Got my new Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 and C6.2

[Mike Up]

Got the B6.2s out of the box and I was immediately disappointed. I had to break in the speakers about an hour for them to sound good plus I had to aim them upward so that tweeter was at ear level.

After tilting them upward, towing them in to be aimed exactly at the listening position, and letting them play for an hour, all I can say is wow.

They did everything that I was wanting. I really like my Polk Blackstone TL1 voicing. These speakers sound so real so when I bought the Polk TSI100s, I was missing that lower midrange that these TL1 speakers had. I also wanted a wider sweet spot as just moving a foot to either side of listening position (with TSI100s aimed at the listening position) threw off the imaging. These B6.2s don't lose their imaging when sitting off of the listening position slightly. Also the TSI100s got a bit shouty at louder volumes, even before completely broke in, these B6.2s hold it together at louder volumes (~86 db @12' or 4 meters).

The Polk TSI100s use to be $250 when they came out, but I grabbed them a year ago for $150 and their CS10 center channel speaker for $100. Still a great price IMO. I got the Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers for $240 which are the bigger 6-1/2" woofer speakers compared to the TSI100's 5-1/4" woofer. I also was able to get the larger Elac Debut 2.0 C6.2 center channel speaker for $230. Those Elac prices are why I jumped on it. So far very happy with these B6.2. I will say that these B6.2 are not bright at all. They are quite a bit darker than my TSI100s. The TSI100s sounded really neutral next to the speaker they were replacing which were brighter than the sun, Infinity Reference RS1 bookshelf speakers ( and Infinity Reference 2000.4s) from the late 1990s.

One of the things I heard on my Polk TL1s that I loved was that Chris Isaak's song Two Hearts opening guitar sounded like someone was actually playing in my room. The TSI100s didn't sound nearly as real but the Elac's Debut 2.0 B6.2s do!

I'm guessing that these Elacs will continue to sound better the more they break in. I still haven't opened the C6.2 yet. I also need to get some rubber feet for these speakers as they didn't come with them. Never had speakers that didn't come with rubber feet.

 

[Trell]

My guess is that the only significant break-in that occurs are your ears.

 

[lovinthehd]

Congrats. What are you placing the speakers on? Stands? Some come with feet, some don't.

 

[Mike Up]

I use glass Mount-It brand speaker stands. They do have their rubber pads that I don't use. The Stand is about 19" tall as it's more stable and the glass is heavier. Being so, I angle the speakers up so the tweeter is at ear level. This helps my cat and dog not knock over the speakers. They had knocked over my Infinity tower speakers and damaged them. But that tower speaker was so tall and narrow, it just wasn't stable at all.

I just ordered some more feet as all 3 speakers need to be tilted up. So I have taller feet for the front and shorter for the back. I had them on the Polk TSI100 as it's tweeter was below the woofer. The same size feet will work since new speakers are deeper so angle won't be as steep.

They did need as least an initial break in as they were muddy sounding. I guess it wasn't really even 15 minutes before they cleaned up. Probably just the motor/speaker needed to be worked in a bit. They sound really good!

Even though they sound duller with more accurate midrange, it makes instruments and voices a lot more real sounding.

Funny, those Polk Blackstone TL1 speakers only have a 2-1/2" woofer and 1/2" tweeter but when a subwoofer is added, they do sound good. I'm glad the Elacs were able to bring that realism to the table for a cheaper price as the Polk TL1s are very inefficient at about 85db/2.83 volts/1M and need a sub that can go to around 120 Hz or better, to 150 Hz. They make excellent surround speakers in my medium size living room and make good speakers for the entire system when in a smaller room like my Media Room.

 

[j_garcia]

The speaker is tested at the factor to see if it works properly, that is all the break in that is needed. It is not like a car motor where things need to wear in to each other.

 

[Mike Up]

I now have all 3 speakers with their rubber feet and tilted so that the tweeter is aimed at ear level and these speakers sound awesome! Very accurate and realistic sounding.

I can actually turn them up very loud and their tonal characteristic doesn't change! The Polk TSI100s would get a bit shouty at very loud volumes. I really like the soundstage and imaging, along with consistent output at all volumes. As much as I grew to dislike my previous Infinity Reference 2000.4 speakers, their voicing stayed consistent at all volumes as well.

I think I'm finally getting the sound quality that I've wanted but never thought I'd reach within my budget. Great job Elac (and SVS )!

 

[Teetertotter?]

@Mike Up, Nice to hear you are enjoying the same ELAC speakers. Movies sound just GREAT!

 

[Mike Up]

@Mike Up, Nice to hear you are enjoying the same ELAC speakers. Movies sound just GREAT!

Even enjoying the same Denon AVR-960H receiver. I even had the same Klipsch R-100sw in the media room system but replaced it with the R-120sw from the living room now that the SVS SB-2000 is doing living room duty.

These B6.2s/C6.2s are really a bargain and sound great. Didn't realize just what I was missing. Put my Polk TSI100 next to the Elacs and swapped back and forth with banana plugs. Elacs have an even wider soundstage than the TSI100s which was good. Elacs have more clearly focused imaging and a wider sweet spot before imaging breaks up. I thought the Polk TSI100s did good on imaging but not nearly as good as the Elacs. Tonality is so much more neutral and real sounding on the Elacs obvioiusly. More bass and lower bass with the Elacs. Also loud output compression seems absent from the Elacs while the Polk TSI100 do compress at moderately loud levels with shoutiness.

I still feel the Polk TSI100s are a very good speaker but no where near as good what the Elacs are. Then again, I paid $90 less for the Polk TSI100s than the B6.2s and $130 less for the Polk CS10 Center channel speaker than the Elac C6.2.

 

[Teetertotter?]

My HT is in the basement. Carpeted, concrete walls, and wood rafters, and open air. Speakers are spaced for small room. TV and Mains are 6 feet for viewing and sound. Side surrounds are a bit behind with tweeters 3 feet above ear level. Front R and L are on wood TV trays with tweeters at exactly ear level. The center channel is below TV on a 4 sided open shelf. Denon room correction calibration is right on. My adjustable bed is the listening positiion....lol. Movies and some internet music are music to my ears with these ELAC speakers. Her TV is in the living room, all to herself. lol We have been retired since 2008 and 10 respectfully.

I still have some Klipsch and JBL bookshelf speakers, collecting dust, in the controlled basement.

 

[Bobby Bass]

My HT is in the basement. Carpeted, concrete walls, and wood rafters, and open air. Speakers are spaced for small room. TV and Mains are 6 feet for viewing and sound. Side surrounds are a bit behind with tweeters 3 feet above ear level. Front R and L are on wood TV trays with tweeters at exactly ear level. The center channel is below TV on a 4 sided open shelf. Denon room correction calibration is right on. My adjustable bed is the listening positiion....lol. Movies and some internet music are music to my ears with these ELAC speakers. Her TV is in the living room, all to herself. lol We have been retired since 2008 and 10 respectfully.

I still have some Klipsch and JBL bookshelf speakers, collecting dust, in the controlled basement.

Lol great that you each your own setup. See a lot of posts with comments about making sure the spouse is happy With equipment and setup. No arguments if you each get what you want. Enjoy!