ELAC Debut B5.2 Technical Review and Advice

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[@wallycunningham5090]

Btw I love this new direction of adjusting your voice recordings freq response to let people hear an example of what your talking about.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Cool! I’m glad to hear that.

[@Rene_Christensen]

Yes it is a great feature.

[@andreisopu]

Agreed 👍

[@gaurd3]

It’s been copied already 😂😂😂

[@KING_DRANZER]

@@ErinsAudioCorner No video in 3months. Hope all is good. Happy New Year.

[@Carl-bd1rf]

This guy continues to kill it with his speaker reviews. Unbiased and brings the goods explaining what he’s heard.

[@RdandTrk1]

Let me just echoe what another commenter has already stated. The fact that you give audible examples of frequency changes is something that I don’t see anyone else doing and really sets your channel apart. It’s very helpful in understanding what the data is showing.

[@EsotericArctos]

I think GR-Research gives examples similar to this, but I have not seen others do the same.

[@sebd6307]

Exactly what I thought when I had the 6.2 version at home. Almost everything sounded to "metallic". Only at very low volumes it sounded nice because of the extra details. So glad you came up with this because I was almost affraid something was wrong with my ears. Could not lay my finger on it, but now its clear! Thanks!!

[@raven8318]

Thank you for the work you put in to your videos. Much appreciated.

[@JBSCHAFFNER]

I use two of these as surround speakers, work pretty good. When listening to music I have my front speakers (Elac debut refrence) in direct mode and they are like butter

[@chashint1]

Thanks for the review. Your work is appreciated.

[@crazydwarfer]

Thanks for the excellent work, as always.

[@alexorigoni8626]

I love the EQ adjustments you’ve been making lately in your videos. It helps provide an audible reference to the descriptions you’re giving. I also love your “big picture” analysis as you walk us through the visuals of your measurements, and relate different measurements and observations to one another. If I could make one suggestion/ request, it would be for you to add a bit more “B-Roll” showing the product. Some of us are visual learners, and while it may be hard for me to remember the Blah-blah-blah XP-23- EXT Plus, if you show it to me enough in the video, I’ll remember it.

[@hu._-]

as an engineer, love your reviews hard to find honest AND informative data on a lot of the audio stuff .. snake oil still seems to be popular (and pricey)

[@otepdotnet]

I have a pair of this and agreed on this review.. I turned down the treble a bit about half a quarter and added a sub and its sounds wonderful

[@-MarkWinston-]

Ive had these. Its not an overall bright speaker per se, its just that the higher frequencies stick out. Not bad, not great either. Bottoms out real quick in 2.0, but hey thats a given. Another great one Erin!

[@otepdotnet]

i don’t like it on rock music it’s to harsh when volume is high.. but on other genres it’s phenomenal

[@ghost6813]

These are the best speaker reviews I have seen.

[@jari121]

I have these and I listen them grills on. It would be nice to see measurements also grills on.

[@NeilBlanchard]

I found that this speaker changes after a fairly long break-in period. The woofer is just kinda' stiffly suspended - I faced them together, wired one of them out of phase, and played a ~38Hz test tone through it over a couple of nights. So, the bass/midrange comes up after break in.

[@jamesderby4522]

Off topic: wondering how perlisten and arendal compare? You can get a pair of 1961 stand mount or towers for half of the price of a single r4b. Both sealed, both forgoing base extension for power handling and linearity. Does perlisten really outclass them?

[@tlalotoani]

I bought this speakers 2 years ago, at first sounded like something was OFF, like lack of detail, it was weird, 2 months later while listening to a particular song (Everybody wants to rule the world, Tears for Fears, CD) I realized for the first time that the missing detail was there. Don´t know what was, maybe "break in", maybe I just got used. I also have the Pioneer Andrew Jones 1 gen towers, compared sounds.

[@doublebstyle-hb2dt]

Then is it better to use them with grills? As grills are fabric i think they can help to reduce elavated highs

[@smiller939]

I have this speaker and I love it. I use bluetooth on my phone with a EQ app and they sound awesome.

