ELAC DF63 Floor standing Speaker Review

[CedarX]

On the manufacturer side, this is how they should see it IMO: if a single, completely random, production speaker shows such a serious problem, they just cannot ignore it and dismiss it as defective or damaged during transport, the stats. are against them. The odds of Amir (always!) receiving the only bad sample they produced & shipped are close to null. They should be all over it and find out what's going on... unless they already know and don't want to acknowledge it.

 

[Salt]

On the manufacturer side, this is how they should see it IMO: if a single, completely random, production speaker shows such a serious problem, they just cannot ignore it and dismiss it as defective or damaged during transport, the stats. are against them. The odds of Amir (always!) receiving the only bad sample they produced & shipped are close to null. They should be all over it and find out what's going on... unless they already know and don't want to acknowledge it.

No, it's 1:1 Amir: Erin.
And that's 2 specimen of what amount in the world?

 

[amirm]

Here is the other ELAC speaker I tested with similar failure: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ac-uni-fi-2-0-review-bookshelf-speaker.19216/

What is fascinating is that it too showed a large difference in distortion between 86 and 96 dBSPL:

Then again, it was a smaller speaker.

 

[amirm]

And that's 2 specimen of what amount in the world?

He is talking about two samples I have tested with similar issue. See what i just post above.

 

[Salt]

I'm aware of this, but still uncertain why measurements did not predict the irritation at audition??

 

[DanielT]

Maybe. But you really needs this one clip to hear the problem in all of its glory. You could listen to ton of other tracks and not hear it.

But wait. You say:

At 30 seconds, there are some high frequency (strings?) that normally don't bother any speaker I have tested. Oh boy. Did it upset the DF-63. Massive, and I mean massive resonance set into tweeter, creating screeching sound that was nearly as loud as the notes themselves!

With the song: Fading sun by Terje Isungset? What I hear 30 seconds into the song is a little gentle knocking on like cowbells. So low in frequency that the midrange should handle it. The cowbells I mean. Or am I missing something now? Maybe you meant some other song?

 

[Cbdb2]

Seeing how i could find this flaw with a single speaker shows the value of listening to a single speaker!

You missed my point. If a speaker is damaged the other one would show it. I bought a pair of Revel F206s and when I played them loud I could hear a slight resonance/ratling in only one speaker so I new something was wrong with it.. The stuffing shifted during transport and was partly blocking the port. You had to shine a light into the port to see it. If it was an unknown brand and if you measured and listened to that speaker it would not have been great and would misrepresent that speaker. How do you know the samples you get are not damaged/subpar/ or assembled on a Friday like my F206?

 

[daniboun]

Bottom line here is that we have a speaker that is in perfect condition without a single visible damage to it. Let's say I test another one and it is different. What then? How do you know which one you get if you purchase it?

we could eventually conclude that one of the two is defective.... but I agree that this will not guarantee that for a possible purchase the pair will be absolutely identical (same measurements).
On the other hand this could highlight a lack of quality control... and consequently you could help many potential buyers to take a risk... this is a bit what we expect from ASR

 

[Salt]

we could eventually conclude that one of the two is defective.... but I agree that this will not guarantee that for a possible purchase the pair will be absolutely identical (same measurements).
On the other hand this could highlight a lack of quality control... and consequently you could help many potential buyers to take a risk... this is a bit what we expect from ASR

Why no double check? and a search for error if there is any? Isn't it this what makes out engagement of EE?

Edit: have to correct myself: where the EE ends the scientist begins (to evaluate results and, if any, errors).

 

[DanielT]

Here is the other ELAC speaker I tested with similar failure: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ac-uni-fi-2-0-review-bookshelf-speaker.19216/

What is fascinating is that it too showed a large difference in distortion between 86 and 96 dBSPL:

Then again, it was a smaller speaker.

With a vintage speaker, with a low-power bass driver/small motor structure, I wouldn't have expected to play at such a high volume,96 dB, before distortion kicked in. But with a modern $600 a pair speaker, you should expect Elac to use bass drivers with a little better power handling.

 

[daniboun]

Why no double check? and a search for error if there is any? Isn't it this what makes out engagement of EE?

we can also do both) continue searching... or start finding )

 

[dfuller]

On the manufacturer side, this is how they should see it IMO: if a single, completely random, production speaker shows such a serious problem, they just cannot ignore it and dismiss it as defective or damaged during transport, the stats. are against them. The odds of Amir (always!) receiving the only bad sample they produced & shipped are close to null. They should be all over it and find out what's going on... unless they already know and don't want to acknowledge it.

This is where I'm at with it. If Erin's sample is as it's supposed to be and a randomly selected speaker measured as Amir's sample did, something is very wrong with their quality control or packaging.

 

[DanielT]

I should clarify that I am not 100% sure it is the tweeter. I went close (a few inches) to the tweeter/midrange but it was too loud for me to stay there too long. I thought it came from that combo area. It is possible that I am hearing high order harmonics of the midrange.

Ok.

If you have a pair of ELAC DF63 at home and it sounded so bad, clearly audible, as you said, then why not test them both and decide with your ears by turning the balance control on an amplifier to hear if one of them sounds bad, or even broken? If both sound bad, well then it becomes a little trickier to figure out where the fault lies.If it is a fault?

Those ELAC DF63 speakers are a bit strange, if I go by your listening experiences, plus assuming there is nothing wrong with them, or one of them.

 

[Timcognito]

Erin's review said it was loaned from "the manufacturer". Maybe Amir got a dud as it sounds like issue was pretty obvious to him and his wife. Still not good from a well reviewed brand like Elac.

 

[Sokel]

I compared the two set of measurements and they maybe are not so different.
What I see here is cheap, that's what cheap does.

I don't mean it in a bad way, but who expects perfectly matching drivers and response for example at this price point.
Who even expects high SPL and low distortion or even good quality components (drivers+x-over) and top QC as measuring every speaker leaving the factory.

It just reflects what is about cutting corners, nothing to wonder here.

 

[kemmler3D]

Intuition about a floorstanding speaker (even as small as this one) says high-ish SPL abillity + low distortion.
Nope, to both.

Thanks Amir!

Yes, really surprising to see it fall apart under stress like this, especially considering the brand has a pretty good reputation.

 

[Wg916]

I'm still learning about measurements, but looking at the dip at 1000hz that shows up in Amir's measurements and not Erin's, I noticed that the resonance doesn't show up in the impedance. Is this because of smoothing?

 

[audiotron]

Interesting track! Maybe Andrew Jones sabotaged his data at Elac before he left. Thanks for the review.

 

[amirm]

I'm still learning about measurements, but looking at the dip at 1000hz that shows up in Amir's measurements and not Erin's, I noticed that the resonance doesn't show up in the impedance. Is this because of smoothing?

Impedance sweep is ran at very low voltage level so doesn't reveal all resonances. It also lacks resolution.

 

[amirm]

If you have a pair of ELAC DF63 at home and it sounded so bad, clearly audible, as you said, then why not test them both and decide with your ears by turning the balance control on an amplifier to hear if one of them sounds bad, or even broken? If both sound bad, well then it becomes a little trickier to figure out where the fault lies.If it is a fault?

I only have one speaker. These are sold individually. The owner purchased the speaker and donated it to be tested for the membership. It would have made little sense for him to spend twice as much money.