ELAC Uni-Fi - UF5 or UB5?

halo

@madmax - mine feature the ELAC Green Edition Midrange

madmax

Oh yeah, the limited edition ELAC GEMs.

OldSchoolPolk

......with envy.

halo

madmax wrote: »

I now have my new digital system set up with the KEF LS50s. I will be substituting the ELAC greens when I get them to compare. This is the stiffest competition for the ELACs that I can imagine.

I think that the UF5 is going to have a tough time topping the Energy RC70 speakers but that's what makes this kind of thing so interesting. Keep in mind that we only heard the UB5 at AXPONA but, immediately after we left that room, my wife told me, "Sell your stuff and buy those."

msg

I think you're paraphrasing. I've never met your wife, but I'm pretty sure what she really said was, "Get new ELACs to check out, and then sell your other stuff if you like them better. You will be a better man for this, and so I will make you homemade fried chicken and biscuits."

halo

msg wrote: »

I think you're paraphrasing. I've never met your wife, but I'm pretty sure what she really said was, "Get new ELACs to check out, and then sell your other stuff if you like them better. You will be a better man for this, and so I will make you homemade fried chicken and biscuits."

lol. Well, I would be very surprised if she decided to provide me with homemade fried chicken and biscuits since neither of us eat meat

WLDock

Yeah...this is a major setback, it may upset or discourage some, and they SHOULD get it right, etc, etc, etc. However, at $100 off a $499 pair of speakers....in the name of sound....are they any more bad to look at than others that don't have matching drivers?






At $100 off new price for a new release that many are waiting inline for...it just seems like a non issue to me. Also, a bonus for those that are on a tight budget or are cheap frugal audiophiles. For all others...be pissed! Its not the first nor the last a new release has been delayed for quality issues. Name a market (not just speakers!)...and its happened. Either wait until they get them perfect...or spend your money on the thousands of other speakers out there.

halo

WLDock wrote: »

Yeah...this is a major setback, it may upset or discourage some, and they SHOULD get it right, etc, etc, etc. However, at $100 off a $499 pair of speakers....in the name of sound....are they any more bad to look at than others that don't have matching drivers?

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it's subjective, isn't it? It's ok for some and not ok for others. I would prefer to have matching drivers but I'm taking advantage of the discount and I'll either love them or hate them based on how they sound and on how they look (that's my perogative after all).

WLDock wrote: »

At $100 off new price for a new release that many are waiting inline for...it just seems like a non issue to me. Also, a bonus for those that are on a tight budget or are cheap frugal audiophiles.

I agree in that it's a great deal which is why I decided to purchase them now but I disagree on the non issue part, for if it was a non issue,
ELAC wouldn't be offering a discount on the "blemished" speakers.

WLDock wrote: »

For all others...be pissed! Its not the first nor the last a new release has been delayed for quality issues. Name a market (not just speakers!)...and its happened. Either wait until they get them perfect...or spend your money on the thousands of other speakers out there.

Ummm. Ok? So those are the choices. But blemished and shut up about it (I did that), wait until they get it right (that's what the people who preordered them on Amazon have to do and it's an option for anyone & everyone else), or spend more money on something else? Well, again, we're getting into some subjective territory here. People can spend what they want on what they perceive to be the best sound quality out there. There's no perfect speaker for everyone and your perfect speakers may make my ears bleed. Different strokes for different folks

Paradoxex

WLDock wrote: »

Name a market (not just speakers!)...and its happened. Either wait until they get them perfect...or spend your money on the thousands of other speakers out there.

And people have been upset when its happened in other markets as well. No one here is rending their clothing or filing a lawsuit. They are just upset that the promises made to them weren't kept...and now they're happy because ELAC is making it up to them.

I don't understand any of this victim blaming - it's not sensible. It's as if people are upset that folks are bummed or not happy that they were told something would be available in a certain condition and 1.) it wasn't available at that time and 2.) when it was available it was not in the right condition. That's fine and logical. No, ELAC shouldn't be put out of business for it. Yes, they deserve a little criticism.

If a contractor is delayed in finishing your new house by a few months, you'd probably still buy the house, but you'd be upset and possible inconvenienced majorly.
If you ordered a car and then realized the interior color was wrong, and it would take a month to get the right interior color in - yes, you have a right to feel inconvenienced.

Between this and the "that's the risk you take when you pre-order" sentiment, there's an odd sense of gravity away from consumer rights here. No vendor tells pre-order customers that they should expect worse service because of their eagerness. Far from it, many industries give them better deals and extras because those pre-orders help business anticipate the needed throughput. Pre-order customers are putting extra faith in their vendors, and while that does make them more vulnerable to delays or errors in the manufacturing chain, they don't sacrifice their ability to be pissed when ELAC, in this case, screwed up.

And before someone says, "...but this stuff happens!" Again, so what? ELAC chose the manufacturer, proofed the prototypes, and was responsible ultimately for the product being brought to market. They messed up. Clearly they agree, thus they are making good on it. But either way those with skin in the game still have a right to be upset.

WLDock

halo wrote: »

Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it's subjective, isn't it? It's ok for some and not ok for others. I would prefer to have matching drivers but I'm taking advantage of the discount and I'll either love them or hate them based on how they sound and on how they look (that's my perogative after all).

Yes, its all subjective...it was a rhetorical question about the aesthetics compared to other speakers that have non matching drivers by design. My opinion...

halo wrote: »

I agree in that it's a great deal which is why I decided to purchase them now but I disagree on the non issue part, for if it was a non issue,
ELAC wouldn't be offering a discount on the "blemished" speakers.

