Andrew Jones and Chris Walker now with ELAC

[zieglj01]

I didn't even rerun the Pioneer's setup - just swapped the speakers. Given how much I like my NHTs, I was impressed that the F5 blended right in. I do expect it to have better bass because the NHTs are bookshelves, but the F5 is set to "small" and sitting in front of my PC13-Ultra...so I haven't really checked that out. I'm waiting for a complete pair before I sit down and really listen to them.

That is a good beginning - will be checking back later, to see your complete review.

 

[Adam]

Well, things started off very promising in regards to getting the second speaker, but I haven't been able to get a hold of ELAC since about three weeks ago. Two e-mails have gone unanswered these past two Fridays inquiring about the second speaker. Perhaps they are on a much-deserved vacation, in which case, I'll shut up and just wish them a good time. I think that I need to write my review on a single speaker, though, which isn't what I was hoping to do. Oh, well. It won't be the first time.

 

[crossedover]

Well, things started off very promising in regards to getting the second speaker, but I haven't been able to get a hold of ELAC since about three weeks ago. Two e-mails have gone unanswered these past two Fridays inquiring about the second speaker. Perhaps they are on a much-deserved vacation, in which case, I'll shut up and just wish them a good time. I think that I need to write my review on a single speaker, though, which isn't what I was hoping to do. Oh, well. It won't be the first time.

Thanks for taking the time either way one or two.

 

[Adam]

Update - I got my second speaker today! I fully expect to try the pair out this weekend and get my review written soon. ELAC has been great about the whole thing, and I'm really happy with their customer service so far.

 

[Rixx]

Anyone had any luck w/speaker stands for the B6's...? Since the footprint is so large...8x10x14 it makes it tough. Thanks!

 

[D Bone]

I've only had my B5s for a short period, but call me very impressed. I run them as L/Rs with a PSA XV15 sub and SVS Prime Satellites as my surrounds, all powered by a Denon X3200.

Imaging of the B5s is crazy, as is their overall sound. Smooth would be the one word I would use if asked. I like Audyssey XT in L/R Bypass mode as it lets the B5s sound their best. I have them X'd at 100hz at the moment as that's what sounds best in my room because I have to have them against the front wall closer than I would like (10"), so sending the stuff below 100hz to my sub that's corrected by Audyssey works well for me. As for stands I use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CQCIRTG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01

Best $229 I have ever spent on audio.

 

[KenM10759]

Anyone had any luck w/speaker stands for the B6's...? Since the footprint is so large...8x10x14 it makes it tough. Thanks!

Not a hard thing to find, just hit Amazon. What height are you looking for, what style? Most of the steel tube stands can be filled with sand, peastone, lead or steel shot or other inert heavy granular material for resonance damping and stability.

 

[haraldo]

I've only had my B5s for a short period, but call me very impressed. I run them as L/Rs with a PSA XV15 sub and SVS Prime Satellites as my surrounds, all powered by a Denon X3200.

Imaging of the B5s is crazy, as is their overall sound. Smooth would be the one word I would use if asked. I like Audyssey XT in L/R Bypass mode as it lets the B5s sound their best. I have them X'd at 100hz at the moment as that's what sounds best in my room because I have to have them against the front wall closer than I would like (10"), so sending the stuff below 100hz to my sub that's corrected by Audyssey works well for me. As for stands I use: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CQCIRTG?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01

Best $229 I have ever spent on audio.

I was just in Seattle a few weeks ago, and I really regret that I didn't pick up a pair of Debut B5's when I was there (just for fun), they would easily fit in luggage and as Icelandair has plenty of weight allowance, there would be no probs... darn it ...

IMHO what is happening now with Elac and Andrew Jones is the most interesting and exciting thing in the audio industry today. It seems like audio veteran Jones (Andrew: You are not looking old, you just got a lot of experience! ) takes everything he learned by working at KEF, Infinity and TAD / Pioneer and applies this now at Elac, it's quite darn daring that Andrew now sets his $500 Uni-Fi speakers up against his previous $24k TAD designs... I understand that Andrew takes everything that he learned and a lot of the principles that he applied to his statement speakers and puts as much as possible of that into very affordable speakers. So I reckon we're talking experiences designing and building $80k statement speakers brought into making real life affordable speakers.

