Elac Adante AF-61 (took some diy to make perfect)

joecoulson · January 5

Wow these things are breaking in beautifully. Powerful towers for sure.
Here are some beauty shots for those interested.

WLDock · January 5

verb wrote: »

Hey Joe, I for one, and IMO a lot of the folks here, appreciate and admire the fact that you decided to fix it, rather than return em. Hopefully no affect on warranty.

I agree and I've actually done the same a couple of times myself. Anyway, those Elacs are beautiful. I'd like to get my ear on them at AXPONA show this year.

cfrizz · January 5

Joe is that top cone a tweeter inside a mid driver???? If it is, this is the first time I've see something like that. In the other pics I was wondering where the tweeter was.

Why did they make it this way and how does it sound.

joecoulson · January 5

The concentric tweeter inside the mid is something that Andrew Jones (the designer of these towers) is known for. He did the same development of these type tops ends at KEF and then TAD.
This setup is one of the main reasons for me to go with this tower. The imaging is superb.
The Polks are great speakers and I had them dialed in. They are not forgiving finding the sweet spot. They also had to be pulled a good 4 feet from the back wall to sound the best.
These are quite the opposite. I have been moving them around since I got them. The imaging is so forgiving that it sounds almost identical when they are flat even and then toe’d in directly at the dead center. Also, because they are sealed, I can push them all the way back against the wall and they don’t sound boomy at all. Very forgiving.
They like power I know that. I probably have just over what they want. The Linns are pushing 185wpc from my calculations and I have two on each tower. But I keep coming back to that mid/tweet. The clarity and smoothness is fantastic. I have Totem Rainmakers which have a very high quality Seas aluminum tweeter but it’s a very analytical speaker. Almost to revealing. Whereas the polks were very laid back. This is right in the middle where it’s the best.
I’m listening to some electronic music now and the sound is wrapping around me like 5.1 with these things. Totally worth what I spent on them.

SIHAB · January 5

Hey Joe, as I'm not too experienced w/ concentric tweeters, what is the best placement you have found so far. (toe in, ect.) Thanks for any insight.

Addendum: I love the specs for Bass. I'm missing that a bit while listening to Jazz...

joecoulson · January 5

I’m still in the process of finding what sounds best. The whole sound changed with these from the polks so it all sounds better. Flat or toe. So I need more time with them to get used to their sound before I can make that call. Make sense?

joecoulson · January 5

Ok @SIHAB I think I have settled (for now) on what sounds the best and I’m very new to these so it might change. I have them about 11-12 feet apart. They are about the same distance from the sweet spot. And I have them about 12” from the back wall and a very slight toe in. Maybe 4-5deg

Clipdat · January 5

joecoulson wrote: »

I’m listening to some electronic music now and the sound is wrapping around me like 5.1 with these things. Totally worth what I spent on them.

Love it! I'm thrilled you are happy with your new speakers Joe, it sounds like they are a perfect fit for your room.

Great job on the DIY fix as well, hope ELAC can correct the issue at the factory.

joecoulson · January 5

Thank You Drew. Me too

TEAforONE · January 6

Absolutely beautiful speakers! I would love to hear them. I congratulate you on having the gumption to undertake that project. You have big round ones my friend!!

joecoulson · January 6

Thank You sir.

These things are pretty well rounded (the speakers lol) but what got my attention the most is big classical music. The ability of these towers to put you directly in the middle of the orchestra is uncanny. Most of us (I assume) close our eyes when critical listening and for me this allows my senses to focus on hearing as much as possible. When doing this with the Elacs on say Mendelssohn, there is a clear definition of all the instruments in their specific locations. Even the solo strings can be located forward of the rest of the strings. I can only guess that the concentric tweeter/mid is helping this accuracy.
The testing continues...

gumbay13 · January 6

Thanks for sharing.

StewartHolmes83 · January 6

Just to confirm...

Is the 'chauk' silicone free? I believe loudspeaker driver voice coils don't like silicone, not intirely sure why yet I use an acrylic based one for my internal speakers cabinets

Well worth doing though, as with gaskets around the drivers and making sure bass reflex holes are glued well. Plastic binding posts are a pet hate of mine 😣

mhardy6647 · January 6

I wouldn't worry about silicone polymers, but there are at least two flavors of RTV on the market. The 'standard' RTV uses an acid catalyst (acetic acid, by the smell of it) -- but there are also neutral cure RTV products. The latter are recommended, for aquariums, and probably in electronics too.

Otherwise, silicone (which is essentially a polymer based on silicon rather than carbon) is pretty benign stuff.

StewartHolmes83 · January 6

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I wouldn't worry about silicone polymers, but there are at least two flavors of RTV on the market. The 'standard' RTV uses an acid catalyst (acetic acid, by the smell of it) -- but there are also neutral cure RTV products. The latter are recommended, for aquariums, and probably in electronics too.

Otherwise, silicone (which is essentially a polymer based on silicon rather than carbon) is pretty benign stuff.

Great info, thanks for sharing

joecoulson · January 6

StewartHolmes83 wrote: »

Just to confirm...

Is the 'chauk' silicone free? I believe loudspeaker driver voice coils don't like silicone, not intirely sure why yet I use an acrylic based one for my internal speakers cabinets

Well worth doing though, as with gaskets around the drivers and making sure bass reflex holes are glued well. Plastic binding posts are a pet hate of mine 😣

Here is the silicone used. Latex mix, not pure and less likely to have any gassing as it dries hard enough for paint in 20 mins which is what time I waited (and more) to put back together.

And the binding posts are metal and carbon fiber with accent black and red. Not all plastic.

StewartHolmes83 · January 6

Am sure now that is more than enough for the purpose and thank you for sharing and pictures 😎

steveinaz · January 7

VERY cool speakers.

joecoulson · January 7

Thank You Steve. Enjoying them more and more each day.

joecoulson · January 7

Little disappointed that I have not heard back from Elac yet. I emailed the [email protected] one with the same info as I did the customer service one. Nothing yet.

DSkip · January 7

Thumbs up for taking care of the issues. The fact that these are prevalent issues discourages me greatly. AJ can design some nice speakers, but if Elac can't build them en masse to their design specifications, that is a serious concern.

txcoastal1 · January 7

Remember the green drivers and other issues on the first release?

Clipdat · January 7

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Remember the green drivers and other issues on the first release?

Hah, I had to look that up. http://noaudiophile.com/ELAC_UB5/

joecoulson · January 7

Thanks Skip. Again, hate to beat a dead horse but these things are fantastic and worth every penny IF they come out of the factory sealed in all chambers. For the price I got them, the extra work I still got them for a steal.

mhardy6647 · January 7

Were the ones you got returns or seconds? Just wondering if there were any connection between the price and the "issues" you had to deal with?

joecoulson · January 7

Nope. Brand spankin new

halo · January 7

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Remember the green drivers and other issues on the first release?

Yes, I do. I bought an entire set of them. After I got them, I listened to them. No bass response to speak of so I set up a return. Elac customer service was outstanding.

txcoastal1 · January 7

halo · January 7

txcoastal1 wrote: »

Live and learn, I guess.

The Energy RC-70's and the RC-LCR outperformed the ELAC speakers in every aspect except the top end clarity. The Energy speakers weren't bad in that respect at all but the ELAC Uni-Fi speakers had the edge in that area. Not enough for me to want to keep them. lol.

joecoulson · January 7

Those were ported correct?

Elac Adante AF-61 (took some diy to make perfect)

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Elac Adante AF-61 (took some diy to make perfect)

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