Elac Vela BS403
Contents
The German – only non-British in this series! – Elac Vela BS403 is a fairly traditional design. We see the well-known Elac JET tweeter at the top and an aluminum woofer beneith that. At the back is a bass reflex port in the base.
Elac is known for its JET tweeter. We’ll see what that means later in the measurements. The finish is particularly neat. No seams, nice finish, fine paintwork. All in all, a very neat – and compact! – speaker for 2200 euros.
The sound
The ELACs sound correct, very correct. They also sound super transparent, with lots of detail, making the difference in character between the Pass Labs and the Nilai clearly audible. The combination of correct and transparent sometimes makes it lean a bit towards analytical, something reinforced by the pacing of the speaker that is not ‘snappy’. As a result, it can be a bit detrimental to engagement as a listener.
Sohn’s track makes the Elac’s work hard. The bass drone is not very tightly controlled, but we have found that to be the case with many other speakers in this category as well. With the Nilai, the instruments get much more body and the balance between bass and mids improves. The imaging is towards you, this is a speaker that demands your attention and keeps you on your toes.
The ELACs intrigue. They are very controlled in almost every conceivable aspect. Despite their transparency, you can listen to them for a very long time and this is mainly due to the wonderful reproduction of the treble. Perhaps the best of the test in that area.
Specifications Elac Vela BS403
| Type | 2-way, bass reflex |
| Units | Jet 5 ribbon, 15cm woofer (Aluminum) |
| Range | 41 – 50000 Hz |
| Load capacity | 70 watts (?) |
| Sensitivity | 86 dB |
| Impedance | 4 ohms |
| Crossover | 2400 Hz |
| Dimensions / Weight | 19 x 36 x 24 cm (W_H_D), 7 Kg |
| Price | 2200 per pair exc stand |
Measurements Elac Vela BS403
That the Germans are aiming for a correct speaker is obvious: the Elac measures particularly flat. Except for a very small bump around 15 kHz. But that’s probably due to the on-axis measurement. The distortion is a little less than we like to see. The woofer does not really come along with the JET-tweeter. That shows values around 0.15%. The woofer stays under 0.5%. Maybe because it needs to work a bit hard. Between 500 and 1500 Hz it is at 0.5%. Not bad, but not spectacular either.
Impedance is the same as other speakers with a ribbon. You can see that the impedance increases. However, it all stays very neat with the Elac. We also see no real high peaks in the bass: 16 Ohm maximum. The Elac doesn’t dip below 3 Ohm. In short: not a very difficult speaker. But we do advise a stable amplifier.
Old KEF R3, by Erin
https://erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/kef_r3
-> Shadow Flare Position Impact on Frequency Response
and…
[ While using the speakers full-range is OK, I found that when I added a subwoofer (SVS SB-2000 Pro and SB-3000, separately), the entire sound became immensely more enveloping. Somehow, it even seems to increase the overall sense of “space” these speakers provide with the right recording. For that reason, I do suggest a subwoofer with these speakers. ]
Makes sense!
KEF R3 meta measurements
You forgot: KEF R3 meta – decay – straight – 3ms.png
I think they still have not solved the problem of the woofer integration with the excellent coaxial, as it happened with the previous model, the R3.
I will listen again to the part of the test referring to them.
Thank you very much (to ALL) for your work.
– Greetings from Tarragona (SPAIN) –
Welcome!