ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 Bookshelf Speakers, Black (Pair) - 1” Cloth Dome Tweeter & 6.5” Aramid Fiber Woofer - 2-Way Bass Reflex - Up to 35,000 Hz Response

Great speakers and similar in a few regards to Andrew's other older Pioneer designs: Fairly flat frequency response, very polite/non-fatiguing and remain impressively coherent at high volumes. I'm like how all this is achieved with an affordable smaller/lighter bookshelf design. These are my top choice for a $300ish bookshelf speaker paired with a very good modern amplifier. I will say that for old vintage tube or capacitor-coupled output amps/receivers, I prefer the similarly priced Klipsh rp-600m bookshelf speakers that add greater sparkle, dynamics and bass to an otherwise rolled-off vintage amp output.

Slightly warm character with noticeably rich and detailed bass - especially for a bookshelf speaker. Good bass extension into lower frequencies without any muddiness. Does not need to be paired with a sub. Impressive clarity, articulation, and character in the mids and trebles with very good sound staging and no peaking or harshness. Pairs very well with an affordable class d amplifier and inexpensive streamer/SAC like the fosi za3 and WIIM mini to make an excellent compact budget hifi setup that is a significant step up from most recommended entry-level options. With that combination, plenty of presence for a large home office or medium-sized living room. More than enough bass support for electronic music or hip hop while still maintaining the presence and detail in the mids and highs for live instrumentation and even very good reproduction of orchestral or chamber music. At the top of my recommendations for speakers for most casual listeners and a very good affordable option for audiophiles. The newer debut 3.0’s are just as good.

After 20 years of constant upgrading and flipping amongst speakers found at thrifts and on craigslist, a living room re-design forced me to abandon some vintage floor standers and actually buy new, smaller speakers. I have no surround theater, just two channel stereo for music, but I needed two matching pairs, one for the kitchen and one for the living room. Since I was downsizing, I, along with every other speaker shopper on the planet, started looking for bookshelves with good bass. I soon found my inner obsessive compulsive spiraling down the amateur audiophile rabbit hole. At first glance, the Elac 6.2s seemed perfect – they got mostly glowing reviews, they were reasonably priced, and they were front ported, which made them more forgiving for placement. But then I read the Elacs were unforgiving of poor sources. Another reviewer said they were uninspiring, and another said they were finicky, and to only get them if you like tweaking and adjusting your gear. If you're not a tweaker, he recommended the more forgiving Wharfedale 225s with their downward firing port. And, of course, I couldn't help but notice that the Q Acoustics 3030i, with their fantastic bass, seemed to be dethroning the Elac 6.2s as the king of the bookshelves. They also came in white, which sure would look snappy in the kitchen. And those French speakers, the Triangle BRO3s, had those great looking twin front ports, that special tweeter design, and that certain "je ne sais quoi." And, by the time you get to BRO3 money, you can no longer ignore the highly regarded Elac Debut Reference, right? I bet I watched two dozen videos and read countless articles, and just about when I didn't know how I was gonna make a decision, something wonderful happened: a very nice lady getting out of a relationship sold off her ex's home theater gear on Craigslist. (I know, it makes you cringe to think of it.) I got a minty pair of Elac 6.2s for $150. I took them home and listened to them, and guess what: they were amazing! I liked them so much, I promptly bought a second pair on Amazon. The vocals are fantastic, the highs are crisp and clear, and they have much cleaner, yet fuller sounding bass than my old floor standers. Tom Waits sounds like he's in our house with us, which can be a little unsettling; I hear every grunt Keith Jarret makes while tickling the ivories; and I feel every bit of Thom Yorke's angst, despair and rage when I fire up some Radiohead. I couldn't be happier. I've also learned something revolutionary about speaker placement. I am very aware that we should all place our speakers on speaker stands, two to three feet from the wall. But, because I live in the real world, I cram mine onto shelves in corners, which is where they're always gonna go in my house. I know this will come as a shock, but, because of my horrible placement, I actually get a little more base, which is not exactly horrible for a bookshelf speakers. Is it bloated or boomy? Not in any way you would notice unless you started obsessing about whether your bass is bloated. And there's more good news. If bass bloat becomes an issue, apparently, despite all the high tech engineering that goes into building speakers, it has now become acceptable to put foam bungs in your port (sounds wrong to me). If you start suffering from bass bloat, you can always make your own out of a pool noodle or a dirty sock. To be fair, we all have our obsessions – if audio equipment is yours, and it brings you joy, then dive down that rabbit hole with abandon. But, if you're like me, and you don't have a dedicated listening space, and concerns about imaging are often overshadowed by the sounds of the dishwasher or conversation over cocktails with friends, then I've got great news. These are excellent speakers, at a great price, and I am very happy with mine.