[@williamgarrison3178]

I own the Elac B5.0 LCR triad and use it in my living room theater setup. I dont hear what you hear but that's expected at my age. I am new to the channel so I am just beginning my studies so to speak. My question is a mini dsp a software or hardware add on to the AVR? I use the built in multi32eq at present. Are you doing a manual equalization? Tangentially what do you do to dialogue mumbles on old movies or modern streaming mumbles. I know this is a global problem with some studios. At present all I do is raise center channel levels on a case by case basis. It does help in most situations. Center speaker elevation at present is lower than ideal. I have to fix that at some point. Is there a better way? Curious Bill

[@Audio_Simon]

Thanks for another investing review! Would you be able to add dB levels to the MTD plots next to the voltage levels?

[@bpalpha]

How do these compare to Paradigm Atom SE speakers? It's hard to find a decent bookshelver with something special going on at this price point. Are these worth the jump in price from the BS41's?

[@triedtime9573]

I had a question if you have time. Im wanting to put two little cheap skar 8 inch subs in a box in my game room for music. Needing around 300 rms im thinking. Where could I find a mono or two channel amp? If mono it would need to handle 1ohm though, I think. I haven't had any luck finding anything. I know you can power car amps with power converters but I worry about burning my house down 😆but seriously if I knew it was safe I'd just do that, but I'd really appreciate it 👍

[@missing1102]

Always very thorough. I have learned to understand the graphs by watching the tutorial videos and the consistent measurement based approach.

[@supercaradventures2219]

Hi Erin Thank you for all the brilliant reviews you do, it’s the only way people like myself can have the facts and an honest review. Do you have any experience with the ZTX Spirit 4? I’m looking to purchase 11 for an Atmos system, what’s your thoughts? Thank you

[@poisoncobra7]

Idk i haven't really noticed something being off or that jump, but then again i don't have very much experience with speakers so for a casual like me they sound good.

[@mpachis]

Hey Erin, love your measurement and listening reviews. Have you ever reviewed a panel speaker, i.e. martin Logan's or maggies?

[@Finite-Tuning]

Man, that still ain't all that bad though. Within 3 db for the most part and much more expensive speakers can barely hold within 2 db variance. This thing is closer to than further away. It looks better than most of what I started with, let's just put it that way. Cheers man 🍻

[@freelancerchayan]

Nice Review

[@adamjj85]

Interesting that your results for the B6.2 does not have the tweeter rise. I wonder what happened with the B5.2 model?

[@bikermanfast13]

Thanks for the valuable video. I would like to receive your advice, I have several Studio Monitors (EVE Sc-307 EVE Sc-205 Fostex NX-5 Avantone MixCubes (passive) as well as a pair of B&W DM630 Floorstanding Speakers. For curiosity purposes I would like to buy a pair of speakers HiFi to be used for Mixing. I would like to receive your opinion and possibly also an indication of the models to be taken into consideration. Thank you! Best regards, Carlo

[@itsjjp6070]

When you say you used a mini DSP, what's the exact model? I looked on their site and this noob is unsure. I'm hearing what you're hearing, and would like to do what you did to make it more linear

[@ExploringWorldYouTube]

Thanks to share this interesting video. I need to ask a question please. I need 2 speaker to listen TV. I make video editing and I make documentaries with narrator voice. I'm thinking to buy Elac Debut b5.2. In your opinion are there other better speakers with the same price and for this purpose? I thank you.

[@ivandjdocrodriguez]

I'm considering biamping these speakers through an active crossover and 2 amps, what crossover point do you recommend?

[@ivokoopuu6488]

I swapped the tweeter capacitors (quite affordable Clarity Cap CSA) and the distorted or weird high frequencies got a lot more cleaner and natural. I would blame the weird highs that everyone talks about on the tweeter capacitor. I am now waiting for another set of capacitors to try out. I modded one speaker, put modded and unmodded speaker side by side, fed the speakers with mono-summed stereo signal, called my skeptic friend over to verify what I was hearing. He confirmed and was surprised also. But still to my ears the treble is a bit too much accentuated (actually for some duller recordings and for speech-podcasts it is actually good) so one thing is to toe in the speakers which helps also with the overall presentation and depending on what I'm listening to I use the EQ as mentioned around 1,5kHz. Additionally i added adhesive dampening mats to the inside walls and woofer frame and properly soldered all the cable "fast-connectors".

