{"id":122797,"date":"2021-02-16T20:27:11","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techweekmag.com\/?p=122797"},"modified":"2024-02-24T15:43:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-24T15:43:29","slug":"elac-vela-fs-408-review-presented-beautifully-with-real-brilliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/speakers\/elac-vela-fs-408-review-presented-beautifully-with-real-brilliance\/","title":{"rendered":"ELAC Vela FS 408 : Presented beautifully, with real brilliance!"},"content":{"rendered":"

This model of the German manufacturer has every chance of becoming almost the most popular.\u00a0Redesigned and improved systems from engineers with extensive experience in electro-acoustics – such acoustics have always attracted the attention of music lovers.<\/p>\n

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ELAC is a company with a history, it is already 95 years old, and all this time its activity was in one way or another related to the development of acoustic transducers.\u00a0Numerous studies and experiments allowed German specialists to find their own solutions to technical problems and create unique devices.\u00a0And later, when the company switched to consumer electronics, the principle \u201cif you want to do well, do it yourself\u201d has not lost its relevance.<\/p>\n

Accordingly, in acoustic systems the lion’s share is made up of components of our own design.\u00a0And above all, these are the most important ones responsible for the sound quality – the radiators.\u00a0I’ll tell you about them in more detail below.<\/p>\n

The FS 408 model appeared in the Vela line relatively recently – last fall.\u00a0It was conceived as an intermediate link between the compact FS 407 floor systems and the larger FS 409, and with this novelty the company literally hit the bull’s eye: the combination of size, dynamic potential and price turned out to be extremely attractive for the mass music lover.\u00a0Of course, all the technical solutions developed for the Vela series are fully implemented in the FS 408.<\/p>\n

First of all, these are JET5, the fifth generation branded tweeters.\u00a0They were developed in ELAC’s own laboratory and are based on the classic AMT (Air Motion Transformer) emitter design by Dr. Oscar Hale.\u00a0I have repeatedly described its principle of operation, I will only remind you of the advantages: a sound wave is created due to the compression and expansion of the accordion-folded diaphragm, so the signal front propagates here several times faster than when planar ribbon tweeters work.\u00a0And speed in our case is nothing but sound resolution.\u00a0The JET5 differs from traditional AMTs in its extended radiation pattern, low distortion and the ability to sound from 400 Hz to 50 kHz.<\/p>\n

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Vela FS 408 – 2.5-way systems, i.e.\u00a0one woofer works up to pairing with the tweeter at 2250 Hz, and the second is filtered much lower, at 450 Hz.\u00a0At the same time, in the low-frequency range, where maximum energy is needed, both heads work in parallel, and only one in the middle, which increases intelligibility and detail.\u00a0In addition, in such a scheme, in comparison with a three-band one, crossover filters are also simplified.<\/p>\n

The speakers, of course, are of their own design, with the unique 18cm Crystal AS-XR cones.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The speakers, of course, are of their own design, with the unique 18cm Crystal AS-XR cones.\u00a0The photo really shows their “crystalline” structure – the surface is as if broken, with a mass of small faces, and such a profile is more resistant to deformation.\u00a0This means that the piston mode of operation is maintained in a wide frequency range, and distortions are reduced.\u00a0The base of the diffuser is cellulose, a thin corrugated aluminum layer is glued to it.\u00a0Such a sandwich is distinguished by its low mass and effective damping of internal resonances.\u00a0The wide elastic suspension is designed for large, up to 15 mm displacement of the moving system.\u00a0The baskets are cast to avoid resonance, the reinforced magnet system creates a powerful field for the voice coil.<\/p>\n

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According to the description, a pair of bass-reflexed woofers is capable of reproducing bass from 29 Hz.\u00a0The port of an impressive cross-section is brought out into the gap between the bottom of the case and the supporting aluminum platform.\u00a0Wide bell mouth prevents turbulent sounds at high volumes.<\/p>\n

The body is slightly narrowed at the back; in the absence of parallel side walls, internal reflections are partially compensated.\u00a0The “aerodynamic” profile of the bezel eliminates frequency response unevenness due to phase intermodulation.<\/p>\n