1 month later: This pair of speakers were still slowly but surely changing. The initial nasal congested sound is pretty completely gone. The last time I bought a pair of audiophile-grade planar ribbon speakers was almost 28 years ago, so I don't remember much about how long it took to break in. I suppose 1 month is not excessive. However, for those who want to make a decision to keep or not, that could be a problem. While it is not as good as my planar ribbon speakers in my main system, it is a great value, especially during Christmas sale. It will reveal poor recordings. Listening to good recordings is a nice experience. Highly recommended for those who want a pair of small speakers for a small room. After 72 hours: This pair proved to be a competent product. But a minimum of 72 hour of break in period is absolutely necessary. The most drastic change came within the first 4 hours. The initial congested and heavy nasal sound is mostly gone, but still could be detected for some music if I looked for it. In terms of sound stage, it is a little more forward than my main system. This is due entirely of speakers because the DAC and amp have been tested in my main system and they didn't move the sound stage much. The treble is much better than my previous pair of speakers and that was the primary reason for finding a replacement. Could there be better speakers in this price range? I don't know. Based on construction, I think this pair will last 30 years if I don't abuse them. If I could give 1/2 rating, I would give it 4 & 1/2 stars instead of 4. Original review: This pair was intended to replace the speakers in my office/study, which are almost 30 yo and have metal tweeters. The old pair was not bad but the bright sound has been something I wanted to replace for some time but did not want to spend the money since I wanted to replace with a pair of planar speakers like my main system. Because of Covid-19, I stayed home instead of going somewhere for the holiday like previous years and therefore have time to search. I am not familiar with this Elac brand, but many reviews (and I read many reviews) seem to suggest that it is pretty good. I was debating between this B6.2 vs KEF Q150, which is only slightly more expensive. Reviews suggest that the KEF, while better, is brighter than the Elac because of metal tweeters. By the time I wanted to make a purchase, KEF is no longer available for immediate delivery, so I placed an order for this Elac B6.2. It arrived yesterday. Packaging was good. The pair has some weight and construction was also good. I quickly set it up in my office. My first impression was very bad to the point that I wanted to send it back immediately. There was a strong nasal sound and chest congestion that is often associated with low end speakers. I let it run for couple hours. The sound opened up considerably such that I decided to just let it run. By late evening which is many hours later, the sound was not that bad. Imaging is much more precise than the old speakers. The high is significantly better that the old pair. And they are much more efficient also. They are still not as transparent as the planar speakers in my main system. There is still a haze. Mid tone is just a tad more pronounced. Given the price and the generous return policy, I will let it run for a while before making a final decision. From an absolute stand point, this pair is no match for my main speakers, which is not surprising since they are 10X more expensive. But from a value stand point, they are pretty good for this price range. After the initial break-in period, they are good enough for extended listening.

