Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 Speaker Review

[keenly]

Listening to Amir has set me back another $500.....

Based on this review, I couldn't resist and pulled the trigger for a pair on sale from Amazon. (I need these speakers like I need another book to stack on my reading pile....)

With my one-full-day of break-in, I can objectively say I really like these speakers. I'm really amazed at just how great they sound.

The Elacs have a very smooth response and the high-end seems crisper and clearer than the Debuts or Debut 2.0 (though I didn't do side-by-side listening tests.)

For smallish speakers, they have a surprising amount of bass though they don't have the grin inducing, chest-rattling , "punch" of my old JBL L65's. That said, they certainly don't sound anemic and as suggested at the top of this thread, with an appropriately crossed sub, they would make Stanley Clarke or Brian Bromberg pop.

For vocals, I think these speakers are hard to beat.

I also like the aesthetics. Unlike every other bookshelf that's black on black, the faux wood grain and canvas grills bring back memories of the old Advents may friends had years ago.

FYI, I'm driving these with my Aiyima A04 which seems to do a reasonable job.

Bottomline: great speakers.

Personal note: I need to spend more time visiting other websites. Amir and his danged recommendations are costing me a small fortune! But I don't have a problem. (At least that's what I tell myself!)

I am very prone to hearing any harshness and sibilance. Are these on the smoother side or more 'brighter' 'forward'? cheers.

 

[daftcombo]

I am very prone to hearing any harshness and sibilance. Are these on the smoother side or more 'brighter' 'forward'? cheers.

I'd say, a bit on the bright side if listened to on-axis. But quite neutral if firing at the front wall.

Here's the culprit:

 

[TheWalkman]

I am very prone to hearing any harshness and sibilance. Are these on the smoother side or more 'brighter' 'forward'? cheers.

Keenly,

I find the tweeters are brighter (cymbals are crisper.) than I've found in other small speakers (and I have the Pioneers, Elacs and even JBL 530s. All fine speakers, BTW.

I had my hearing checked and my tired ears are demonstrating roll-off above 12k but these sound really nice on the high end.

Unlike some other small speakers that sound tinny, these sound very smooth in the mid-frequencies (silky?) They're great with female vocals. Too, they have solid low end without being boomy (which is what I was raised on with speakers in the 70's with big, 12" woofers.)

I'm an old Fusion Jazz fan and have been streaming a bunch of Smooth Jazz during the honeymoon, primarily because I find Smooth Jazz is, IMHO, engineered well and often has wide frequency and dynamic ranges, showing me the capabilities of new speakers. (Though I love old 70's rock, the quality of the recordings really leaves a lot to be desired.)

For whatever reason, these speakers just put a stupid grin on my face and I have been staying up late at night, refusing to power them down and get some sleep. I'm definitely feeling like I'm on a honeymoon that will never end. (How many of us have said that at some point in our lives. Ha!)

 

[keenly]

Keenly,

I find the tweeters are brighter (combals are crisper.) than I've found in other small speakers (and I have the Pioneers, Elacs and even JBL 530s. All fine speakers, BTW.

I had my hearing checked and my tired ears are demonstrating roll-off above 12k but these sound really nice on the high end.

Unlike some other small speakers that sound tinny, these sound very smooth in the mid-frequencies (silky?) They're great with female vocals. Too, they have solid low end without being boomy (which is what I was raised on with speakers in the 70's with big, 12" woofers.)

I'm an old Fusion Jazz fan and have been streaming a bunch of Smooth Jazz during the honeymoon, primarily because I find Smooth Jazz is, IMHO, engineered well and often has wide frequency and dynamic ranges, showing me the capabilities of new speakers. (Though I love old 70's rock, the quality of the recordings really leaves a lot to be desired.)

For whatever reason, these speakers just put a stupid grin on my face and I have been staying up late at night, refusing to power them down and get some sleep. I'm definitely feeling like I'm on a honeymoon that will never end. (How many of us have said that at some point in our lives. Ha!)

Thanks for input. I did some audio testing and hear upto 17k, nothing above. I am tempted by these as a repcament for my PMC db1i.