My very first sentence was YES, IT"S A MAJOR SETBACK! I was stating that once the issue was discovered, ELAC's response to the problem was about as best as one could hope for. So, those that are all about the sound can get speakers for $100 less, those that are about aesthetics and sound can either accept their apology and wait or get a refund. Yes, we as consumers want manufactures to stick to their word...but when delays happen what more could one ask for? (again...a rhetorical question )

halo wrote: »

Ummm. Ok? So those are the choices. But blemished and shut up about it (I did that), wait until they get it right (that's what the people who preordered them on Amazon have to do and it's an option for anyone & everyone else), or spend more money on something else? Well, again, we're getting into some subjective territory here. People can spend what they want on what they perceive to be the best sound quality out there. There's no perfect speaker for everyone and your perfect speakers may make my ears bleed. Different strokes for different folks

Again...its all a matter of choice and we are saying the same doggone thing. Come on man...its all good...No Worried!

Paradoxex wrote: »

I don't understand any of this victim blaming - it's not sensible. It's as if people are upset that folks are bummed or not happy that they were told something would be available in a certain condition and 1.) it wasn't available at that time and 2.) when it was available it was not in the right condition. That's fine and logical. No, ELAC shouldn't be put out of business for it. Yes, they deserve a little criticism.
And before someone says, "...but this stuff happens!" Again, so what? ELAC chose the manufacturer, proofed the prototypes, and was responsible ultimately for the product being brought to market. They messed up. Clearly they agree, thus they are making good on it. But either way those with skin in the game still have a right to be upset.

No one is saying they don't have the right to be upset...Come on! However, many HAVE said that ELAC is doing the best they can out of a bad situation. Hell, Elac is just selling $500 speakers......what about the delays Apple had with all of their powerful resources and mega market share? or even worst TESLA!!! Now, I would be pissed if I dropped down a $10K-$20K deposit on a $80K-$120K Tesla Model X with all of the delays and reported quality issues..... Even though those that can buy exotic cars are used to waiting for their custom order vehicles to be built....I'd still be pissed! So I am saying to go ahead and be pissed...but cut ELAC some slack for making the best out of a blotched new model roll-out! They very well could have scrapped those drivers(write off!)...like some others have done with manufacturing screw ups!

halo

The ELACs have landed.

AVS Forum: Post # 694 in this thread compares the initial impressions of a Debut series B5 owner to his new UniFi UB5 - http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2282746-elac-uni-fi-b5-bookshelf-speaker-ces-2016-a-24.html

IMHO, he's underpowering them. He's using a Musical Paradise MP-301 MK2 @ 6.5 wpc

He also has a Parasound Z amp v3 @ 60 wpc (4 ohms)

He talks about the B5 not being as hard to drive as the UB5. He was at 9 o'clock on the volume knob with the B5 but he has to go up to 11 or 12 o'clock on the UniFi UB5.

Happy Reading!

BTW - My UF5 floor standing speakers and the UC5 center channel speaker will arrive this Friday. However, I will not be able to set them up for at least two weeks (sorry folks, the review from me will have to wait - but I did hear the UB5 speakers at AXPONA and I am pretty clear on how I felt about them in the AXPONA 2016 thread) .

madmax

Sorry, we can't wait two weeks.

halo

madmax wrote: »

Sorry, we can't wait two weeks.

lol. Check out the AVS forums until then to get your ELAC on!

madmax

Reviews should really be done once the speaker is broken in, they will sound a lot different. Will you be able to break yours in over the 2 weeks before you set them up, maybe FM radio with small amp?

msg

halo wrote: »

BTW - My UF5 floor standing speakers and the UC5 center channel speaker will arrive this Friday. However, I will not be able to set them up for at least two weeks (sorry folks, the review from me will have to wait - but I did just save a lot of money on car insurance...

BAH. Vanilla needs a "lame" reactions button.

two-ooo-weeks

halo

They were delivered tonight to my parent's house (I didn't think it was a good idea to have them delivered to my apartment especially since they didn't require a signature).

Folks on the AVS forum are posting pics, videos, and reviews. Here is where it starts: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2282746-elac-uni-fi-b5-bookshelf-speaker-ces-2016-a-23.html#post44267058

My set of 3 will stay boxed up until I get a chance to get them over here. There's no point in unboxing just to box them back up again. Besides, I'd like to be in there when music first flows through them.

Sorry fellas, I'm a student and, as tempting a distraction as it is, it's still a distraction and the quarter is coming to an end in a few more weeks. I have to be on the top of my game right now. School > speakers

Nightfall

You could at least bring them over to begin the break in process, come on!

halo

Nightfall wrote: »

You could at least bring them over to begin the break in process, come on!

Nope.Nope. Nope.

Temptation!

F1nut

Damn Victor, after all that belly aching about the delays and such you're not even ready for them!?!

F1nut

Does anyone at that site know that it is BASS, not base. Geeesh!

lightman1

Auto correct tells me I Kant speel eether, jesi.

halo

F1nut wrote: »

Damn Victor, after all that belly aching about the delays and such you're not even ready for them!?!

I was ready for the preorder release dates (April). Was I belly aching? I thought I was just reporting the news

I tell you what, the sooner my Energy speakers, WW Equinox ICs, & SB3 w/ CI Audio PS sell, the sooner I can get the ELAC UC5 & UF5 speakers in home for review

halo

Obviously, in the interest of closure, I decided to purchase the ELAC UF5 floorstanding speaker > the UB5 bookshelf speakers (I purchased the UC5 center channel as well).

The review is located in this thread and here's a few pics, for good measure, to close out the thread:





Thank you to everyone that contributed to this thread and through PMs as I truly appreciate your insight, support, and advice!