ELAC UB5 | FIRST IMPRESSIONS

[@billd9667]

Since pretty much every other reviewer says that the UB5s are difficult to drive, Josh. You may want to share which amplifier you’re using with these. If you sampled them nearfield, as I suspect, that would explain it.

[@electricant55]

I have the floorstanding version and I agree completely, they sound eerily effortless. They are by no means boring but they don't try to make the music more exciting than it is.

[@dajikbatarang1]

What amp are you using with these speakers? They need alot of power to come alive.

[@JT-pd3dl]

i have both the elacs and miccas. I've been testing them using my onkyo tx nr 818 in my man cave and yamaha r301 on my desk. i can say the miccas are good little speakers considering the price but they cannot touch the elacs. At every application, sound level and high/lows, the elacs outperformed the miccas. This is obviously expected considering the price. i'm seriously considering adding a crown xls 1502 to really feed the elacs some serious juice. been reading this will truly unlock the elacs as they are notorious for being difficult to drive. please let us know what you are using to drive the speakers.

[@Cujobob]

The UB5 do need some power to really open up, but they’re still dynamically restricted vs more sensitive speakers like the Klipsch RP-600M. Something with serious current would probably be a good match, but I’ve heard good things about that Crown amp. It measures pretty well - the higher end Icepower and Ncore amps measure slightly better (unsure if it’d audibly better).

[@Z3NSEI]

I agree, and that’s why I shipped the RB42 back. Great little budget speaker, phenomenal sound for its size, above average build quality for its price, but not on the same level as the UB5. I think it can go toe to toe with the Debut 2.0 in my opinion.

[@drunksaru]

FYI; these speakers are very amp picky and needs a lot of power to drive them properly. Also if the room is too big or too small, it can make it sound bad. 200-300 sq/ft room seems to be the sweetspot for me.

[@dicmccoy]

Actually they do not need a ton of power. 90 watts @ 4 ohms on the IOTAVX sa3 will be more than enough for most people.

[@dicmccoy]

@Headwhacker I recently added the pa3 from IOTAVX so now I'm running 180wpc and the Uni-fi's opened right up. The biggest difference I noticed was the highs were a bit brighter but the detail in everything is vastly improved. Now I know what people mean when they say the Uni-fi's need a lot of power.

[@woodstock480]

@@dicmccoy I think Steve Guttenburg (The Audiophiliac) said they need at least 150W of power to open them up. I'd love to give them a try, but am not sure my Yamaha A-S501 (80W @ 8 ohms, 100W @ 6 ohms) would do them justice.

[@mrchinaski4125]

If anyone is considering these, buy them NOW. Incredible. After 4 months i know this is the best speaker for me. You don't need power and they sound great. I used and old yamaha av as an amp and they really sang. Then up graded the amp with crown 1000 and a whole new level. Buy them now and you'll love them.

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

That’s interesting, I’ve heard that the speakers actually have very good imaging with tight center vocals.

[@JoshuaValour]

I fixed the issue this morning *

[@TheFrugalAudiophile]

Joshua Valour Awesome!

[@ronaldrice2936]

They do own mines for about three years, bookshelf speakers under 1000, can't touch it,

[@NiSHAN256]

Evaluating speakers is 10x times harder than headphones, take your time buddy

[@woodstock480]

I guess because the room and placement play such a big part of the sound, compared to headphones removing these factors from the equation?

[@gregge72]

I bought these a few months back for a really good price and ended up returning them. I tried them out for a couple of days and didn't like it for movies but music sounded really nice. Unfortunately, movies/TV is what it was for. I also have a feeling that my receiver really couldn't handle it. It was an inexpensive receiver 7 years ago when I bought it.

[@hi-fihaven2257]

Great work on the video man. Great information given, and I really like how you deliver it. I am currently using the ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 speakers. I love the imaging, and detail that they provide. I love Ron's channel, and I just subscribed to yours.

[@stevenswall]

Does the more pinpoint accuracy you talk about change when you move your head? Just want to be clear that you are not mistaking narrow dispersion for pinpoint precision. A good speaker you should be able to move your head and the soundstage should not fall apart, and I've never heard a speaker that does that as well as dual concentric drivers can. Great video, thanks for not simply fawning over them with no downsides.

[@mrwagner01]

Toe in my man. I've got all emotiva towers and if you're not in the sweetspot the imaging goes down the tube. But in the right spot, it's a Lazer. Play around I'm sure you'll find that spot. Maybe that would be a good side project for content? Give your viewers a chance to see how you play with room placement

[@rolandrohde]

Elac say you should aim them in a way, that places the crossing point of the two speakers about 1m behind the main listening position.