I originally purchased the Polk ES15 speakers, which were very good, but because they sounded very close to another pair of Polks I had but did not perform as to my liking in the midrange, I returned them. I was looking for some variety of sound, not just another Polk. For the record I very much love my older Polk speakers. I picked up the debut b5.2 for $239 recently which is a beyond good price given what they bring...if given time. At first, the soundstage was fully between the speakers for all chosen music, and linear with respect to depth. After about 30 hours (I would leave them playing overnight to build hours) the soundstage widened to well beyond the width of the speakers and a bit of depth was added. With both of those things, separation of instruments became much more noticeable. Clarity and detail in upper mids and highs were there from the start but the initial accompanying brightness is beginning to soften a bit as the playing hours add up. That is a good thing as nothing but unwanted brightness (to my ears) is going away. For the record, I played a selection of albums consistently and from the same source, so that my comparisons would be as free as possible of variables over time. Jazz, vocals, acoustic, some classic rock were in the mix. System is Wiim Mini with EQ dipped 1.5db at 1k and 2k to eliminate initial slight speaker brightness, SMSL SU-1 DAC, Fosi Audio bt20a pro with Sparkos dual op amps upgrade and the 48v 5amp GaN power supply upgrade and finally, these Elac b5.2's. After my evaluation for this review I added a Polk PSW303 subwoofer as these speakers do have nice bass definition but the sub is really needed for a full range appreciation. Great speakers! Highly recommended but let them break in. It is a real thing. Update: At 60+ hours of playing I absolutely love these speakers! The initial brightness has tamed and the Elacs are giving me everything that this modest system has to offer, which is far more than I ever expected! Thank you Andrew Jones and thank you Amazon for having a return policy that allows customers to acquire the right gear for them. Final update: 100+ hours and the addition of the topping p50 linear power supply for the streamer and DAC and what was a "thin film" of very slight sonic haze has lifted and all ranges have demonstrated additional clarity. What this tells me about these speakers is that they posses the ability to scale and take advantage of subtle but perceivable improvements with the addition of component upgrades. Again, the system is modest but these incremental changes over a period of time speak volumes regarding the possibilities of enjoying amazing sound for under $1k. Giving them time has paid great dividends. Eva Cassidy Live at Blues Alley has my eyes closed and me sitting back soaking in every crystal clear sound!

TLDR; ELAC Debut 2.0 + Aiyima A07 + OP275GPZ Op Amp DIP = you'll thank me later. I have an IOTAVX amp with Triangle Borea BR03 combo that I compare this with. The IOTAVX combo has more deeper bass and sound stage but really not by much... I love both. Let's just say had I only gotten the ELAC Debut 2.0 + Aiyima A07 + OP275GPZ, I would have been really satisfied. Heck, I wouldn't even know which combo I pick if I HAD to choose.. So yea.. wow! Also, I have very sensitive ears due to being young and dumb standing next to a speaker in a club for hours and not realizing that I was going deaf when I got out of the club. Now whenever I hear speakers with too much pressure from bass my ears go into a fritz and it sounds like a broken speaker. So I can only buy speakers that don't make my ears hurt. Some no-no brands for me were Creative Gigaworks, Edifier S2000MKIII, Fluance Ai41 to name a few. Triangle Borea BR03 and ELAC Debut 2.0 is great for my ears. Background: I bought a set of ELAC Debut 2.0 B5.2 Bookshelf Speakers during Christmas cause it was on sale, originally I was only looking for a tiny computer speaker that could make some noise when I was playing games but the sales and thought of getting something good made me go down this rabbit hole. So I had to look for a cheap desktop amp cause I didn't want to take up too much space.. saw the Aiyama 07 amp and read the reviews, sounded good. Powerful enough for any speaker and small footprint. Then one particular review caught my eye.. they changed Op Amp DIP and the sound made a huge difference. Being a tinkerer I couldn't resist. Scared of breaking the amp? Don't be, it's pretty easy to open.. just use one of those L shaped hex wrench and unscrew the top 2 screws of the amp. There's a small phillip screw in the back that you need to remove. Then loosen, don't completely remove the bottom front with the hex wrench and you can pop the top piece right off. Use a mini needle nose plier to remove the 2 Op Amp DIPs that are located near the front. Note what direction the half rounded side of the DIP is going into the sockets. Slowly pull upward without squeezing the plier too tight until you loosen it. There are 2 of