 

[renaudrenaud]

Well, it's cheap and impressive and able to eat a lot of Watts and produce high pressure level.

The only point is maybe you will not like the product. From my part, following the test from @amirm it was the first time I bought a pair of speakers without a previous listening. No regrets at all.

 

[keenly]

Well, it's cheap and impressive and able to eat a lot of Watts and produce high pressure level.

The only point is maybe you will not like the product. From my part, following the test from @amirm it was the first time I bought a pair of speakers without a previous listening. No regrets at all.

I may have to buy a pair! The reviews are great, and most people love them. I am wondering how they stack up against my PMC db1i that cost £1095, after intially coming out at a couple of hundred quid less. The Elac are £500, can they really smoke speakers twice as much?

 

[keenly]

What about ELAC Debut Reference (DFR52) Floorstanding Speakers? I can get these for £440 each, normal price £100. Even better or not so much?

 

[holbob]

I may have to buy a pair! The reviews are great, and most people love them. I am wondering how they stack up against my PMC db1i that cost £1095, after intially coming out at a couple of hundred quid less. The Elac are £500, can they really smoke speakers twice as much?

Easily. I used to own some pmc twenty 22, speakers 5 times the cost. They always sounded dull and repressed. If you've been putting up with the pmc "sound" , the elacs will blow you away.

 

[keenly]

Easily. I used to own some pmc twenty 22, speakers 5 times the cost. They always sounded dull and repressed. If you've been putting up with the pmc "sound" , the elacs will blow you away.

I thought the PMC 21 speakers sounded way too forward and sibilant. You find the 22 dull compared to Elac? Jesus.

 

[holbob]

I thought the PMC 21 speakers sounded way too forward and sibilant. You find the 22 dull compared to Elac? Jesus.

Not in comparison, no. I just find the DBR62 to be correct and enjoyable.

 

[keenly]

Not in comparison, no. I just find the DBR62 to be correct and enjoyable.

ok. I could not enjoy the PMC 21 speakers, I ended up selling them. I thought the vocals sounded like every singer had the mic in their mouths.

The db1i are much smoother in comparison but have elevated upper bass and enhanced treble.

I am after speakers that sound large but are smooth, with no harshness. All the recordings I have are the best versions anyway, so the music itself can not be faulted(sought out the best masterings etc). There is no sibilance or harshness on anything I listen to(objectively) with the db1i, yet the same recordings sounded sibilant on 21s, and bright on SVS elevations. I tried monitor audio as well, very sibilant.

 

[marcello252]

I thought the PMC 21 speakers sounded way too forward and sibilant. You find the 22 dull compared to Elac? Jesus.

I have the DBR62 and my friend has the PMC , I think he means the ELACs are 'easier' listening speakers, and I can completely agree, you can listen to them for hours without with no problem at all, with the PMC it's a bit of a tiring experience

 

[Chriscasscouyou]

Hello everyone, first of all I would like to thank Amir for this great warm review, and of course all of you for your additional data, photos and personal opinions! I also have had this model since a few days and I do love their sound! (Sorry about my English, I am a native french speaker).
I just have one small concern, I discovered a small gluing defect on one of my speakers, as you can see on the picture, there is a tiny gap at the lower left corner in between the front panel and the box. We checked dismantled photos on this thread and another site, my best friend believes that the "seal" is not affected and occurs behind the cosmetic front panel, meaning that the intended sound performance potential should remain.
Can some of you confirm or mitigate that statement? Thank you in advance!

 

[renaudrenaud]

Hello everyone, first of all I would like to thank Amir for this great warm review, and of course all of you for your additional data, photos and personal opinions! I also have had this model since a few days and I do love their sound! (Sorry about my English, I am a native french speaker).
I just have one small concern, I discovered a small gluing defect on one of my speakers, as you can see on the picture, there is a tiny gap at the lower left corner in between the front panel and the box. We checked dismantled photos on this thread and another site, my best friend believes that the "seal" is not affected and occurs behind the cosmetic front panel, meaning that the intended sound performance potential should remain.
Can some of you confirm or mitigate that statement? Thank you in advance!

No problem if the front is not moving and producing some sounds of its own.

