Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[ZetZet]

I apologize if the post came across as too negative. It's a personal preference. I just like black. If I can't have shiny piano black even the matte black on my Rythmik subs works.

Colour is a preference. I personally would have loved all white. But oak also works for me since I have oak/white/grey room.
Just saying the quality isn't that bad. At least it's the thick textured vinyl, not the paper one.

 

[Honken]

I think that they look quite nice (in pictures at least). This mixed with the fact that they measure well for a relatively low cost* is why I have a pair on backorder. They've been out of stock for weeks now though and the anticipation is killing me.

I'm honestly quite happy with the Klipsch speakers I have right now, but they are very bulky and require a lot of toe-in (exacerbating the floor space required). So on that note, do other DBR-62 owners use toe-in? I note that in the review Amir mentions that the DBR-62 is forgiving when it comes to toe-in, but my graph-fu isn't great and I fail to discern whether or not one should do that if it is possible (and the listening spot is small).

Thanks!

* Locally the DBR-62 costs ~$500, the M16 costs ~$1400 and the R3 is over $2000.

 

[Gatordaddy]

I think that they look quite nice (in pictures at least). This mixed with the fact that they measure well for a relatively low cost* is why I have a pair on backorder. They've been out of stock for weeks now though and the anticipation is killing me.

I'm honestly quite happy with the Klipsch speakers I have right now, but they are very bulky and require a lot of toe-in (exacerbating the floor space required). So on that note, do other DBR-62 owners use toe-in? I note that in the review Amir mentions that the DBR-62 is forgiving when it comes to toe-in, but my graph-fu isn't great and I fail to discern whether or not one should do that if it is possible (and the listening spot is small).

Thanks!

* Locally the DBR-62 costs ~$500, the M16 costs ~$1400 and the R3 is over $2000.

They are extremely tolerant of placement

 

[Gatordaddy]

Honestly before tonight I had just gotten used to them and had started to leave the grills on all the time and pointed them in about 15 or 20 degrees just based on intuition and visual aesthetics. But after experimenting tonight I think I’ll leave the speaker grills off and have them toed in five to ten degrees. They get a ton of use. I use them for workout listening, for home theater, for watching stuff with the family, for watching YouTube, for attentive music listening, etc. But I did experiment a little tonight as described above, even though I’ve settled in with them. It could be everything I stated above is my imagination, but since you asked, I thought I’d put in a little effort, and try my hand at some imaginative writing.

Grilles off results in better measured performance. The directivity behavior is good enough that you can get good results from anywhere between pointed at you to pointed straight ahead. DSP/EQ to suit to taste based on how live the room is and your preferences. They are excellent and versatile speakers. My only caveat is that the cheaper line are also probably excellent and versatile speakers (just probably less so) but I don't have the data to back that.

 

[ZetZet]

I think that they look quite nice (in pictures at least). This mixed with the fact that they measure well for a relatively low cost* is why I have a pair on backorder. They've been out of stock for weeks now though and the anticipation is killing me.

I'm honestly quite happy with the Klipsch speakers I have right now, but they are very bulky and require a lot of toe-in (exacerbating the floor space required). So on that note, do other DBR-62 owners use toe-in? I note that in the review Amir mentions that the DBR-62 is forgiving when it comes to toe-in, but my graph-fu isn't great and I fail to discern whether or not one should do that if it is possible (and the listening spot is small).

Thanks!

* Locally the DBR-62 costs ~$500, the M16 costs ~$1400 and the R3 is over $2000.

I tried toed in and straight ahead sitting around 2 meters away and speakers 2 meters apart and I can't tell the difference. Which is amazing since toe in doesn't work with my setup and slight ocd.

 

[Ron Texas]

This is from the C-Net review of the DBR-62's


"Even if it's not the most thrilling listen, the new Debut proves you don't have to sound crazy-bright to be truly hi-fi. The Debut is especially sensitive to midrange instruments like voices and acoustic guitars, and gives folk and jazz a genuine sparkle. While it's not the first speaker I'd choose for couch-jumping to hair metal, it doesn't make hard rock sound bad by any means, either.

I compared the Elac against two very British designs, the Q Acoustics 3030i and the Bowers and Wilkins 685 with a selection of music and movies. I used the DBR62 with an Onkyo TX-RZ830, a capable midrange AV receiver, with pleasing results.

During coronavirus lockdown I'm reviewing speakers from home so I didn't have a pair of the Debut 2.0s to compare directly. But I know their sound well enough to realize immediately they are different speakers altogether than the Reference series. The Debut 2.0s have a very forward character compared to the laid-back nature of the Reference, and they demand a lot more care in system matching. "

I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of the above statements.

 

[Honken]

Thanks for the info on the toe-in. Sounds promising as I, too, would like to avoid that for aesthetic reasons.

 

[taisho]

@Ron Texas How can I trust the opinions of a professional audio reviewer who for tests chooses an amp that costs 150% of an average monthly salary in Poland, yet it has 0.08% THD+N (61.94 SINAD) at half rated power according to manufacturer spec?

https://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/product_info/pdf/tx-rz830_euex_leaflet.pdf

He should have given DBR-62 a 5-star rating. Only for being able to do low-level listening above 55dB SINAD thanks to its low sensitivity. I could give him a piece of shopping advice, not the other way round.

 

[Ron Texas]

@taisho you can't trust most of the professional audio reviewers. Don't read that stuff. It causes brain rot. That's why this site exists. I posted that quote because I thought it was ridiculous.

