Intro
Contents
Germany’s Elac Electroacustic GmbH needs no introduction. The company has been around for 95 years and is one of the bigger players in the market. Elac is best known for their loudspeakers, but they also make amplifiers and turntables. We have already tested several of their speakers and know what to expect. Or so we thought! We take a look at the Elac BS 312.2.
Today we have a speaker in the listening room that looks completely different from what we normally test. We are talking about the Elac Elegant BS 312.2 bookshelf loudspeaker. A distinct appearance that turns out to be full of surprises. Let’s check it out!
Construction and appearance
The first thing you notice is their distinct shape, especially that striking depth of 28 cm. Add to that a height of 20 cm and a width of 12 cm and you get an extraordinary speaker. The Elac Elegant BS 312.2 looks like no other speaker on the market. The front is visibly divided into two pieces, with the brand new JET 6 ribbon tweeter at the top and the equally futuristic looking Crystal Cone mid-driver or Extended Range Woofer as Elac calls it.
The tweeter and woofer sit in an aluminum enclosure that comes with beautiful paintwork and shines in its black finish. A white version is also available and you can choose between different colorful fronts. That way you can personalize your speaker a bit to your taste.
Line play
Along the side runs a triple lineation that gives the speaker a somewhat futuristic look. At the back we see two pairs of speaker connectors to allow bi-wiring or bi-amping. The relatively large bass port should give this compact speaker some extra oomph. The Elac Elegant BS 312.2 is a 4 Ohm speaker that dips to 3.4 Ohms so keep that in mind when choosing an amplifier.Â
These compact speakers weigh over 7 kg and you notice that when you lift them. They feel quite massive. The two-piece construction on the outside also reveals what is going on inside. Namely, there is a reinforced plate inside this speaker that separates the woofer and tweeter. At the top is the passage for the bass port and the connection for the tweeter. At the bottom is the magnet for the woofer with the handmade crossover behind it. The front and back is securely anchored to the aluminum frame.