Neil Gader:
“Former TAD helmer Andrew Jones, now with Elac, not only wowed audiences at Newport with the impossibly cheap ($229pr) compact Debut B5, but returned to RMAF with its big brother, the F5- a powerhouse 3-way floorstander at a ludicrously paltry $559pr… even jaded audio critics could be seen shaking their heads in disbelief.”
“The Elac F5 go beyond just being the rare, good speaker for the money. They’re a veritable gift to budget conscious audiophiles and the younger audience, particularly those looking for a cost effective, room filling alternative to headphones. And keep in mind that the Elac/Jones collaboration is just getting ramped up!”
Greg Weaver:
“Andrew Jones’ new Elac F5, at $559 per pair, were even better than I had expected. How he hits this level of transparency and bloom at this price is way beyond me!”
Andrew Quint:
“A phenomenal bargain for fledgling audiophiles (or experienced ones with a summer home to equip) is Elac America’s entire line, though it was the F5 floorstander ($559 pr) making music in Denver. Elac speakers have been designed by Andrew Jones, who has created much more expensive gear for KEF, Infinity and TAD. An audio-show-length audition revealed that the F5 has surprisingly substantial bass, detail and spaciality. It may be the least costly loudspeaker I’d call ‘high-end’ that I’ve ever encountered.”
TAS Affordable Stand Mount Speaker of the Year $229pr
“The Elac Debut B5 is a rarity in the high end. It’s little, it’s vinyl clad, and it’s cheap. And it packs more pure, honest musicality into its modest bass-reflex cabinet than a $229 speaker has a right to. It’s also the first effort in what should be a long and fruitful collaboration between Elac and the celebrated designer Andrew Jones. Refined and dynamic across the board, the B5 also has surprising bass extension on tap and an instinctual feel for the body and scale of live music. At times you can hear some port tuning, but that goes with the territory with a single 5” woofer in a teeny cabinet. Still, you can give these babies a little more gas and not cringe for fear of smoking a driver. What makes the B5 so effective? The difference is how everything comes together in such an exquisitely balanced and musical fashion. What the team at Elac has managed to wring from this most humble of designs is nothing short of exceptional. Jones’ first shot for Elac is a bull’s-eye.”