www.elac.ro

Magazine:

(India)

ELAC BS 204.2

Issue:

Vol. 7 (05 / 2006)

Author:

Nishant Padhiar

Definitively Deutsche

Verdict:

"A brilliant all-rounder, the ELAC BS 204.2 is keen to savour your CD collection.
It will entertain, surprise and please you with its abilities provided you have the right amplifier."

"The German masters of precision have hit bull's-eye with their awesome bookshelf duo – the super fast ribbon tweeters, impressive mid/bass and robust lineage, add up to its standing."

"The Germans are perfectionists by nature and engineers by heart. Put then both in a can and shake it well and you get ELAC, a speaker brand that is obsessed with cutting-edge technology and a build quality second to none."

" ... the bookshelf warming BS 204.2 looked the most promising with its ribbon tweeter and an aluminium sandwich woofer. Brands that are associated with big speakers usually come up with killer bookshelf models ... "

Technology

"I mentioned 'perfectionists' earlier and the fact that each of the BS 204.2 speakers was wrapped in a sling film, apart from the regular packing just shows how particular these Germans are about their products. The smooth, almost satin – like veneer complements the aluminium accents of the drivers perfectly and gives it a hi-tech appearance that is again, their forte."

" ... the first thing you notice on these speakers is the attention grabbing JET III ribbon tweeter and the aluminium mid/bass. ELAC has earned a venerable reputation for making some of the best sounding tweeters in the business and the 204.2 adorns one of it. Equipped with a neodymium magnet system, the pleated ribbon tweeter is linear right up to 50kHz, which makes it ideal for use with high-resolution software.The lower order frequencies are serviced by the aluminium sandwich cone that has also become a trademark of ELAC."

"Connectivity is standard, but with high-quality terminals that will accept spades with ease. Bi-wiring as well as bi-amping is an option that ELAC totally supports so don't skimp on amplification."

Performance

" ... the BS 204.2 turned out to be a different beast altogether. Within its small frame, this 2-way speaker sprang to life like a dormant volcano when we plugged it into the amp."

"The JET III tweeter revealing detail in the recording that I had previously missed out completely like brushes on the drum skin. The moment the drum sticks hit the hide, I was astounded by the transparency and the transient response of this tweeter."

" ... the resolution and detail was super, both at the micro and macro levels. It handled high SPLs with ease but the tonal balance could get on the aggressive side, depending on the amplification used. Overall through, this ELAC showed a lot of promise with demanding music and if you cannot afford to keep a full-range ribbon speaker in your room, the transparency here will get you hooked."