Bienvenue !

 

[Chriscasscouyou]

No problem if the front is not moving and producing some sounds of its own.

Bienvenue !

The panel seems stable and well glued on all three other corners, I have not noticed any extra sound or vibration from the affected area. I was wondering if anything could happen at higher listening levels, over time, or when using a measurement microphone in the nearby future.
Thank you for the quick response!
Merci encore, c'est vraiment très sympa!!!

 

[renaudrenaud]

The panel seems stable and well glued on all three other corners, I have not noticed any extra sound or vibration from the affected area. I was wondering if anything could happen at higher listening levels, over time, or when using a measurement microphone in the nearby future.
Thank you for the quick response!
Merci encore, c'est vraiment trés sympa!!!

I have a pair of Elac and drive them to very high level. They manage the Watts more than me, in the little living room I stop before the amps or the Elac show some sign of stress.

This is an inexpensive pair of speakers and the measurements and user experience are great.

 

[Chriscasscouyou]

I have a pair of Elac and drive them to very high level. They manage the Watts more than me, in the little living room I stop before the amps or the Elac show some sign of stress.

This is an inexpensive pair of speakers and the measurements and user experience are great.

I have to agree to that, I am having a hard time believing that one can get so much detail, still no harshness nor sibilance at all, and such a great relaxed behavior and overall experience even at higher levels! I am sonically content and peaceful!

 

[mvleff]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased new and drop shipped to me for testing. The DBR-62 costs US $600 a pair from multiple sources/dealers.

The DBR-62 comes in black and walnut finish or the distressed Oak and white which is what I received:

View attachment 55712​

I really like the baffle, the slot port and woofer. The grill on the tweeter is a bit out of place in my mind but not overly so. Overall, it is a very modern take on speaker design which I like. It comes with a gray patterned grill which can hide the drivers if you like.

So far my reviews of other Andrew Jones speakers has not resulted in any star performers. Some have actually been disappointing. Will the DBR-62 be an exception? Let's find out.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

All measurements are reference to tweeter axis with the grill removed. Frequency resolution is 2.7 Hz. Over 700 measurement points were used to assure high precision in higher frequencies, resulting in well under 1% error. I am also using averaging to lower noise in bass frequencies. I also doubled the drive voltage (for spinorama) to overcome low frequency noise in my setting.

All measurements are with no grill and on tweeter axis.

Spinorama Audio Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 55713

On-axis response is quite flat for a budget bookshelf speaker. Yes, there are a few peaks here and there including a resonance around 610 Hz which you can also see in the waterfall display:

View attachment 55714

Predicted in-room response is quite good as well, indicating off-axis performance that is close to on-axis:

View attachment 55715

I note EQ but in later listening, I don't think that is necessary.

Here is the response for the most powerful and audible reflections in a typical room:

View attachment 55718

Minimum impedance is 5 ohm which is above most bookshelf speakers which drop below 4 ohm:

View attachment 55716

However, note the area I have circled. Impedance is high at about 8 ohms but the phase angle is quite acute at nearly 50 degrees. This means the speaker will ask for current when the output voltage is very low. So you better have a beefy amplifier to drive this speaker.

Edit: Distortion measurement

View attachment 55737
Eye-candy Speaker Measurements
Horizontal directivity shows that most of the response enjoys a very wide, nearly 80 degree angle:
View attachment 55719

This means toe-in angle is quite forgiving. And there is wide sweet (listening) spot.

Vertical angle is much worse and is typical of two-way speakers of this design:

View attachment 55720

Which backs my recommendation to absorb those reflections if it doesn't make your room too dead.

I zoomed in the 3-D soundfield at the resonance frequency for fun:


View attachment 55721

On the right is our woofer/port. On the left is the back of the speaker. So it looks like the back is resonating and causing interference pattern with the front wave.

Speaker Listening Tests
Ah, what joy! Just put the ELAC DBR-62 on the stand and with no fiddling/adjusting, etc. it sounded superb! Absolutely superb. Balanced sound with tons of detail. Bass output was impressive. Despite use of a single speaker in my testing, it could fill my massive space with plenty of powerful low energy. Mind you, there was 1000 watts on tap to drive it but still, the speaker showed little sign of stress. At extremely high levels (ear bleeding) I could hear some resonances but back off a bit and you were invited to incredible performance.