[@SomeGuy-xq3kv]

Hello there, did you happen to measure the inductors? I am thingking to rebuild a new crossover for the b5.2s but cant find any data about those inductors. So far i did what you 've done as well with dampening the woofer to make it more inert and bypassing the cap with superior z-cap. If you have any info please share, thanks.

[@ivokoopuu6488]

With some weird modern digital analyzer that I would not trust: 0,1mH; 0,69mH; 1,25mH

[@effebidi9677]

I would love your advice for a bookshelf hi-fi system like this . ... What's your best advice ?

[@trevorbartram5473]

Erin, nice review. Previously I'd listened to the 5.2, didn't like it, I preferred the 6.2. Has anyone tried modifying these speakers? Most tweeters are more sensitive than the woofer and the crossover network usually contains a series padding resistor. If so, it would simply be a matter of increasing the resistor's value to attenuate the treble. If the crossover board is mounted on the back of the terminal panel it would be simple to do.

[@edwardsidel6862]

I recently completed a modification from plans I got from Neil (he has been mentioned by the Cheapaudioman several times). I got these speakers for $199 around Christmas and that was a steal. I liked them a lot but I knew that they could be even better with some modifications and upgrading of parts. Neil's mods includes the following: internal bracing of the baffle, replacement of the polyfil stuffing with high quality sound absorbing panels and replacement of 3 components in the crossover (tweeter resistor, tweeter capacitor and woofer coil). Wow what a difference: increased clarity, increased detail, better controlled bass and overall smoother presentation. Neil's mod takes this already wonderful speaker to another level. Highly recommended!

[@twte5647]

​@@edwardsidel6862that's interesting, I want to try this, would you happen to have a link to Neil's mod instructions?

[@kaori-3882]

Hi Love your channel. If somehow you ever get a chance to measure the driver Decware FRX2 or FRX3 which is the newer one it will be amazing. Also, if you can add in your written review in your website more measurements like Impulse response and waterfall plot and phase it will be very useful. Thanks!

[@BhavikPatelhr]

Bro...can you please share your reviews on Polk ES series? Great review 👍

[@bryanfurys]

Hi Erin great videos. i want to ask you i currently own kef r3 speakers and nad m33 amp, i am looking to upgrade my speakers, which one i should get kef reference 1 meta,bowers and wilkinsons 805 d4 , focal sopra 1 or focal diablo utopia evo? What do you think.

[@RennieAsh]

You really need to try and listen to them if you can. The kef will likely be similar to yours but better, the others will have their own flavour.

[@bryanfurys]

@@RennieAsh no dealership have any of them and they cant order unfortunately... have you ever tried any of these ?

[@rosswarren436]

Many reviewers say the B5.2 has better (maybe not as low, but "better") bass than the B6.2. I opted for the B6.2 for use in my computer\office room because I found them for a very cheap price a couple years ago when they were on special. I have an EQ applied to them and for non-critical listening in a small room I think they do "OK". But yes, this begs the question regarding the B5.2: What value resistor is needed to bring the upper midrange/treble response down to be more balanced?

[@RennieAsh]

Sometimes it's not just a single resistor as that can tilt the response while leaving the elevated level at crossover region. Could need an L-pad (resistor in series, resistor in parallel with tweeter)

[@jamess9623]

I wonder if these are meant for low volume listening where treble needs to be boosted like the old loudness buttons used to do?

[@RennieAsh]

@Douglas Blake they then boosted the treble as well because we also don't hear the very high frequencies as well as lower SPL. Put these speakers on a tv cabinet to get boundary reinforcement and they'll be great at general listening levels lol :)

[@fredygump5578]

Is it more important that Estimated In Room Response is flat, or that the on axis semi-anechoic response is flat? Here the in room response is nearly flat except for a dip at ~1khz. I would have liked to see an estimated in room response with the -2dB high shelf filter applied. (My gut says someone made a last minute change, choosing to make the in room response flat.)

[@eetu2532]

The Estimated In-Room Response shouldn't be flat but smoothly sloping down. So in this case since the directivity is good it's telling pretty much the same story as on-axis: the response above 1.5kHz is elevated. Generally speaking you might want to pay more attention to flat on-axis in a near-field listening setup and smooth Estimated In-Room Response in a typical mid/far-field setup.

