towards the listening position 4 degrees to point the tweeter axis to my ears) I can say that I'm really enjoying. them. Surprising amounts of clean bass, very enjoyable and comfortable voicing and they can also play loud when required. With the ears 80cm from the speaker I also perceive it as a point source, and soundstage is very good. I still haven't run REW though, I've just adjusted the subwoofer by ear.
Thanks for the review @amirm. You've just made my quarantine a lot more pleasant.

In regards to the bass (without a sub), is it solid enough, that you can really feel some bass 'weight', with both music and movies ?

 

[ferongr]

Depends on how much "weight" you need. You still need a subwoofer for frequencies under 60Hz, but otherwise, I'd say that the speaker by itself punches way above its class. FWIW, the DBRs by themselves go quite a bit lower than the Audio Spectrums they replaced, even though the latter had an 8" driver and a huge cabinet.

 

[hardisj]

In regards to the bass (without a sub), is it solid enough, that you can really feel some bass 'weight', with both music and movies ?

Movies tend to have a lot more powerful sub-bass that, IMHO, would definitely require a dedicated subwoofer. I enjoyed listening to music through them but would not depend on them for movies if I wanted to recreate the explosions, rumbling and whatnot that movies often have.

 

[SimpleTheater]

Surprising amounts of clean bass, very enjoyable and comfortable voicing and they can also play loud when required.

What amplifier are you powering your DBRs?

 

[ferongr]

Right now a Yamaha AS-501, will be replaced with an Audiophonics NC252MP when it finally ships.

 

[Cahudson42]

Right now a Yamaha AS-501, will be replaced with an Audiophonics NC252MP when it finally ships.

Can you advise us what you expect to gain by the changeout?

And/or the deficiencies of the AS-501 you found with these speakers?

Thanks!

 

[ferongr]

Lower waste heat, smaller footprint, and simplification of the volume control scheme (I'll use my ADI 2 DAC). Right now the AS-501 lives on a stool under the left side of the desk, a non-optimal arrangement.

 

[blodsbror]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair (white), which I hopefully get on Tuesday. I've been stuck on different brands (KEF, B&W, Sonus Faber) for many years, so thought I would just give ELAC a shot for once. The price is reasonable enough, and performance high enough - that it's a risk I'm willing to take without hearing them first. You have to live a little . They are replacing KEF LS50's - so looking forward to a different sound, and somewhat fuller bass.

 

[renaudrenaud]

Well, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair (white), which I hopefully get on Tuesday. I've been stuck on different brands (KEF, B&W, Sonus Faber) for many years, so thought I would just give ELAC a shot for once. The price is reasonable enough, and performance high enough - that it's a risk I'm willing to take without hearing them first. You have to live a little . They are replacing KEF LS50's - so looking forward to a different sound, and somewhat fuller bass.

Do not know for other brand, but Sonus Faber, well I am not sure the Elac are better, just sure they are less expansive.

 

[hardisj]

I ordered a $10 lazy susan bearing piece and mated it to a couple sheets of plywood to make a rotation table for product pictures when I start reviews. There's lot of nice motorized ones built specifically for photography but they're $100+ for the ones that hold anything with the kind of weight some floorstanders have. So I figured I'd give this a try first. I plan to use this to rotate my speakers as well for off-axis testing. I was thinking I would put little pins down in it so I can turn it at 10 degree intervals. But for 360 photos, that's 36 times I'll have to change the pin location... at that rate, it may be a pain in the butt and I may wind up just springing for one of those motorized turntables. But for now, maybe it'll do. Since I tested the idea out with the Elac speakers I figured I'd share here.

 

[Ron Texas]

If I were shopping it would probably be for the R3. However, in the sub $1000 price range I like the Revel M16 better primarily because it has a much better finish. The preference rating is nearly the same. The Elac is a great achievement for only $600 and what we would expect from Andrew Jones.

 

[renaudrenaud]

I ordered the Elac Debut Ref 6.2 just because I was curious. My wife told me to buy and resell if I am not happy with them.

I really like the spirit of the creation: the Master Of Speakers Design offers for a budget price (I know it is a sum for some people but in the HiFi world it is nothing especially when you consider you can spend 6000$ to obtain a pack of shit like the Jeff Rowland infamous amp measured elsewhere) something really interesting. Just what you want: a conventional form factor, something really WAF compliant, low price, excellent measurements and a google internet consensus about the qualities.

I listened carefully the speakers. I know I am not a measurement tool, but let me explain this fact: I know what I want. I really enjoyed the Elac in some parts of the business. It seems the speakers are not exciting the room like my previous pair, bass is cleaner and enjoyable. Soundstage and 3D effect also, and paired with my amp the system is very dynamic. But since the beginning something sounded wrong. Middle and high. It was wrong.

Considering this pair of speaker is going to be a best seller, I was hoping we will have some tweaking ideas in the following months and it will be interesting to try to exploit more potential. Until the last hour.

I've tried to experiment since a week and my wife and I spent some time to go for two amps instead of one.

This afternoon it was finished (newer finished, we live in the home lab and nothing is here to stay) and we fired the system with a lot of watts ready to push up the level.

One more time the pair of Elac was deceptive, again something wrong in the highs.

I decided to connect my old pair of speakers. Better highs, but the Elac are better in all other parameters.

So I decided to connect back the Elac to the amps. There is something I do not understand and I do not like that, I was doubting and I was lost. Ok, this is just Hifi, so let's have a cup of coffee, this is the real thing.

After the coffee, I found something in one speaker. One tweeter grid was not correctly inserted. I took a picture, exaggerating the thing to show it clearly:

So the grid is easily removable. It is a nice engineered part. There are six centering pins and each one is inserted in a a kind of rubber damper, not so bad for a cheap pair of speaker, thank you Andrew.