I went through some 20 to 30 reference tracks and every one, without exception sounded amazing! With some speakers I have to hunt to find a good sounding track or two. Not with the Elac DBR-62.

Note that the only EQ I used was for the 200 bass mode in my room. There is enough bass out of this speaker to energize that mode so be sure to have some means of EQ for your bass frequencies. Above that, none is needed but you are welcome to try some to taste (broad, low-Q EQ).

Conclusions
The ELAC DBR-62 objectively and subjectively meets and exceeds my expectations. It is "Andrew Jones" as I expected but had been missing up to now. It is "high-end" sound on a budget with little to apologize for. I was sad to stop listening to it to type this review! It is that good.

Message to Andrew: please stop messing with coaxial drivers and such. Optimized 2-way system like this outperforms them all. They design won't sound sexy on paper but boy does it sound good in person. And no fussiness with placement in room either.

So save up if you have to but don't settle for anything less than this. I am happy to give my strongest recommendation for ELAC DBR-62.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Two things make me happy: audio products that are well engineered and money. Today I got my dose of the former so no donation is necessary. But if you feel like it, you can do so using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased new and drop shipped to me for testing. The DBR-62 costs US $600 a pair from multiple sources/dealers.

The DBR-62 comes in black and walnut finish or the distressed Oak and white which is what I received:

View attachment 55712​

I really like the baffle, the slot port and woofer. The grill on the tweeter is a bit out of place in my mind but not overly so. Overall, it is a very modern take on speaker design which I like. It comes with a gray patterned grill which can hide the drivers if you like.

So far my reviews of other Andrew Jones speakers has not resulted in any star performers. Some have actually been disappointing. Will the DBR-62 be an exception? Let's find out.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

All measurements are reference to tweeter axis with the grill removed. Frequency resolution is 2.7 Hz. Over 700 measurement points were used to assure high precision in higher frequencies, resulting in well under 1% error. I am also using averaging to lower noise in bass frequencies. I also doubled the drive voltage (for spinorama) to overcome low frequency noise in my setting.

All measurements are with no grill and on tweeter axis.

Spinorama Audio Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 55713

On-axis response is quite flat for a budget bookshelf speaker. Yes, there are a few peaks here and there including a resonance around 610 Hz which you can also see in the waterfall display:

View attachment 55714

Predicted in-room response is quite good as well, indicating off-axis performance that is close to on-axis:

View attachment 55715

I note EQ but in later listening, I don't think that is necessary.

Here is the response for the most powerful and audible reflections in a typical room:

View attachment 55718

Minimum impedance is 5 ohm which is above most bookshelf speakers which drop below 4 ohm:

View attachment 55716

However, note the area I have circled. Impedance is high at about 8 ohms but the phase angle is quite acute at nearly 50 degrees. This means the speaker will ask for current when the output voltage is very low. So you better have a beefy amplifier to drive this speaker.

Edit: Distortion measurement

View attachment 55737
Eye-candy Speaker Measurements
Horizontal directivity shows that most of the response enjoys a very wide, nearly 80 degree angle:
View attachment 55719

This means toe-in angle is quite forgiving. And there is wide sweet (listening) spot.

Vertical angle is much worse and is typical of two-way speakers of this design:

View attachment 55720

Which backs my recommendation to absorb those reflections if it doesn't make your room too dead.

I zoomed in the 3-D soundfield at the resonance frequency for fun:


View attachment 55721

On the right is our woofer/port. On the left is the back of the speaker. So it looks like the back is resonating and causing interference pattern with the front wave.

Speaker Listening Tests
Ah, what joy! Just put the ELAC DBR-62 on the stand and with no fiddling/adjusting, etc. it sounded superb! Absolutely superb. Balanced sound with tons of detail. Bass output was impressive. Despite use of a single speaker in my testing, it could fill my massive space with plenty of powerful low energy. Mind you, there was 1000 watts on tap to drive it but still, the speaker showed little sign of stress. At extremely high levels (ear bleeding) I could hear some resonances but back off a bit and you were invited to incredible performance.