[@dfknyc78]

I'm sure many people asked this before, but how you end up getting the Klippel? I think that thing is about $100k new. Did you buy it yourself? What was the reason to invest in such an expensive measurement tool?

[@satyabrataghosh6465]

This is data driven, I love it more than other reviews, for every reviewer on Earth will do reviews based on their listening experience. Hope everyone understands what's wrong in that; first of all, audiophile reviewer must publicly state / show frequency response of their own eardrums for each ear distinctly, and this should be authentic according to globally verifiable standards. Please note, with age these graphs change, so they need to do it every-year .. Instead of that let measuring instruments do that, with known precision and within calculated error-limits, with known frequency-response at different loudness levels, these instruments will do a much fair judgement.

[@dilbyjones]

Yea... I'll have to agree.

[@dineshanblazahan9843]

Man y u have not reviewed any Martin Logan speakers?

[@robertorodriguez2609]

do you equate harshness to distorsion? are they related?

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Sometimes.

[@Mal-xz4zu]

This speaker won What Hifi? 2022 award, but their review said, "Tonally they don’t have the sweetness of the Q Acoustics or the luscious midrange warmth of the comparable Dalis..." Are the other speakers flatter at 2K? Could a Schiit Loki equalise these speakers?

[@EsotericArctos]

I have seen so many mixed reviews about the Elac b5.2. Also the B6.2 seems to get mixed reviews. I think if you can get them sub 250 they are a pretty decent speaker for the price, but at above 300 there are definitely better options.

[@yayhoo8848]

I had the Elac uni-fi speakers and I did not hear anything that was impressive. I had plenty of power so that was not the issue. Maybe they were so flat they just didn't stand out in any particular way? I have Revel m105 and c205 speakers now and they are great to spectacular in comparison to the Elac uni-fi.

[@weevilsnitz]

I have a 6.2 and there's a really weird BIG 100hz dip that I can't explain. It's not in my older speakers in the same location

[@justkiddin1980]

room gain....

[@AmbientWanderer]

It seems a lot of speaker manufacturers like to boost the higher frequencies to try and wow people in demo rooms. Or to try and give the illusion that there is a lot of detail. i really wish speaker manufacturers would provide this type of data, so that we could make more informed buying chocies.

[@-MarkWinston-]

Lets buy a Klippel and do this shit bro! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@RennieAsh]

It helps people who put value in stats, but many people are more engaged with stories and emotion

[@AmbientWanderer]

@@-MarkWinston- I'd honestly love to! hahahah 🤣🤣

[@AmbientWanderer]

@@RennieAsh Sadly this is true.

[@mswdesign9164]

Hahaha - proof of my hearing loss. That treble boost you did? Couldn't hear it.

[@WindomRettes]

Didn't Andrew Jones design this model?

[@andrewforsythe7240]

Sounds like you need to build your own speakers.

[@mandeepkalsi952]

Did cheap audio man pick up on the treble being spikey?

[@MrSalepetrovic]

I'm interested in why you never do a review of some older speakers, eg 10 years old, and compare them to newer ones. Many people still buy second-hand speakers and it would do them good to hear a professional opinion.

[@andrewforsythe7240]

Great review. In contrast, "Whathifi" gave these speakers 5 out of 5 Stars. They say they are best for price class. I have the Elac Debut B6.2 the bigger brother. But most of the time I must admit, I listen to my Klipsch. Elac's more accurate but Klipsch more exciting to me.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Of course they did.

[@andrewforsythe7240]

Cheapaudioman also. But we all hear a little differently. That is why I use the Klipsch now instead of my Elac's. Cheers..

[@otepdotnet]

it is rated fair considering the price, it is not bad at all

[@conchobar]

Bro!!!!! You cheated us out of the Erin's Audio Corner Beat of the day @0:25

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

lol

[@Robin96]

I bought the Debut B6.2. I'm disappointed with the sound. There's something wrong between 500hz-1khz. It sounds like the vocals (the singning voice) is ringning inside the speaker cabinet or something. For my ears it's very annoying and makes the speakers unusable. If i tap hard on the cabinet i can hear the box resonating. My friend has the Uni-fi 2.0 ub52 and with them there's no problems. And if i tap hard on them they don't resonate.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Yep. There's a resonance ~700Hz.

