Elac BS243's and BS63's

okiepolkie

Elac is a house brand, of sorts, in other parts of the world, especially Germany, where they are the country's second largest speaker manufacturer. Like Focal, Dali, Dynaudio, and a few others, they make many of their own drivers in house. They are currently being imported by The Sound Organisation, which deals with lines like Rega, Primare, and Chord Cables.

I became an Elac dealer in February, and installed a set of the IW1230's for the front end of a theater, mated with a pair of REL T2's. They sounded very good, so I thought I was prepared for good sound from the BS243's(the same basic speaker, but in bookshelf version), but my any prepared expectations were thrown out the window upon my first listen.

The BS63's use a silk dome tweeter, and the BS243's use their JET tweeter, which is Elac's rendition of the AMT tweeter(http://www.elac.com/en/index.html) discussed in this thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81746&highlight=goodwill

The 243's arrived Saturday morning, and I got them hooked up immediately to my main living room system to initiate a full break in. The ones I received are the gloss black version, and they came with a set of white gloves and a terrycloth rag to remove smudges and dust. Packed very well, and have a very nice finish.

I've been using the BS63's for about a month, and have noticed a wide sound stage from them. With the 240 series, I was expecting a more refined top end, but I wasn't entirely prepared for the extended range, increased sound stage, and overall clarity these speaker replay. Both were mounted on my Target Audio MR24 stands, attached to each stand with standard yellow sticky tack. The stands are not sand/shot filled, but they do provide a good, solid base for bookshelf speakers. At the moment, I am running them with a Cambridge Audio DVD89, Denon AVR2809 with Audioquest X2 speaker wire. I have some Audioquest CV8 speaker wire and Diamondback interconnects on the way to demonstrate different synergies in the system.

I played Alison Krauss & Union Station Live (CD) on Saturday for a first listen. I have listened to this disc a number of times, and can place instruments reasonably well. I've noticed on some speakers, that Alison's vocals can sound a bit strained. On the 243's, her voice never cracked or shuttered, or at least no more than she did in the actual performance.

My wife, who has listened to just as many speakers as I have over the past few years, commented that the speakers sounded much "bigger," despite being a much smaller cabinet than the BS63's. They definitely need to be paired with a good subwoofer to augment the low end, but overall, I am very impressed with them. There is a gentleman interested in buying them, which is why I brought them in. However, if he does buy them, I will be actively saving for another pair for my own home. I would be very interested in trying the floorstanding version to listen experience one of Elac's full range products.

The BS63's, on their own, are a very competent speaker. I have not been disappointed with them in the least. They have a fair amount of bass for a bookshelf speaker, and have a very wide sound stage as well. My usual listening position when watching TV is a good bit off axis, and the 63's provide a very good off axis response. I typically only hear the right channel speaker when watching TV. The Vienna Acoustics Haydn's did a poor job of reaching my listening position. When sitting in the sweet spot, they sounded very good, and will work in many applications. The Mordaunt Short 902i's had a reasonably wide sound stage, but lacked overall range, compared to the better speakers. With the 243's, I could actually here both speakers without a problem, and could still make out a simplified sound stage. Obviously this improved as I moved toward the center, but I was very impressed with the overall dispersion. And the off axis wasn't limited to a horizontal plane. When I stood up, I didn't notice a dramatic change--very different from speakers I've had here in the past..... For "bright" rooms(bare hardwood, glass, untreated walls, etc...), Elac does offer a dispersion control device: http://www.elac.com/en/index.html I haven't had a chance to try the dispersion control piece yet, but that will be on my list of things to do this week.

Overall, these are great little speakers. Very exciting.

Elac: http://www.elac.com/en/index.html
BS60 series: http://www.elac.com/en/index.html
BS240 series: http://www.elac.com/en/index.html

Sorry for the poor pics. The only thing I dislike about the iPhone is the camera....

okiepolkie

After spending another week with the BS243's, my impressions have only changed for the better. They still improve with a dedicated subwoofer supplementing the low end, but they aren't completely devoid in that area.

I did try the dispersion control device, which is basically a tapered foam ring, and have a few comments regarding the performance.
Off axis response is definitely narrowed. From my recliner, which is at a decent angle from the right speaker, the sound stage is limited again to only one speaker. The clarity is still there, but I don't get the extremely wide sound stage as I did without the "plug". At the sweet spot, the sound stage remains virtually unchanged. I will say that my room may not reveal the benefits from the vertical effects of the dispersion control. I have a very large, thick rug between the sweet spot and the speakers, and my ceilings are 11feet, so my primary listening position doesn't seem to suffer from ill reflections from the floor or ceilings. As experienced at the horizontal listening positions, I could see the benefit of the rings if when used with low ceilings and/or hardwood/tile floors with little/no absorption material.

I've still been listening to Alison Krauss, to hear how the sound evolves with the break in, but I've also added some Jack Johnson and John Mayer to hear some other sounds. Again, they sound very good, with side sound stages, and full, natural vocals.

Unfortunately, these speakers will have to find a new home shortly. They were originally ordered for a specific local gentleman, but he backed out(without even hearing them), and I need to free up the funds for working capitol again. At that point, I'll have to "downgrade" to the BS63's, and while they are competent speakers, there really isn't a comparison the the 243's. Hopefully, when I get back on my feet a little bit, I can upgrade to the floorstanding FS247's or FS249's.