Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I first heard of these speakers after seeing comments from YouTube reviewers hearing these speakers at CES. These reviews compared the ELAC Uni-FI UB5 speakers to speakers costing $2,000.00. I was quite interested to hear these for myself. It was several months before these speakers were actually available and the first batch had issues with the drivers which turned out to be colored green. I have been interested in audio for over forty years. I have owned some extremely good equipment over the years and for a time, I esigned, manufactured and sold loudspeakers under the nOrh brand. I have seen audio evolve over the years and I have been amazed at how much progress has been made, particularly for low-cost products. There are several reason why loudspeakers are improving. First of all, computers make it much easier to test loudspeakers. The quality of low cost drivers has greatly improved. The use of computers in designing loudspeakers. Also, a lot of pioneering work has been done. When I designed loudspeakres, I designed two-way speakers. I choose expensive tweeters such as ScanSpeak in my designs. These tweeters would cost more than $250.00 each. When crossed over properly, I was able to get astonishing detail and clarity. The Elac Uni-fi UB5 looks like a two-way speaker but it is actually a three way. The tweeter is placed directly in the center of the midrange driver. Because of this construction, the tweeter and midrange combination sound like a single unit. I allowed the Uni-Fiy UB5s to break in for over a month before I did any critical listening. Any comments about the sound before the speakers broke in would be premature. The Elacs improved gradually and seemed to be fully broken in after three weeks of use. I also did all my initial listening without the aid of a subwoofer. I had some experience with Andrew Jones speakers. I own a pair of Pioneer SB-BS22-LR speakers I bought on sale for only $80.00 per air. I noted some port chuffing. The Pioneer speakers were fine but I didn't find that they distinguished themselves. I use the Pioneer SB-BS22 now as my rear speakers and they are just fine for that purpose. I had been using a pair of Philharmonic Audio Affordable Accuracy Monitors that sell for $210.00. The Philharmonic Audio AAMs are simply outstanding fo the money. I have used these for over a year and never once grew tired of how they sound or noted any flaws. I was only motivated to buy the Elac Uni-Fi UB5s when their price dropped to $349.95. The Elac Uni-fi UB5 are very close to the size of the AAM(s). The Elac's are a bit better finished and featured some of the nicest speaker terminals I have ever seen. The speaker grills are held on with magnets and are also better construction than the AAMs. Both the AAMs and hte Elacs sounded full and rich without a subwoofer. Both speakers produced good bass below 50Hz. The bass response for both speakers were very good but neither speaker produced deep bass. The Elac Un-fi UB5 excel in producing clear and beautiful midrange. They are absolutely perfect for jazz, folk, acoustic and chamber music. There are things that the Uni-fi can reproduce that is hidden by other speakers. You can hear the slightest touch of a symbol or the faintest bongo with the Uni-fi UB5s. In some areas of reproduction, the Uni-fi UB5s rank with some of the best speakers available. With the right music, the Elacs are astonishing. I played "Thanks to You" from Boz Scags Dig album. I turned it up quite loud and I don't believe that I have heard this song reproduced any better. I played "My, I'm Large" by the Bobs and could hear each voice distinctly and clearly. Lora Lieberman's Switzerland was also spot-on. For the music that I like and the music I typically listen to, the Elac Uni-fi UB5s were simply astonishing. The Elac's were able to reproduce voices, instruments and small groups with incredible accuracy. For my evaluation, I decided to push the speaker more to see where it would start fo fall apart or show weaknesses. It wasn't at all easy to find weaknesses. Every loudspeaker has weaknesses. No loudspeaker can fully and accurately recreate a live performance. The Elac's start to show stress and strain as the complexity of the music is increased. The Elacs do in fact exceed almost any expectation one might have for a loudspeaker selling for $500.00 per pair. There is a reason that some speakers cost thousands of dollars. For thousands of dollars, you typically get more dynamics, lower bass extension and the ability to handle more complex music. When I played Stevie Wonder's Paradise, I became aware of the roll-off in the bass and its inability to fully capture the choral group singing towards the end of the track. None-the-less, the only way one would know this is by having listened to the same track on far more expensive equipment and being very familiar with the track. For someone who is looking to spend $500 for a pair of speakers and wants to enjoy audiophile quality, the Elac Uni-fi UB5 will not disappoint. When I was designing loudspeakers, I had a pair that were called the 5.1s. They were a two way design with a five inch woofer and 1 inch dome tweeter. My design would outperform the Elacs for dynamics and bass but I believe that the Elac Uni-fi UB5 have better overall midrange and treble. That is where this speaker is an over achiever. When I matched the Elac's with a subwoofer, the system became even more impressive. I had to be careful to turn down the subwoofer so that it blended with the UB5s. When I got the right setting, the UB5s became even more impressive. When I replayed Stevie Wonder's Pastime Paradise with the subwoofer, the UB5s now sounded much more authoritive and outstanding. There are some audiophiles who believe using a subwoofer is somehow cheating. I think there are many way to get to the same destination and that using a subwoofer makes a lot of sense. Are the UB5s better than the Philharmonic Audio AAMs? Andrew Jones really did a great job with his midrange tweeter combination. It really does sound better than any two-way designs in this price range. The combination of the midrange and tweeter capture much of the magic I am used to with expensive and exotic tweeters but for much less money. Great design. Great value