them. Pull them both out. Now the hard part, putting the new OP275GPZ in. Just use the plier to slowly lower it down into the holes but MAKE SURE you are matching the side that has the half rounded (as opposed to the straight edge side) down on to MATCH the drawing (white layout) on the board. If you put it the wrong way and turn on the amp, you'll blow it to smithereens. It's easy to match up though.. just pay attention and look at the drawing on the board. Anyways, after you have inserted both.. close it right back up and enjoy! Comparison of Op Amps: Based on reviews that people left on Aiyima A07 review page, I did AB testing on a few Op Amps. 1. First original amp as-is. It was okay, Nothing special but powered the speakers okay. I thought maybe the speakers were only okay. 2. So, I bought LME 49720NA NSC Op Amp DIPs ($11 for 5) cause people said this was pretty good upgrade. But man.. it sounded like the left side was softer than the right and I had to +loudness on the left side to sound equal. Played it for a bit just to make sure I wasn't hearing things.. nothing special in separation of instruments, no sound stage as a matter of fact. 3. I finally tried the OP275GPZ ($15x2) and if this one didn't work, I was going to go all out and buy some Sparko SS3602 Dual Discrete Op Amp that people were raving about but it was significantly more expensive ($80 with 15% off). LUCKILY, I didn't have to go that far as to buy the Sparko.. curious as to what it might sound like but i don't wanna use that much money to test something. Anyways, These OP275GPZ are INCREDIBLE. The sound separation or sound stage from these ELAC is like from above your head to about as far as your arms can reach. There is very very clear separation of each instrument. And it sounded louder than all the previous DIPs that I tried. This one is just amazing. In fact, I think I'm writing this review just for myself so I won't forget what I did when the Aiyama breaks a few years down the line. You will hear a huge difference.. I'm re-listening everything now and it's just AMAZING. Enjoy! I will be leaving the same review on amp and OP AMP review pages.

They're brand spanking new. They came in late yesterday, I got them out of the box and up on the wall today on a floating shelf system also from Amazon. They had to be put pretty high on the wall and I placed them upside down so the tweeter was more at ear level. The power plant is a recently purchased Yamaha R-S202, a very barebones receiver that features the cleanest, fastest power I've ever experienced. The 100 watts per channel @ 8 ohms is supplying more than enough juice for these speakers, so far 2/3 power is confortably loud, 3/4 I've not yet dared to tread. In other words, I have ridiculous headroom. The primary source is a Hiby R3 Pro DAC, also from Amazon which I prefer to feed hard wired, rarely Bluetoothed. The Elacs complete a pretty dreamy sounding stereo system. It ain't high-end, but at under $600 it's amazingly close. Now for the breaking-in. To inaugurate my purchase I started off with a rousing baroque fanfare for organ, brass and tympany from a sparklingly sonic, out-of-print DGG CD called Awake The Trumpet's Lofty Sound, just to let the Elacs know that their primary thrust will be classical. Then I cut loose with some Chicago Transit Authority, and the eponymously titled Pastorius, which sounded comprehensible for the first time. I went on to Up Front from David Sanborn, and Imaginary Worlds by Sammy Figueroa. Big music all, to show off the outstanding immersive power of the Elacs and to loosen up the internal workings of the drivers, an endeavor that will continue for some time. Whereas I will put off complex symphonic selections until the breaking-in process is a little more advanced, I see no reason why something like the Hammerklavier and other super dynamic pieces for solo piano should be excluded. So onwards and upwards, I'm loving these speakers. I'm absolutely blown away by these speakers and I recommend people grab 'em before the price goes up. It has now been around 6 weeks since the Elacs came in. I'm loving them, my jazz and rock sounded great from the start but I'm finding a rather lengthy break-in period to be most valuable, especially for many of my classical selections. I have not gone out of my way to push them hard or for long periods at a stretch, just normal listening. The reviewer who mentioned the shortcomings in rendering classical during a 3 speaker system comparison was absolutely correct. Much material, strings, alto recorders, certain piano notes have sounded initially on the raggedy side. I'm thinking right around the crossover frequencies, the upper registers of the woofer and lower registers of the tweeter. But much of this has worked itself out and continues to work itself out over time. The guy never gave these speakers a chance. With each passing day I grow more impressed and gratified by my purchase, particularly as I see that the cost has gone up by $90. Recently, I have had occasion