[@ememe1412]

If you reproduced most modern live performance, pin point source of vocals just does not exist because the singer is mic'd (and outputted via multiple venue speakers), as it is in the studio. Even when opera (which, performed live, is unamped) is recorded, its picked up by multiple mics and the effect you describe is a product of the mix. (At an opera house, the acoustics are designed to aid the singer's formant range, also precluding a 'point source' presentation of vocals in the majority of seats where anyone is watching.) How many live performances are there where a single speaker from the singers position fires the vocals for a point source effect? (The speaker in front is usually facing the singer for their vocal monitoring in noisy venues.) How many live, unamped, stereo pair mic recorded tracks are there generally listened to? What you are describing is how you would like to imagine a personal live performance not any live performance that includes the general public or reality. I mention with nothing to do with the speaker topic. Just found it unusual that you associate the pin point imaging to live performance rather than part of the beauty and skill of the mix and presentation of stereo recordings played through stereo optimised equipment and set up...

[@chrisselner5005]

I woundnt say effortless but I would say cohesive. The concentric driver provides great integration. For imaging, try some golden triangle with toe in. Vocals are textured and amazing. They have great bass, very tight and pretty deep for a bookshelf. They also have dynamic range but you need lots of power. Downsides are these they need lots of power to get the top performance out of them, they don't get really loud before they start shouting and they sometimes misbehave at certain frequencies. Make sure the binding posts, your cables, the silver rings etc are all screwed in tight. Happy listening and looking forward to the ub5b and q 150 shootout.

[@richardlaub889]

Is there a headphone amp that can be paired with a stereo receiver with a poor headphone output?

[@dremunoz2600]

I was wondering if these speakers would work with my vintage Sansui 5000x receiver? I'm mainly looking to enhance my music experience with some newer speakers...thanks in advance 👍

[@dicmccoy]

Get them in the right place for the sweet spot and you will find imaging and soundstage is excellent. The Slim's look so much better compared to the wrap.

[@andtothewestamerica]

Really nicely composed shot!

[@caseyodonnell6621]

These really seem to respond well to letting them burn in. After a week or so of regular use mine really opened up. Bass response was the most noticeable change. It wasn’t bad to start but it really seemed to loosen up and deepen. Super impressive speaker for the price.

[@andya2665]

The Miccas are satellites. Most satellites have pretty strong vocals because the bass is missing. Some say they have a nasal vocal quality. The Elacs are a very strong contender in the bookshelf speaker world.

[@ResilientME]

A song called 'popsicle toes.' I regret listening while eating, that is not a pleasant image to have while taking a bite of ground goat.

[@ziggy8757]

ub5 vs elac b6.2 would be a more interesting comparison

[@neccros007]

the UB5's still have the upper hand, both good

[@mattrismatt]

@@neccros007 The B6.2 are lower-mids (vocal) focused, but with a boost in the bass and treble, are quite impressive. I'd have a hard time imagining that the UB5 could keep up at higher volumes. And at their sale price of $150/pair, they are one of the best values in passive speakers... IF you can add bass and treble.

[@neccros007]

@@mattrismatt I have the UB5's and a friend has both UB5's and the B6.2's and we both agree the UB5s are still better sounding.

[@neccros007]

@@mattrismatt Also I paid $200 for a new pair of UB5s at their B-Stock sale so still a killer deal

[@mattrismatt]

@@neccros007 Better sounding in what way(s)? Have you tried boosting the B6.2's sub-bass and treble?

[@skumnjepf]

No JET?

[@rolandrohde]

They are great Speakers. I had them in my HT for a while. They have amazing imaging and Soundstage, just not that much dynamics. If you don't get good imaging...aim them at a point 1m behind your main listening position.