 

[Honken]

They finally arrived, I guess I just had to whine about the delivery a bit here to make them magically appear at my doorstep hah.

They're a bit bigger than I thought they would be, I definitely second the doubts of using these in nearfield setups. The vinyl looks a bit shoddily done on the back seam, but I don't mind too much - you'd really have to walk up to them and inspect them closely to notice.

As for the sound, my room is incredibly poor in terms of acoustics I guess, but I still enjoy the sound. I let REW have its way with the results below (1/24 smoothed) and the result sounds great to me. Definitely another soundstage compared to the Klipsch floorstanders that I've grown accustomed to. The DBR-62s feel... flatter, less direct, while the stereo effect felt stronger with the Klipsch speakers. Both still require your head to be in a vice, exactly between the speakers, for the stereo effect to truly show though (maybe it's just me?). In other words, I guess what I'm hearing is the more tilted frequency response of the Elacs.

I do use subs as well (SVS PC2000) which aren't included in the results below.

Edit: After having fiddled with, and listened to, these speakers for a few days, I'll have to join in on the praise - these speakers sound darn good. I highly recommend them!

 

[taisho]

The recent change in distortion tests, from 96dB to 86dB, makes me wonder how DBR-62 measures at this level. A lot of good can be said about these speakers but distortion @ 96dB isn't one of these things.

Personally I'm very happy about the change, it's much closer to the regular listening levels in an average room.

 

[amirm]

The recent change in distortion tests, from 96dB to 86dB, makes me wonder how DBR-62 measures at this level. A lot of good can be said about these speakers but distortion @ 96dB isn't one of these things.

Personally I'm very happy about the change, it's much closer to the regular listening levels in an average room.

I am only going to use 86 dB for very small/low power capability speakers. Otherwise 96 dB will be the norm.

 

[ROOSKIE]

The recent change in distortion tests, from 96dB to 86dB, makes me wonder how DBR-62 measures at this level. A lot of good can be said about these speakers but distortion @ 96dB isn't one of these things.

Personally I'm very happy about the change, it's much closer to the regular listening levels in an average room.

While I think it would be nice to see distortion at 86db for the ELAC speaker as a 2nd data set, IMHO it has excellent distortion levels at 96db. I feel inferring that they are very low at 86db would be fair and I would not want to to omit the high playback level test as I often listen fairly loudly and that is were distortion can be an issue. It is nice to see the ELAC handles that level well and would be a viable option for loud playback. Also for folks who have large rooms to fill.

 

[Cameron]

It's been a fascinating read through these comments, and getting my head around interpreting the results.

I found this forum doing some comparisons between the Klipsch 600m and the ELAC's, but the results speak for themselves. My only hangup is efficiency, as I've a Cambridge Audio AXA35 (35 Wpc) and I understand these could require some grunt.

That said, SG's review used both an AXA35 and a 70 Wpc Denon with good results (but that's SG ).

Anyhoo, thumbs up for the pairing? Or search for something with higher sensitivity buy a new amp?

 

[ZetZet]

It's been a fascinating read through these comments, and getting my head around interpreting the results.

I found this forum doing some comparisons between the Klipsch 600m and the ELAC's, but the results speak for themselves. My only hangup is efficiency, as I've a Cambridge Audio AXA35 (35 Wpc) and I understand these could require some grunt.

That said, SG's review used both an AXA35 and a 70 Wpc Denon with good results (but that's SG ).

Anyhoo, thumbs up for the pairing? Or search for something with higher sensitivity buy a new amp?

I have WXA-50 with the ELAC's and it gets so loud it hurts. Don't think you would need a new amp with the AXA35. Normal listening volumes use a couple watts at most.

 

[Cameron]

I have WXA-50 with the ELAC's and it gets so loud it hurts. Don't think you would need a new amp with the AXA35. Normal listening volumes use a couple watts at most.

Thanks for the input, appreciate it. You enjoying the Elac's then?

 

[ZetZet]

Thanks for the input, appreciate it. You enjoying the Elac's then?

I am. I don't have anything from this century to compare them to, but they sound good overall

 

[Honken]

I own the RP-8000F, the big floorstanding brother of the RP-600M, as well as the DBR-62. From what I can gather, the RP-8000F is more neutral in its response than the RP-600M but I guess that there are still quite a few similarities between the two.

On the negative side, the Klipsch are a lot brighter than the Elacs, I personally like that but I know that I am in the minority on this. With the Klispch, the sound changes a fair bit as you move around in the room. I had to use a lot of toe in for the Klipsch to sound good. The stereo effect on this song was very cool with the Klipsch, and I can't really seem to be able to make the Elacs reproduce it (it feels flatter):

The Elacs in contrast are very easy to listen to, definitely a softer sound that I'm starting to grow accustomed to after listening to them for a while now. The soundscape in the room is a lot more even and they seem a lot more forgiving with where in the room they are placed.

Overall, I personally prefer the Elacs.

 

[BN1]

Sadly for people who would be building typical lounge cinema the matching horizontal DCR52 center channel is 2-way design with known issues. @amirm did you send message to Andrew Jones about this review and asked him here to comment? He never came last time you asked.

what are the known issues with this center ? typical MTM ?

 

[SynthesisCinema]

what are the known issues with this center ? typical MTM ?

Read these:

https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/center-channel-designs

https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/center-channel-designs-1

http://www.seymourav.com/centerbestpractice.php