From what is being said by Chris Walker in the video below there are new lines coming up, the next line up from uni-fi, like a $1000k bookshelf and related floorstanders .... and Chris Walker states that Andrew eventually will get free hands ... It will be darn exciting to see what will come further on ... Next time I am in the US I won't miss the opportunity to bring with me a pair of Andrew Jones designed Elac bookshelfs
Maybe the Uni-Fi UB5 or whatever may be next up from there, will be interesting to hear how the Elac's sing with a Krell amp

The Debut line is also here in Norway, and Uni-Fi is preannounced, but when the $229 speaker turns out here with a price tag of $458 the value proposition is really not the same unbelievable...

I will for sure go to audition Uni-Fi UB5 and UF5 when they show up, maybe they already did???

Back to the good things, these videos are really good stuff

Some other interviews... These are really good ones, after these I was left with a clear picture of some important facets of Andrew Jones speaker design strategy, mighty good watch guys

After watching these I'm clearly thinking, Andrew, You're a genious !!

Gene, sorry to point the guys to a competitor of yours

 

[Styj Pi]

Comparison of measurements among LG G2 internal mic, Dayton iMM-6, and UMIK-1. The LG did better than I expected. I think it's reasonable to assume the ELAC sub could calibrate it successfully.

Hey! That graph is really helpful and informative, thank you! Can I ask how did you manage to measure with the LG G2 and then import into REW? I would really much like to do that myself. thank you.

 

[rojo]

Hey! That graph is really helpful and informative, thank you! Can I ask how did you manage to measure with the LG G2 and then import into REW? I would really much like to do that myself. thank you.

Hey Styj, welcome to the forum! I used an Android app to route audio from the mic to the headphone jack, which was patched into the line input of my sound card. It's been so long since I did this that I'm not 100% sure which app I used. I think it was Microphone, developed by Gaz Davidson and available in the Google Play store.

 

[Styj Pi]

Hey Styj, welcome to the forum! I used an Android app to route audio from the mic to the headphone jack, which was patched into the line input of my sound card. It's been so long since I did this that I'm not 100% sure which app I used. I think it was Microphone, developed by Gaz Davidson and available in the Google Play store.

Thank you for the welcome and the response! Audio routing never occurred to me before but makes a lot of sense! Will try it out asap and compare the G2 to the imm-6 mic.

 

[afterlife2]

New AJ Interview:

 

[KenM10759]

Because I was curious I looked up that Elac music server he was touting. Well, for $1,099 you're $600 poorer than you would be with a Bluesound Node 2 or $100 away from a Bluesound Vault 2 that has a CD ripper and 2TB of internal storage.

Notable to me was a 15,000 track limit of access combined Tidal and local servers. Tidal seems to be the only streaming service supported. I have almost 15,000 tracks stored on my (original) Vault that's 2/3rds of the 1TB drive, and countless more on Tidal.

I must be missing something because I don't see the value in that unit. The powered speakers he discusses at length appear to be quite the opposite.

 

[slipperybidness]

Because I was curious I looked up that Elac music server he was touting. Well, for $1,099 you're $600 poorer than you would be with a Bluesound Node 2 or $100 away from a Bluesound Vault 2 that has a CD ripper and 2TB of internal storage.

Notable to me was a 15,000 track limit of access combined Tidal and local servers. Tidal seems to be the only streaming service supported. I have almost 15,000 tracks stored on my (original) Vault that's 2/3rds of the 1TB drive, and countless more on Tidal.

I must be missing something because I don't see the value in that unit. The powered speakers he discusses at length appear to be quite the opposite.

A little DIY and a Raspberry Pi, and you can have something similar at a fraction of the cost!

Here is an example--note that this isn't the website that I used to set up my Pi streamer and I have not read this site linked. But if anyone is indeed interested in a DIY Raspberry Pi Streamer, then drop me a PM and I will send more info.
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/05/23/review-raspberry-pi-2-as-music-streamer/

 

[haraldo]

A little DIY and a Raspberry Pi, and you can have something similar at a fraction of the cost!

Here is an example--note that this isn't the website that I used to set up my Pi streamer and I have not read this site linked. But if anyone is indeed interested in a DIY Raspberry Pi Streamer, then drop me a PM and I will send more info.
https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2015/05/23/review-raspberry-pi-2-as-music-streamer/

Roon is not availabe for Linux and windows 10 doesn't run properly on raspberry pi yet, so you can't run roon on pi.... so it doesn't compare very well if you ask me, Elac discovery looks dlightly nicer and is probably 50 times more user-friendly

 

[slipperybidness]

Roon is not availabe for Linux and windows 10 doesn't run properly on raspberry pi yet, so you can't run roon on pi.... so it doesn't compare very well if you ask me, Elac discovery looks dlightly nicer and is probably 50 times more user-friendly

Yeah,

I use RuneAudio on the Pi. I'm not familiar with "Roon" for windows. You access Rune on Pi via a web interface, so ANY device connected to the web can be used as the interface (phone, laptop, tablet, etc).

