I received the DBR-62's I ordered from Crutchfield and finally got the chance to do a comparison with the Canton Vento.
I was inspired to check these out because Amir's review was very positive and he is generally a picky SOB!
He also caught my attention with his comment:
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.
Here is his review with measurements:
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...
www.audiosciencereview.com
I have generally been disappointed with Andrew Jones' Elac speakers. The Pioneer were better than anything else at the same price, but, while not bad, the two Elac speakers I have heard (original Debut and the Uni-Fi) were nothing for the competition to fear! IMHO, the Andrew Jones momentum that Elac bought and the hype of the reviews for these two speakers was more result of marketing strategy than sound quality. Hearing some dissension from Amir was a refreshing confirmation of my earlier opinions on them and gives Amir legitamacy ... from my perspective! Obviously, he did not go into his review with an automatic win for anything Andrew Jones has done, so his positive review led me to buy a pair from Crutchfield (who has a generous 60 day $15 flat fee return policy for a "did not like" return-they pay all shipping).
At this $600/pr price, the Canton Ventos are my "champion"! Often they may cost more, and pricing at A4L is variable, but I got my 6" Vento 820.2's for $600/pr. Currently, the more recent Vento 826 is equivalent (only cosmetic changes as far as I can tell) for $600/pr (in white - black costs $100 more right now):
www.accessories4less.com
The impressive thing about the Cantons is the next (by increasing price) better speaker I have found would be the Philharmonic BMR (I suspect the Philharmonitor at $1100, IIRC, would actually be the next step up, but I have not heard it). In any case, the Vento is very nice and if the Elac can beat it, I would consider that quite a feat!
Subjective listening evaluation:
These are very good speakers.
Bass is better (deeper) than the Vento's. It matches the Ventos for resolution (which is quite good). This will not matter at all if you will use a subwoofer, but without a sub, I would choose the DBR-62 over the Vento! The DBR actually has some bass that was felt as much as heard (and that is with the speakers pulled out into the center of my room - ~7ft to the wall behind them and roughly the same to the side wall)! This is impressive bass for a 6-1/2" driver and it does it while producing great mid-range detail (like the Vento has)!
Bass is a funny thing because it is hard to isolate the actual bass from the quality of the rest of the frequency range and the associated sense of ambiance, etc. Accordingly I swapped out the 6" Vento 820.2 for the 7" Vento 830.2! I look at this as a way to remove a variable when evaluating the rest of the frequency spectrum. The 830.2 is audibly, a very close match to the Elac except the Elac still had some extra "feel only" bass. Kudos to A. Jones for such solid bass performance. So, if you want to avoid a sub, the DBR-62 is a very good option. I listened to the acoustic version of Eagles Hotel California and the bass was good and meaty! Obviously a sub would improve it, but for anyone not used to a sub, these are impressive! I wonder how the Bass of the Elac towers (using two 5" drivers) compares. This bookshelf might beat it for bass!?
In the midrange, both of these speakers had excellent (and equivalent) clarity and detail! The distinctions I was hearing came from the highs which influenced my perception of the midrange, but I spent some time replaying sections without higher frequency content and they sound virtually identical. The Vento impressed me by having better detail than my RBH-61lse (I have always loved them for their midrange detail). The Elacs are a match for the Ventos and, thus, are also have exceptional mid-range detail!
It is the highs where things get interesting! The DBR-62 is rated as "frequency response: 44-35,000 Hz " IME, 35kHz is a lot to ask of a soft dome tweeter, but this is clearly one of, if not, the best soft domes I have ever heard! Normally, I feel short changed by a soft dome tweeter, but with this one, it took having a A-B comparison to be sure. The difference is definitely there, but color me impressed at what the Debut tweeter does!
That said, the highs truly define the differences in the sound of these speakers:
The argument for the Canton Ventos:
As I have said before, this tweeter is in the same league as the RAAL and the Focal Be (but much less expensive). The big difference between it and those two is the Canton uses a fairly aggressive waveguide. The Debut has a similar waveguide to the Canton's. I like the Ceramic tweeters presentation because it helps bring out more details in the music. For example, where there are vocals up front and an acoustic guitar play little fills, the Vento brings out the guitar part by presenting the brassy sound of the strings which is muted on the Elac. This is a subtle thing, but not uncommon and I like it. Don Henley singing "Hotel California" has an airy quality to his voice and the Vento made that clear in their presentation. I like this a lot and thus, I would prefer the Vento's!
The argument for the Elac DBR-62:
Where there is a fair amount of high frequency content, the Elacs sounded clearer in the midrange. As I said above I played music which had little to no high frequency content and they were virtually identical, but by not having so pronounced of a HF presentation, the Elacs had more space for the midrange to come out! This was in many places a very nice aspect of their sound. The Vento's highs will, over time, wear on you. I don't want to say they are fatiguing because that is often associated with harshness and distortion, but I play in a couple of big bands and at performance/reference levels, the trumpets definitely start to wear on me by the end of our 2.5 hour rehearsals. I think accurate reproduction is fatiguing, as a reality. However, the less prominent highs of the DBR-62 results in a great sounding speaker that I could listen to for longer before wanting a break.
I hope I am communicating this well, but I would never fault anyone for choosing the Elac over the Canton! These are both exceptional speakers and I recognize it is very much my subjective preference that causes me to prefer the Canton! The Elac is very much fair competition for the Vento!
Unlike the previous AJ speakers, I consider this one worthy of the kind of accolades that the press has been heaping on AJ. It is definitely among the best deals for a quality speaker currently out there!
I also think this is a serious sweet spot for diminishing returns. Both this speaker and the Vento are speakers that IME would take a lot more money to equal/beat. The DBR-62 does everything well and I could easily live with it as my final speaker! All aspects of the presentation are well-balance and I detected no weakness, only the choice (as compared to the Vento) between slightly forward (Vento) or slightly laid-back (DBR-62) speaker.
My biggest complaint about the earlier Elacs was they were so laid back as to be dull (even with the energy of a Big Band playing), this model is not at all dull!
In all fairness, I should point out that the MSRP of the $600 Canton Ventos is $1544/pr. so in that sense, AJ really has produced a speaker that rivals others at over twice the price!
Other factors:
Risk - You can find sellers of the DBR-62 (like Crutchfield & Amazon) that give you a "low risk" trial period. With the Canton from Accessories4Less, you are subject to a 15% restocking fee if you "just don't like them"!
Looks - Beauty is in the eye of the beholder - I love the look of these Elac grills on the walnut finish with the black baffle and slotted port. Unfortunately, the vinyl wrap combined with the small radius corners reminds me of something in my past that had sheet metal covered by vinyl woodgrain that is a cheap vibe for me. I wish I could remember what it was. Without the grills, the curved walls and gloss finish of the Cantons are a win. The Elacs also have a Light Oak option (with white baffle), so be sure to check that out if you are looking at them! Both the Elac and the Canton have magnetic grills!
Sorry for the huge size, but I was looking for a photo of the Vento that had one grill on and one off and this is what I found!