Two of the rubber dampers are not in a good shape and this is why it was not inserted correctly.

In the picture below you can see some holes are with the dampers and other without.

Then I decided to remove the grids. My pure subjective feeling is that now it is ok. Potentially I am really wrong, the design is with the grid, and now there is a dips and bump in highs and bla bla bla. Anyway, I am happy and that's the story.

So, I just can add few words: have a look on your grids and check they are perfectly aligned. In bonus, do you want to test without and report your feeling here?

 

[Cahudson42]

spent some time to go for two amps

Can you give more detail? Are you bi-amping each driver? Bypassing the internal xo and providing electronic xo? Added any PEQ?
Thanks! Interesting!

 

[renaudrenaud]

Can you give more detail? Are you bi-amping each driver? Bypassing the internal xo and providing electronic xo? Added any PEQ?
Thanks! Interesting!

No, no. Just basic things, one low cost class D amp for each speaker. I've bought two years ago and give one to a friend. Last week his tests were finished so he sent me back the second one. I was waiting for years to use the two... But since today everybody knows SiNAD of 77 is equivalent to 6000$ amp, so it's an invitation to tests as much as you want without any preconception.

 

[StevenEleven]

I ordered the Elac Debut Ref 6.2 just because I was curious. My wife told me to buy and resell if I am not happy with them.

I really like the spirit of the creation: the Master Of Speakers Design offers for a budget price (I know it is a sum for some people but in the HiFi world it is nothing especially when you consider you can spend 6000$ to obtain a pack of shit like the Jeff Rowland infamous amp measured elsewhere) something really interesting. Just what you want: a conventional form factor, something really WAF compliant, low price, excellent measurements and a google internet consensus about the qualities.

I listened carefully the speakers. I know I am not a measurement tool, but let me explain this fact: I know what I want. I really enjoyed the Elac in some parts of the business. It seems the speakers are not exciting the room like my previous pair, bass is cleaner and enjoyable. Soundstage and 3D effect also, and paired with my amp the system is very dynamic. But since the beginning something sounded wrong. Middle and high. It was wrong.

Considering this pair of speaker is going to be a best seller, I was hoping we will have some tweaking ideas in the following months and it will be interesting to try to exploit more potential. Until the last hour.

I've tried to experiment since a week and my wife and I spent some time to go for two amps instead of one.

View attachment 58471

View attachment 58473

This afternoon it was finished (newer finished, we live in the home lab and nothing is here to stay) and we fired the system with a lot of watts ready to push up the level.

One more time the pair of Elac was deceptive, again something wrong in the highs.

I decided to connect my old pair of speakers. Better highs, but the Elac are better in all other parameters.

So I decided to connect back the Elac to the amps. There is something I do not understand and I do not like that, I was doubting and I was lost. Ok, this is just Hifi, so let's have a cup of coffee, this is the real thing.

After the coffee, I found something in one speaker. One tweeter grid was not correctly inserted. I took a picture, exaggerating the thing to show it clearly:

View attachment 58474


So the grid is easily removable. It is a nice engineered part. There are six centering pins and each one is inserted in a a kind of rubber damper, not so bad for a cheap pair of speaker, thank you Andrew.

Two of the rubber dampers are not in a good shape and this is why it was not inserted correctly.

View attachment 58476


In the picture below you can see some holes are with the dampers and other without.

View attachment 58480


Then I decided to remove the grids. My pure subjective feeling is that now it is ok. Potentially I am really wrong, the design is with the grid, and now there is a dips and bump in highs and bla bla bla. Anyway, I am happy and that's the story.

So, I just can add few words: have a look on your grids and check they are perfectly aligned. In bonus, do you want to test without and report your feeling here?

View attachment 58483

Wow, if it was the crooked grid that was causing the treble problem, great ear and great intuition catching that! The human mind is capable of amazing things when you think you are just getting a cup of coffee. I think if mine had the same grid problem I might return them. I tried taking the grids off for about ten seconds and then got too scared. But I did check very carefully to see that they were both flush, not crooked as in you picture.

Just to be clear, you got the DBR-62s and not the 6.2s, yes? (I can tell from the picture you have the DBR-62s but I just want to clarify for everyone.)

Do you get the same imaging with the grids off?

If I were shopping it would probably be for the R3. However, in the sub $1000 price range I like the Revel M16 better primarily because it has a much better finish. The preference rating is nearly the same. The Elac is a great achievement for only $600 and what we would expect from Alan Jones.

Yes, what is a budget speaker to you is my most expensive piece of audio equipment I will ever buy (I hope). It’s not that I couldn‘t afford more, it’s just that this is all I think I need to enjoy the music to the max, and I don’t want go too far down the rabbit hole, my very own audio existential crisis. How good is good enough?!?!

Now, time to go out for my walk for the day and take some bad pictures with my over-priced photography gear. My photography existential crisis was a done deal years ago.

 

[BYRTT]

...Considering this pair of speaker is going to be a best seller, I was hoping we will have some tweaking ideas in the following months and it will be interesting to try to exploit more potential. Until the last hour...

..Then I decided to remove the grids. My pure subjective feeling is that now it is ok. Potentially I am really wrong, the design is with the grid, and now there is a dips and bump in highs and bla bla bla. Anyway, I am happy and that's the story...

Have a happy tweaking time there

Used none grilled suggest use your 3d printer and produce a new ring to repair discontinuties on wave guide, also in picture it could look dome is not 100% center alligned and could probably be diy realligned but also it could be picture distortion it looks non centered.