The battle rages on! The Elac entered the ring today and at first, it looked like the Monitor Audio Silver 50 was just wiping the floor with the Elac, the Elac sounded muddy and muffled, then I started to raise the volume on the Elac and lowering the volume on the Monitor, the Elac started to fight back. Then my buddy the audiophile reminded me of using the DB meter app, and I realized that even when raising the volume of the Elac, it sounded good at the same DB level as where the Monitor Audio sounded the best, so raising or lowering the volume knob is irrelevant to my ear discomfort. At this point, the Monitor still sounded cleaner and more clear than the Elac so it was a more fair fight but the Monitors were still king of the hill.
Monitor Audio Issues:
I started to pay attention to the voice tonalities and started to realize that the Monitors were raising everything to a higher frequency, so voices and instruments sound like they have higher pitches to what I think they should sound like, and the higher I raised the volume the worst it gets, and the more uncomfortable one feels while listening to it. Even Elvis Presley sounded a bit like a girl in the one song I played by him. I realized that if I raise the volume on the Monitor Audio and deduct around 5 to 10% on the treble button located in front of the amp, the sound becomes easier to listen to, and voices get a more neutral pitch with less ear discomfort.
So is the clean and clear sound of the Monitor Audio just a crossover trick, or whatever other method that may be responsible for it?
Elac Issues:
They never sound as detailed as the Monitor Audio, especially at very low levels, The instruments don't seem to be as forward as the Monitors and the overall sound is not as clear. The bass is stronger and that worries me because they are going to be against the wall, but I turned off the subwoofer and both speakers have barely any bass at all, so I'm not sure why when the subwoofer is on, the Elac sound like they have at least 15% more bass than the Monitor Audio.
Elac distinctive sound:
The Elac sound like the speakers I used to listen to when I was younger, they sound warm and cozy, almost like if you are listening to music in some barely lit jazz club, like those in the movies. Doesn't matter how high they go, there is no ear fatigue, the sound stage is wider than the Monitor Audio, not as high but sometimes they are even higher, the voices become brighter and everything is just more detailed and enjoyable at those higher levels.
Breaking in speakers?
I have heard people on youtube talking about this. This sounds to me like some unsupportive claim, but there could be supporting data that I don't know of.
The Monitor Audio is a floor model, that the owner of a store sold me at retail price. He told me to take them home for 7 days and if by then I wanted to keep them, he will exchange them for brand new ones. I'm mentioning this because as I was leaving in the store, he mentioned that they haven't been properly break-in and they need more hours of listening to achieve this.
On youtube, some mentioned that the Elac need at least 4 days to break-in, I'm playing them in the background as I work for a few days to see if I notice anything.
Anyway, I wanted to have a clear winner but I still don't
But to my surprise, if this trend continues, the Elac may dethrone the Monitor Audio Silver 50.
Tomorrow morning I'm picking up the SVS Ultra, and amazon is delayed with the Dali, so they are coming on Sunday, I personally don't think the Dali has a chance in this battle of Titans.
