Set-up and installation
Contents
The Elac Vela BS403 monitors are placed on stands (height 60cm) but are decoupled by our Aperta’s. If you buy the matching LS50 uprights from Elac, you can screw them directly onto the plate. We placed the Vela’s about 70cm from the wall, they do need some space, and a good two meters apart. We turn them in slightly and sit at about three meters from the speakers in our big room. Before we listen critically, we let the Vela’s play at average volume for a few days.
We replace the standard metal plates on the speakerterminals with a set of Qed XT40 jumpers and that makes an audible difference. It’s been a while since we had to do that and if you haven’t replaced them on your own speakers this is definitely worth it. If possible, use the same cable for the speakers and jumpers
The Elac Vela BS403 is powered by the reference system below.
- Ps audio stellar gain cell preamplifier
- Benchmark AHB2 power amplifier
- Metrum Acoustics Onyx d/a converter
- Nad M50 streamer/CD transport
- Rega Planar 2 turntable
- Norstone Stylum 2 stands
- Isoacoustics Aperta 155 decouplers
- Roon software/Bluos app
- Wiring: Grimm TPR, Audioquest Yukon, Qed XT40
Soundcheck
The first thing that strikes us is that the JET tweeter allows a lot of information to pass through, which makes the Vela sound very transparent. It’s not as holographic as the much more expensive Focal Sopra but still quite insightful. We hear lots of details and the driver keeps things tight and can cope well with tempo changes. Bass has enough punch and never becomes ‘boomy’. On certain recordings, this graceful monitor even goes quite deep. At a certain volume, the sound is actually very complete. With a sensitivity of 86db in 4ohm, they do need pure watts to perform optimally.
