10.2008 - Bernhard Rietschel

High flyer

Who wants such an extreme color, must call ELAC - surcharge goes against everything.

Civilian customers take on the other hand, with black or titan color standard finish preference in the ELAC's own paint is not only environmentally friendly but also to have so perfectly that the box, despite its stately 1.30 meters in height finest living facilities are not out of the frame falls.

Gewöhnungsbedürftig is possibly still the mushroom on top. But without him would be the box not only their noble title of "Pi" going on, but also a legendary tweeters, the company has for decades, maintains, and only in the finest boxes installs. The "4Pi"', named after the circle constant π is an all-round radiant ribbon tweeter, which is now exposed only times can assemble, and its Pilzhut not fashionable extravagance, but acoustic laws owes. Its aluminum ring diaphragm pulsates between two strong, also ring-shaped neodymium magnets, such as the wall of a breathing cylinder. It may in this way, although large strokes do not run, because of their small mass, but the highest frequencies to over 50 kilohertz follow.

ELAC sets the ultrasonic radiator not as a single tweeter, but only as a supplement in the very top octaves - from the edge of listening to far beyond. When exactly the 4Pi intervenes into the action, the owner of four stages six o'clock-16 o'clock kilohertz and an "off" position for themselves: The sooner, the greater the diffusely emitted Hochtonanteile - the sound is gaining breadth and feeling of spaciousness, but loses to focus.

Kieler Coax

One floor down, the other half of the Tweeter Exchange: a new, more resilient JET Ribbon, part of its Mittelhochton Coaxial Driver "X-JET". Compared to the original version has the electro-dynamic ELAC Kunstwerk significantly revised. For the necessary combination of strength and resonance poverty is now a sandwich of honeycomb-shaped carrier and stiffening aluminum diaphragm ensuring that no large areas, but only occasionally in the right places is glued. Together with the almost eight centimeters wide voice coil and a strong drive to such a heavy-duty, midrange klirrarmer ring, which is also in the AUDIO-behaved exemplary measurements.

Photo: H. Härle Easy to hold concept: A very high quality, resting tired switch brings into play the 4Pi; another dose levels in the midrange.

The bass on three parallel ELAC woofer with the typical sandwich-cone made of paper and embossed aluminum. The top trio in the gap closes at the same time to coax, which is about 550 hertz to work begins. The bottom line is the 609 a 4,5-way box whose lowest frequency is about the WBT-Bi-wiring terminals can be driven separately.

Apart from the correct preparation and correct selection of the amplifier (the proper performance and not too dark timbriert should be) offers the possibilities Kielerin three adjustments to the sound of the space and the preferences of its owner to be optimized. In addition to the aforementioned switch for the 4Pi-crossover frequency is the contribution of Mitteltöners by one decibel increase or decrease. This means no change in nature of the box, but only a subtle and in the transitions to the respective neighboring tones clean custom trim.

Melodious emergency: A fine mesh protects the rotating aluminum membrane of the 4Pi tweeter.

Even the bass range can vary: The powerful, internally matrixversteifte enclosure made of aluminum profiles and thick MDF opens on two differently dimensioned reflex tubes outward. The lower, the integrated socket always remains open, but the pipe at the rear speakers can be plugged. This is changing the bass Voting is something deeper at the expense of some decibels the upper bass.

We have tested the box with ELAC closed tailboom, neutral Mitteltonstellung and off all-round emitters, therefore only directly, by Tweeter. In particular, the latter must not be a binding recommendation for the home - unless you want to ELAC in a highly damped, almost living up anechoic.

Original review page: http://www.audio.de/Testbericht/ELAC-FS-609-X-PI_4849703.html .