[@HardCold-Alquan]

This man looks like the guy that was in the Malcolm X movie when they were playing Russian roulette.

[@tf7274]

Buying bookshelf speakers is kinda like going shopping for a new car...expecting a Corvette, but keep coming home with a different trim of a Dodge Caravan. Bookshelf speakers get the job done...but they are never going to satisfy. So you keep shopping...

[@billd9667]

Can verify. I bought these for an old Heathkit amp thinking it might need a high frequency boost. Well, I exceeded the return window and I can’t stand it lol. Luckily, I got a deal on them. I’ll eBay them eventually. Anyone want a pristine pair for $150?

[@RennieAsh]

@Douglas Blake might be worthwhile trying to use an L-pad rather than a single series resistor?

[@billd9667]

@Douglas Blake I can probably do it myself. Does it need to soldered into the network, or can it be in the lead to the tweeter?

[@billd9667]

@Douglas Blake thanks, Doug. The only problem is the third hand thing lol. I suppose I can use tape to hold it in place. Yep, I do what you recommended with spark plugs - counterclockwise til it drops in and then tighten. I made the mistake of not doing so in an aluminum block once. Once. 😭

[@billd9667]

@Douglas Blake don’t worry - that’s what God made machinists for. It’s good for the economy!

[@billd9667]

@Douglas BlakeI finally got around to taking your advice, Doug. I got two 15w 2ohm 5% resistors from Mouser and put them in line with the tweeters. At first, they sounded a bit dull until I realized that I had reduced the treble on this particular amp (NOS Heathkit I won from Flux Condenser, who assembled it online - kzbin.info/www/bejne/fX7GlHprm8dkgas ). When I set treble to neutral, I found it much improved. It's still a bit bright, but not so much that I want to throw them from a window 😡. I probably could gone to three ohms or even four, but I want to try to stay in Andrew Jones' good graces 😄. Thanks for the advice. I can keep them now or sell them off without guilt.

[@tweakradje]

Industry standard resistor values are like 20 22 or 27 ohm. Custom values are more expensive? I tweaked my original debut 5.0 filters with better resistors (back to 27 ohm) and bypass caps (0.01 uf) and man that makes a big change in clarity. Clarity is not about highs. It is about unsmearing. So no change to tonality. Prefer the original debut 5!

[@tweakradje]

@Douglas Blake Sure but that is not the values used in this product.

[@tweakradje]

​@Douglas Blake Values are very design specific.

[@tweakradje]

@Douglas Blake Funny that after 5 messages you state the same as I tried to say in my first post to begin with ;)

[@philippest-hilaire1105]

finally some actual audio review ! I'm so done with 25 min ''thrust me bruh'' videos where you learn absolutely nothing ! gimme charts; be critic, explain why, thanks a lot for the science behind it !

[@acemacgruber6593]

I wasn’t impressed with these speakers and returned them. I’m surprised by some of the reviews these get.

[@pliedtka]

WT... Andrew Jones did a boo-boo. I don't get it, because some of the people watching this review are competent enough to design good measuring crossover, at least on axis. I wouldn't expect something like this from a renowned designer.

[@Zhorellski]

Bass on this speakers are Woolly and muffled! Could not heat notes and definition 👎🏼

[@exif6839]

Testing such a speaker is waste of time in my opinion.

[@ErinsAudioCorner]

Then it would seem that replying in such haste would also be a waste of time. Knowing the (objective) performance of such speakers helps us better gauge what a true “value” is and it often can be used to show that speakers much more expensive perform no better.

[@zacknrudi]

@@ErinsAudioCorner I really appreciate that you "waste" your time on budget speakers that have been rated well and liked by other reviewers. I'm glad to see the Klippel frequency response on a speaker that I'm interested in. I know response linearity isn't everything but it does shine a light on what one might expect in a given speakers sonic signature. Love your work Erin, keep them coming.

[@pliedtka]

How Erin could have known that this particular model is ... , well not so great

[@davidkoslek9372]

There is nothing easy about this type of journey. I went through it 6years ago. Stay strong. And im sure the majority of us will be here no matter what. And you can message me any time.