[@joelkuznetsov2826]

I use to have definitive speakers and I would have ear fatigue after listing to music for along period of time and after I got the elac unifi floorsating things have changed! They are soo relaxing and beautifull to listen too

[@overkillonslash]

Get a measuring mic like the umik 1 , its will be much easier to adjust the toe in

[@r3forge]

hi +joshua valour, I really like your headphone and hp amp reviews. I'd suggest you'd get a cheap crown pa amp with lots of power to check out how the low end of speakers behaves with the additional watts. Not that your rotel isn't a great sounding and versatile amp, but in my experience with speakers like monitor audio silver 300, buchardt s400, kef ls 50 and totem hawks... the bass will not sound as good as it could without the additional beef. e.g. I biamped my silver 300 with a great sounding pioneer a300r (tom evans modIII) for the highs, as it was too weak to handle the woofers. So I amped the woofers with a modded crown xls 1500... that worked great until I could afford my hypex nc500 amp. Also all of the mentioned speakers required a great amount of breakin time (>70h) to sound their best. cheers and hf

[@markostendorf1122]

Ron sent me over 🔈

[@markostendorf1122]

Like your channel

[@Grassy_Gnoll]

Give one of Andrew Jones's favorite test tracks "Seeya" by deadmau5 a try. You'll definitely see why he uses it. Great bass, and you can point right at the singer's mouth. I always feel like I'm walking through a ghost when I get up to change the volume. The UF5 is my best Hi-Fi investment to date!

[@JoshuaValour]

I’ll give it a shot!

[@alrightnow1124]

Richard Larson 👍🏻

[@Toogoodtobetrue458]

There’s a lot of meat in these speakers. Doesn’t seem to shout I don’t think. Dood I love the inception soundtrack - that is seriously excellent score. Watching the movie while being familiar with the score is something else.

[@Unicorn-ST]

Only, a constructive comment. I really think the important in a review is to see th eproduct, no to see the youtuber.

[@tremot7143]

The better the speaker, the better the source, DAC, amplifier, cables and stands need to be to reach their true potential. With these speakers, I feel you've already lost the ability to give them a proper review. As other have mentioned, these are extremely power demanding speakers, not to drive but more current will get a lot more dynamic sound and finer detail out of them. And get some proper speaker stands. The IKEA furniture is already reflecting a lot of sound and will vibrate so much, you will lose any chance of getting tight bass or solid imaging. Your inability of getting great imaging from these, even at the get-go says a lot. The concentric driver is specially developed to get the mid-high timing as good as possible, and that's why these speakers get univeral acclaim of being one of the best imaging speakers around. If you want to expand your review portfolio, make sure you can do the products and your subscribers justice. I feel HiFi is overreaching at this point and you need either leave it before people get turned off, or school yourself, go to HiFi retailers, listen, learn and invest in some proper gear to set a base for future reviews. Maybe try reviewing studio monitors instead. Get some IsoAcoustic ISOL8R decouplers, and try some KRK's, Adam's, Yamaha's, Kali's. Far more achievable and interesting for a lot of us creators out there.

[@humanbass]

Tell me more about how much "better" the cables need to be.

[@tremot7143]

@@humanbass Believe it or not, but better cables do make a difference. Ofcourse they should be price appropriate and have diminishing returns. I'm just saying, get some nice Chord Company cables or Mogami for powered speakers. They don't cost a ton and are significantly better than the garden variety ones. Ofcourse pure silver cryo-treated for a pair of Miccas or ELACs would be overkill.

[@averyvasquez8153]

A fine example of a keyboard warrior right here lol. Im sure very its easy for this guy to make his living space an audiophiles haven despite it being his living space. Its not like he needs a functional space to live. Im sure everyone watching his review has the perfect listening space. What a disservice to those people! Giving them the wrong impressions even though every room is different! Im sure he can afford everything you mentioned he is in need of too. I mean, one cant possibly have a general love an interest in a hobby like this reviewer here, especially when some pretentious keyboard warrior is there to prove him wrong. He must have everything perfect, or else his hobby is pretty much meaningless. How dare he try to be passionate about something

[@tremot7143]

@@averyvasquez8153 Keyboard warrior, haha love it. Ofcourse you can have a hobby/passion without having 'all that gear'. But for a reviewer/influencer, you can only give an impression, not a discerning review when the testing conditions aren't up to scratch. Ofcourse we all have to make concessions in our living spaces, I get that. And despite what you may think, I love this guy's reviews of amps/DACs/headphones, and my criticisms are well meant, not from a snobby audiophile perspective.

[@zblus]

Yee Tesla! 👌

[@tf7274]

Putting $5k worth of signal into elacs make them review well...this how most cheap speakers are sold.

[@coldfinger459sub0]

From your description it sounds like you have a problem with your amp selection (it not just watts that count) and either your speaker placement or room reflections or size. Come back and review the speakers in another five years when you have better amplifiers to choose from and you have properly did some acoustic modifications to your room and learned a little bit more about speaker placement. Your review will probably be a bit different.