I went through some 20 to 30 reference tracks and every one, without exception sounded amazing! With some speakers I have to hunt to find a good sounding track or two. Not with the Elac DBR-62.

Note that the only EQ I used was for the 200 bass mode in my room. There is enough bass out of this speaker to energize that mode so be sure to have some means of EQ for your bass frequencies. Above that, none is needed but you are welcome to try some to taste (broad, low-Q EQ).

Conclusions
The ELAC DBR-62 objectively and subjectively meets and exceeds my expectations. It is "Andrew Jones" as I expected but had been missing up to now. It is "high-end" sound on a budget with little to apologize for. I was sad to stop listening to it to type this review! It is that good.

Message to Andrew: please stop messing with coaxial drivers and such. Optimized 2-way system like this outperforms them all. They design won't sound sexy on paper but boy does it sound good in person. And no fussiness with placement in room either.

So save up if you have to but don't settle for anything less than this. I am happy to give my strongest recommendation for ELAC DBR-62.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Two things make me happy: audio products that are well engineered and money. Today I got my dose of the former so no donation is necessary. But if you feel like it, you can do so using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Spin data enclosed.

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 bookshelf speaker. It was kindly purchased new and drop shipped to me for testing. The DBR-62 costs US $600 a pair from multiple sources/dealers.

The DBR-62 comes in black and walnut finish or the distressed Oak and white which is what I received:

View attachment 55712​

I really like the baffle, the slot port and woofer. The grill on the tweeter is a bit out of place in my mind but not overly so. Overall, it is a very modern take on speaker design which I like. It comes with a gray patterned grill which can hide the drivers if you like.

So far my reviews of other Andrew Jones speakers has not resulted in any star performers. Some have actually been disappointing. Will the DBR-62 be an exception? Let's find out.

Measurements that you are about to see were performed using the Klippel Near-field Scanner (NFS). This is a robotic measurement system that analyzes the speaker all around and is able (using advanced mathematics and dual scan) to subtract room reflections (so where I measure it doesn't matter). It also measures the speaker at close distance ("near-field") which sharply reduces the impact of room noise. Both of these factors enable testing in ordinary rooms yet results that can be more accurate than anechoic chamber. In a nutshell, the measurements show the actual sound coming out of the speaker independent of the room.

All measurements are reference to tweeter axis with the grill removed. Frequency resolution is 2.7 Hz. Over 700 measurement points were used to assure high precision in higher frequencies, resulting in well under 1% error. I am also using averaging to lower noise in bass frequencies. I also doubled the drive voltage (for spinorama) to overcome low frequency noise in my setting.

All measurements are with no grill and on tweeter axis.

Spinorama Audio Measurements
Acoustic measurements can be grouped in a way that can be perceptually analyzed to determine how good a speaker can be used. This so called spinorama shows us just about everything we need to know about the speaker with respect to tonality and some flaws:

View attachment 55713

On-axis response is quite flat for a budget bookshelf speaker. Yes, there are a few peaks here and there including a resonance around 610 Hz which you can also see in the waterfall display:

View attachment 55714

Predicted in-room response is quite good as well, indicating off-axis performance that is close to on-axis:

View attachment 55715

I note EQ but in later listening, I don't think that is necessary.

Here is the response for the most powerful and audible reflections in a typical room:

View attachment 55718

Minimum impedance is 5 ohm which is above most bookshelf speakers which drop below 4 ohm:

View attachment 55716

However, note the area I have circled. Impedance is high at about 8 ohms but the phase angle is quite acute at nearly 50 degrees. This means the speaker will ask for current when the output voltage is very low. So you better have a beefy amplifier to drive this speaker.

Edit: Distortion measurement

View attachment 55737
Eye-candy Speaker Measurements
Horizontal directivity shows that most of the response enjoys a very wide, nearly 80 degree angle:
View attachment 55719

This means toe-in angle is quite forgiving. And there is wide sweet (listening) spot.