to push the volume, namely on the beautifully engineered DGG Mutter recording of the Sibelius violin concerto. Wow! Wow! Words fail me. Enough said. At any rate, when I get around to it I'm going to install my other receiver, the 120 WPC Harman Kardon HK3490. After all, if 100 WPC sounds great, etc., etc.. Besides, I want to utilize my graphic equalizer, and the Yamaha lacks a tape loop. So to conclude for the second and final time, these Elacs are definitely keepers. After even an incomplete break-in period the imaging, tonal and dynamic qualities of the system are simply fantastic for their size and price, and just continue to get better still. It's now a little over 3 months of enjoyment with the Elacs. I have switched over to the 120 RMS per channel HK and it has indeed proved a better match, resulting in increased breadth, depth, separation and clarity to the musical program, a much more cogent soundstage and power to (relatively speaking, of course) inspire awe. It truly demonstrates the difference between the loudness of the Yamaha and the all together desirable volume provided by the HK. Additionally, I do believe that in the enhanced amplification of frequencies and timbres the breaking in process has been accelerated. By now only rarely do I hear a wayward tone, so I think the Elacs, after perhaps an overly long period of time can be considered just about broken in. But now that they are I can really appreciate the full capabilities of the speakers, how their innate neutrality of sound allows them to complement so many styles of music and how their power handling enables the experience of total immersion in clean, clear unsullied music. So much speaker in such a small, inexpensive package. Well, I've said all I need to say about these wonderful speakers. This is my final sign-off. My final, final sign-off. Seriously.

Bought the elac debut 2.0 B6.2 on weekend of plack friday for $150 + tax. Great but. They are heavy and look well made. I’m waiting to break them in but so far i like how they sound especialy in combination with schiit loki equalizer. I also own monoprice k-bas speakers and they are almost identical size. K-bas cost me $86 each on groupon. So both brands cost me about the same and would like to compare them to each other with time. But so far k-bas are lacking the mids for voice and elac’s have little more mids which is more balanced sound. Highly recomend getting schiit loki to make elac b6.2 sound even better. It makes good speaker sound great. Making B6.2 sound more crisp and vocals slightly more forward since speakers are laid back sounding and on the dark side. You need amp that is punchy and not warm sounding to counter the speakers character. Also placement is important. I am limited on space and they are next to the wall aprox 3 feet apart. I have to dial down the base a lot but that helps to make the speaker more punchy on certain songs which i like a lot. When placed properly and matched with agressive sounding amp these speakers sound great for the money. Elac wobbles a little because it is not a perfect cube and it does not come with rubber feet. But it is not a deal breaker at $150 + tax. UPDATE: these speakers are phenomenal at $150 price on cyber week. Zero Fidelity was on point reviewing these speakers on YouTube. See his video describing sound signature of B6.2. I purchased Emotiva TA-100 integrated amp to power up Elac B6.2. I am very pleased with these speakers. I splurged and purchased Wharfedale Reva 2 bookshelf speakers as well and compared them to B6.2. Reva 2 MRSP at $1000 while B6.2 MRSP at $300. That is a big difference in price. Reva 2 cost more than 3x the price of B6.2 but sound is not 3x better. Both speakers are laid back in sound signature with great vocals and well balanced. If you are looking for punchy sounding speakers, these are not for you. Reva 2 are slightly more laid back than B6.2 but Reva 2 has more refined sound and is tonally accurate with great mids and has wonderful vocals no matter what song you’re playing. Reva 2 are slightly more detailed and have wider sound stage with very percise image when listening in a equilateral triangle. If you do not have a previous system and placing speakers in front of you wider apart is an issue than go with Elac B6.2 . Again those speakers are laid back or polite and in big open room with lots of windows and open area to second room and tall cealings will alter the sound and they might not sound as room filing. You will need more punchy speakers. But for average room that has lots of furniture and window treatment these speakers sound phenomenal. Update: 5/18/20: I ordered crossover upgrade from GR Research and OMG. These speakers are fantastic in combination with Bluesound Powernode 2i using Tidal. They have more refined sound better depth and clarity. Crossover took a lot of work and time to assemble to make it fit in the cabinet. This is an idea for people who are handy and own the B6.2 and are looking for more out of the speaker potential.