Elac UBR62
Contents
Elac is a very rich company when it comes to historical value. The company was founded in the 1920s (in Kiel, Germany), so it survived World War II. Not many can say that. As a matter of fact, it made all sorts of things during that time. After the war, it started making audio products again. It wasn’t until 1984 that Elac started making loudspeakers. And they still do that very well!
This UBR62 is a three-way monitor speaker with a coaxial unit for the mid and high ranges. The tweeter is a 1-inch soft dome and the midrange driver that surrounds it, a 4-inch aluminum unit. For the bass, Elac deploys an aluminum, 6.5-inch woofer. Crossovers are at 260 Hz and 1800 Hz with a total frequency range of 41 Hz – 35 kHz. That’s hefty for a speaker of this size! The price is 900 Euros per pair. That makes the Elac the cheapest in this test.
The Sound
The Elac comes across as quite neutral. We hear a remarkable amount of control and insight on the Pass Labs. However – like the on the Focal Aria – it is still a touch nervous and a bit intrusive. Yung called it somewhat “bumpy”. Also with the Elac, the Pass has a bit too much power, resolution and grip. That just gives some crazy effects.
On the Yamaha, we hear a similar effect as on the Focals. It feels a bit ‘thin’ and fresh. But it Ãs without a doubt more balanced and enjoyable than the Focals which turn on the center-area too much, causing Suzanne to come in fiercely. It is more under control though. Which makes for a slightly more relaxing listening experience.
However, it falls back into place with the NuPrime IDA-8. We hear a very pleasant tonal balance with Toto that allows us to relax much more and enjoy the music more. And that’s not just down to the recording; we tested that earlier at the Focal where we played Jacques Loussier both on the Pass and the NuPrime: the NuPrime remained a better match.
Measurements
The Elac – like the Focal – measures pretty straight. However, distortion is better controlled in the sensitive midrange. We do see a bump at 250 Hz, but there first of all the 2nd harmonic is dominant (less unpleasant) and our hearing is slightly less sensitive there than the 1500 Hz region. This is also visible in the perceptual distortion. Overall, the Elac has the advantage that the distortion is more balanced for our hearing.