Vertical angle is much worse and is typical of two-way speakers of this design:

View attachment 55720

Which backs my recommendation to absorb those reflections if it doesn't make your room too dead.

I zoomed in the 3-D soundfield at the resonance frequency for fun:


View attachment 55721

On the right is our woofer/port. On the left is the back of the speaker. So it looks like the back is resonating and causing interference pattern with the front wave.

Speaker Listening Tests
Ah, what joy! Just put the ELAC DBR-62 on the stand and with no fiddling/adjusting, etc. it sounded superb! Absolutely superb. Balanced sound with tons of detail. Bass output was impressive. Despite use of a single speaker in my testing, it could fill my massive space with plenty of powerful low energy. Mind you, there was 1000 watts on tap to drive it but still, the speaker showed little sign of stress. At extremely high levels (ear bleeding) I could hear some resonances but back off a bit and you were invited to incredible performance.

I went through some 20 to 30 reference tracks and every one, without exception sounded amazing! With some speakers I have to hunt to find a good sounding track or two. Not with the Elac DBR-62.

Note that the only EQ I used was for the 200 bass mode in my room. There is enough bass out of this speaker to energize that mode so be sure to have some means of EQ for your bass frequencies. Above that, none is needed but you are welcome to try some to taste (broad, low-Q EQ).

Conclusions
The ELAC DBR-62 objectively and subjectively meets and exceeds my expectations. It is "Andrew Jones" as I expected but had been missing up to now. It is "high-end" sound on a budget with little to apologize for. I was sad to stop listening to it to type this review! It is that good.

Message to Andrew: please stop messing with coaxial drivers and such. Optimized 2-way system like this outperforms them all. They design won't sound sexy on paper but boy does it sound good in person. And no fussiness with placement in room either.

So save up if you have to but don't settle for anything less than this. I am happy to give my strongest recommendation for ELAC DBR-62.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Two things make me happy: audio products that are well engineered and money. Today I got my dose of the former so no donation is necessary. But if you feel like it, you can do so using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Early this year I was considering new speakers and the ELAC Debut Reference DBR62 came to my attention. Your review from March 2020 convinced me this would be a good choice. They are set up in an approx. 180 sq. ft. space and I am delighted with their performance. (I'll also mention that your review of the ELAC Uni-Fi 2.0 steered me away from that choice . . . though also happily introduced me to Eva Cassidy!) A few months later I purchased the more modestly priced ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 (and lucked out at $250/pr.) to serve in my 125 sq. ft. office and am again very satisfied. Perhaps my ears aren't the most discriminating but I can't detect any meaningful difference between these and the "Reference" version. I do appreciate that the rigorous testing that you give speakers might throw egg on my face. Bottom line: It might be worth your while to give the 2.0 B6.2 a test drive. I'd sure be interested hearing what you have to say.

 

[marcello252]

Perhaps my ears aren't the most discriminating but I can't detect any meaningful difference between these and the "Reference" version. I do appreciate that the rigorous testing that you give speakers might throw egg on my face. Bottom line: It might be worth your while to give the 2.0 B6.2 a test drive. I'd sure be interested hearing what you have to say.

I have both, I have to say the reference are more detailed an refined without being harsher, imho

 

[Chriscasscouyou]

Hello everyone, first of all I would like to thank Amir for this great warm review, and of course all of you for your additional data, photos and personal opinions! I also have had this model since a few days and I do love their sound! (Sorry about my English, I am a native french speaker).
I just have one small concern, I discovered a small gluing defect on one of my speakers, as you can see on the picture, there is a tiny gap at the lower left corner in between the front panel and the box. We checked dismantled photos on this thread and another site, my best friend believes that the "seal" is not affected and occurs behind the cosmetic front panel, meaning that the intended sound performance potential should remain.
Can some of you confirm or mitigate that statement? Thank you in advance!

To be on the safe side I asked Elac directly by email, here is the reassuring answer:
"...Following information we got for you from our service department:
Yes, this is only cosmetics. The sealing takes place behind the front baffle. There is a step in the mdf and the edge of the step is applied with glue to make this position air tight. No worry, this gap has no influence on sound or distortion noise (ventilation issue)..."