You could also look at Volumio, or there is some other Pi S/W that will accomplish the same thing.

Yes, you have to do some setup and configs, but there are Youtube vids that are step by step.

All I'm saying is don't knock the Pi until you see/hear it in action. For the cost of admission, and a little time to actually learn a little something, it is well worth consideration!

Personally, I think the Pi as a streamer fits my needs just about perfectly.

 

[haraldo]

Yeah,

I use RuneAudio on the Pi. I'm not familiar with "Roon" for windows. You access Rune on Pi via a web interface, so ANY device connected to the web can be used as the interface (phone, laptop, tablet, etc).

You could also look at Volumio, or there is some other Pi S/W that will accomplish the same thing.

Yes, you have to do some setup and configs, but there are Youtube vids that are step by step.

All I'm saying is don't knock the Pi until you see/hear it in action. For the cost of admission, and a little time to actually learn a little something, it is well worth consideration!

Personally, I think the Pi as a streamer fits my needs just about perfectly.

I agree with everything you say here, and The Raspberry pi 3 and pi zero may be one of the best technology innovations for years, they are incredibly versatile and a steal at the price.... I've been thinking myself to do a few raspberry projects, but I just don't have the time these days. Incredibly interesting stuff

You can make great stuff from Raspberry pi, I agree; Just don't claim that you get the same thing or something similar as an Elac discovery, they are very different animals... IMHO it's just plain wrong to state something like this.

 

[slipperybidness]

I agree with everything you say here, and The Raspberry pi 3 and pi zero may be one of the best technology innovations for years, they are incredibly versatile and a steal at the price.... I've been thinking myself to do a few raspberry projects, but I just don't have the time these days. Incredibly interesting stuff

You can make great stuff from Raspberry pi, I agree; Just don't claim that you get the same thing as an Elac discovery if you make a streamer from Raspberry pi, it's just plain wrong.

LOL

OK. Go back and look at post #134 and note that I used "similar" not "the same" as the Elac.

But, I will also admit that I have not seriously studied the specs and features on the Elac either. Guess I need to do that before making my "similar" claims.

But, agreed, the Pi is so great for so many projects for a small amount of $, that it is difficult for me to not praise the device and try to convince as many people as possible to give it a go for their next project!

I have a Retro-Arcade Cabinet, a Kodi Streamer, and an Audiophile Streamer, all running on RPi, all great little devices!

EDIT--I stand behind my "similar" comment. I don't think the Pi can support Tidal (yet, if ever).

However, remember that the RPi is Open Source, so it has great support from the community. It may not have the feature today, but may have it tomorrow!

 

[haraldo]

LOL

OK. Go back and look at post #134 and note that I used "similar" not "the same" as the Elac.

But, I will also admit that I have not seriously studied the specs and features on the Elac either. Guess I need to do that before making my "similar" claims.

But, agreed, the Pi is so great for so many projects for a small amount of $, that it is difficult for me to not praise the device and try to convince as many people as possible to give it a go for their next project!

I have a Retro-Arcade Cabinet, a Kodi Streamer, and an Audiophile Streamer, all running on RPi, all great little devices!

EDIT--I stand behind my "similar" comment. I don't think the Pi can support Tidal (yet, if ever).

However, remember that the RPi is Open Source, so it has great support from the community. It may not have the feature today, but may have it tomorrow!

I don't think they're similar, but other than this I think we agree much more than we disagree, and honestly I am very tempted to make a pi streamer too

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I agree with everything you say here, and The Raspberry pi 3 and pi zero may be one of the best technology innovations for years, they are incredibly versatile and a steal at the price.... I've been thinking myself to do a few raspberry projects, but I just don't have the time these days. Incredibly interesting stuff

You can make great stuff from Raspberry pi, I agree; Just don't claim that you get the same thing or something similar as an Elac discovery, they are very different animals... IMHO it's just plain wrong to state something like this.

I kinda fail to grasp what Exactly Elac discovery is other than HTTP based Tidal client, usb/nas music file reader and a dac.

I will give you this one build-in Dac on RasPI sucks balls, but easy to replace with external one. 24/192 is not hard to get even with inexpensive dac.
https://www.hifiberry.com/dacplus

The rest are just software features, which I don't see why not could be very closely replicated on Pi.
Besides Rune there are few others media servers like : Volumio, PiMusicBox and Subsonic