Electronics3

Like many people I bought these bookshelf speakers based on various internet reviews, where they were highly rated.... best bang (sound) for the buck. In short they lived up to those positive reviews. I have four of these speakers on high custom shelves (9 feet above the floor) in a squarish great room. They form a "Quad" system ... ala Quadrophenia ... driven by a clean 85 watt per channel Yamaha amp that supports a classic phonograph system.So I put on a classic rock & roll LP record from some 45+ years ago.... The Rolling Stones "Through the Past Darkly". The first song in my test run of the Quad system was "Honky Tonk Woman". I don't know how many times I've heard that song in my life ... and even heard it played live (the Stones in Orlando, FL circa 1998). Well the system ROCKED. The speakers presented sound details of that song that I've just not heard before ... just plane AWESOME. I'm going back to Vinyl as much as I can.Great Speakers ... purchase with confidence!

These are good speakers for the price. I've had these for over 6 months now so I have had some time to evaluate them...These speakers are not really the perfect speaker, as some would have you believe, but they do compete well in there price bracket and they do look attractive.. All speakers under $500 a pair will have some compromises of one kind or another...The speakers I used most recently prior to these were Energy RC-10's and before that were a pair of Boston Acoustic A-150...So I have had some experience with quality mid range speakers....At first listen I was kind of disappointed with these speakers, as I expected more they seems to have less detail than the Energy speakers and also were somewhat lacking in Emotional attachment...But I though well maybe they have to be broken in some...and so I let then play at low volume mostly using FM radio for a day or two..Afterwards I noticed that they did mellow out some and also I observed that the.. Sound Stage was also incredibly deep and 3-Dimensional especially when compared to the energy speakers. Placement was somewhat sensitive and needed to be tweaked to get this effect and one had to be fairly centered in the sweet spot but greater sound stage depth and width was quite noticeable... but I was still having some problems with detail and felt that the Energy speaker was better in this regard...Energy RC-10 are really good speakers and at the time they came out were also considered ground breaking..The bass(on the Elac) was much improved though giving them a fuller more emotional sound. About a week later a friend came over as he was curious about these speakers also and wanted to hear them auditioned...At that time I really put these through their paces using my NAD amp ;Pro Ject The Classic turntable and Ortofon Bronze cartridge also an Onkyo CD player...I had not really played these loud before nor was I that familiar with my new turntable....It was an eye opener...These speakers actually preformed better than I thought they would. At higher volume, with grills removed, playing vinyl the detail was actually very good. I could hear into the recordings and heard detail I had not heard before. Also no stringency, the Energy speakers would become somewhat stringent at higher volume diminishing sound stage and dynamics; not these they were quite comfortable when asked to produce loud music. At first I though I might get a sub woofer and return to the Energy speakers to see if that would work for me but so far I have kept these in the mix...I also replaced the NAD AMP because of age with a newer Integra amp which also has a more analytical sound than the NAD and a hotter high end. So the ELAC speakers are actually a better match for that amp and should do well with other modern mid range solid state amps... Also I would recommend these speakers for class D amps that tend to have more sizzle in the top end and should do well with these speakers....I am now thinking of getting a better phono pre amp instead....No speaker in this price range is going to be perfect...If you want Holy Grail your going to need to spend more,probably a lot more... Take a look at Revel speakers or Sonus Faber, possibility; Dynaudio; Magico or Totem or the TAD ME-1. and you can achieve a high quality better sound... For the next step up in detail and sound quality using a better amp try Kef Q 150 or Dali Zensor 3 but don't expect that much more in overall sound quality for the higher price, as those speakers also are still not going to be perfect.

I just hooked up these Elac B6s to a Yamaha A-S501 and a Fluance RT81 turntable, and I am left speechless at the quality and impeccable sound they deliver. The walnut finish is a pure joy to look at and I would highly recommend this product to anyone that wants a great speaker. I listened to the Elac B6s back and forth against the Elac F6s, and I was much more impressed with B6s. I do not understand how the price is what it is. I would pay $500 for these speakers. Add to cart now!

OK listen.. I am not going to claim I am freaking the greatest audiophile of all time.. I can tell you this though.. I have had many high end speakers over my lifetime. I've had a ton of "near-field monitors" for my music studio as well as High end tower/bookshelf speakers for my HomeTheater.I recently had an accident with my previous "studio monitors" (yamaha hs8's) and needed to replace them. I am a firm believer that the term "near field monitor" is total b.s.. It really is. The near field part especially. Now when it comes to the term monitor they are really designed to be a flat linear response across the spectrum. The near field part is total b.s.s no matter how much justification you want to give yourself for paying big money for those crappy sounding yamaha NS 10s.So after this accicent I had in my studio, I needed something temporary until this next year to where I could afford some really good flat monitors for recording.Damn...I really have never heard a speaker even at the 500.00 level that sounds this good. They are relatively flat, with what I personally found to be roll off at the top end.. I am older though so that could also just be old age. The overall frequency response is incredible. The only speakers I've had that sound better than these are these older b&w's I have for the home theater.. This smoke all previous monitors I've had (ns10's, hs8's, presonus eris, tannoy, and KH). In relation to hi-fi speakers I've had in the past these are better than most of them (yamaha, polk, klipsch, HTD, and other crappier ones). The only hifi speaker I've had that sounds better is my b/w's and again it could be because those are more dynamic.The speakers themselves are large'ish for bookshelf. The build quality seems pretty good.. I have not taken them apart to see what's what.. i mean they are 200.00. The grills are snap on types, but again these are 200.00 speakers. The cone seems to be like a kevlar type of material. All in all they are very attractive.sound:Highs are great, and soft.. Like I said.. I think these is barely the only area of improvment they could do on these speakers..but then again i am 45 so it could just be my age that makes it' sounds like highs' roll off slightly at the top end.mids - are great, with nice response in that mid range... If using for HT you are still going to need a center channel to really project voices from movies and all the mid you normally hear.bass - Seriously. The bass is just about too much.. I have completely turned off my sub in my studio that I've always needed when using previous monitors. I guess this simple fact counters what I said about these being pretty flat. Obviously if they bass and I have to turn off my sub where I didnt' with my ns10's then that part of the speaker is not so flat. These are rear ported and I have them about 1' from the wall which should be enough to give them some space, but like i said.. these things freaking bass..sensitivity. you need to really get some power behind these. This is one of the areas that might bother some using them for HT.. for example, my bw's sound really clear and the same at low volume.. These I really have to get some watts behind to get them to come alive. That being said the rack mount amp I am using is 100w per channel. I have it at about 50% when they come alive.as of me writing this review, I see they are no longer available. That's too bad.. I see they have newer versions that maybe have better highs, but it sounds like less bass?Let me put it to you this way.. I will not be upgrading my studio monitors any more.. These speakers are just outstanding for 200.00.. Heck even at 500 I'd say they were a steal.