Four screw terminals – with wide and thick jumpers.<\/p>\n

Vela FS 408 is available in three finishes – natural Tobacco Oak veneer, white and black lacquer.\u00a0The quality of the lacquer coating is impeccable, the mirror polish shine is especially effective in bright light.\u00a0The play of light on the “diamond” edges of the diffusers also looks spectacular.\u00a0Round grills, separate for each speaker, are optional.<\/p>\n

But in general, the character of the sound is pleasant, it catches immediately and does not get bored with prolonged listening.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the first stage, we listen to TIDAL streaming through the universal network player T + A MP2000R paired with the well-known integrator\u00a0\u00a0Plinius Hautonga\u00a0.\u00a0The first thing you pay attention to is a well-formed lower case.\u00a0We all love more bass, with “meat”, and so without puffs.\u00a0With the FS 408, everything is just that, and even better – a pair of almost 8-inch drivers deliver powerful rhythm section, synthesized lows, and the fundamental atmosphere of a large hall.\u00a0I specially chose in TIDAL and hip-hop, and dance electronics, and symphonic classics.\u00a0But do not think that these speakers are only capable of effective punch – for all their energy, they are neat enough to show both shades and subtle rhythmic structure in the lower range.<\/p>\n

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I also liked the top, even the streaming turned out to be sonorous and moderately bright.\u00a0The sound is open, even festive, although a little sketchy due to format restrictions.\u00a0But in general, the character of the sound is pleasant, it catches immediately and does not get bored with prolonged listening.\u00a0With all genre differences and peculiarities, the music is presented in a recognizable way for ELAC – energetic, detailed and with silver overtones.<\/p>\n

With the transition to CD playback, the construction of the scene could also be appreciated.\u00a0It feels like the JET5 is different from most AMT tweeters: they have a wide horizontal directional pattern, and when off the main axis, there is no clear drop at high frequencies.\u00a0To listen to these speakers, it is not necessary to attach to a certain point found, for example, I walked around the room in general, and did not notice any problems with overtones.\u00a0On the CD, the top itself became more transparent, lighter and, as they say now, more atmospheric.<\/p>\n

The spatial picture is really three-dimensional, with dense filling even with a solid distance between the columns.\u00a0Tweeters subtly render high-spectrum sounds and clearly link them to a specific place in space.<\/p>\n

There is a lot of information, vibrations and harmonics in the middle range, so acoustic string instruments seem completely alive.\u00a0Progressive Metal – extremely intelligible, instruments and individual sounds are separate, you can feel a reliable support in the form of the lower register.<\/p>\n

Finally, vinyl.\u00a0Technics SL-1000 RE-S turntable with Ortofon M2 Black head.\u00a0LP – “A Tribute to Analogue”, a reference selection made by Mr. van den Hoole to demonstrate the benefits of analog recording.\u00a0It is curious how the acoustic systems reacted to this \u201carchaic\u201d medium: the bass turned out even more distinct, the instruments acquired real physicality, and Lils Mackintosh literally found herself in the room, right between the speakers.\u00a0Three-dimensional space, air, relief images of instruments – this is what a good recording, reproduced on the correct system, means.\u00a0As if a musical event transferred from some other world, presented beautifully, with real brilliance.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

The speakers do not require super high-quality amplification – with such a wide operating bandwidth and the ability to create a three-dimensional spatial picture, it is difficult to get an unimportant result.\u00a0But with the source the situation is somewhat different.\u00a0In our experiment, with each transition from one format to another, the FS 408 seemed to add in class and price.\u00a0And I’m not sure if the limit has been reached.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This model of the German manufacturer has every chance of becoming almost the most popular.\u00a0Redesigned and improved systems from engineers with extensive experience in electro-acoustics – such acoustics have always attracted the attention of music lovers. ELAC is a company with a history, it is already 95 years old, and all this time its activity […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10404,"featured_media":122804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[646],"tags":[778],"class_list":{"0":"post-122797","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-speakers","8":"tag-reviews"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10404"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}