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The Four Seasons also peg a speaker's dynamic prowess. Especially the wintry movement has a few dynamic breaks between the softest gentlest passages and surprising tutti furore. This proved child's play for the Elac. No matter what, things stole stealthily into space or exploded without effort. I couldn't discern any weaknesses with the proviso that speed seemed to decelerate the lower the bass extended. By contrast to my yeoman work horses of Neat Momentum 4i, the latter's low end was a tad quicker and coiled if not as potent and sonorous as the Germans. With most other disciplines the loaners overshadowed the Brits but they also cost twice as much. Staging reached farther back, tonal capture felt smoother and the entire gestalt seemed more linear and 'of a piece'.
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Elac also roll their own woofers.
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What else I noted with the Neat Acoustics was playing more frontally. This meant a tick more gushing, direct and raw. This should mostly tie into its quick bass and the somewhat frisky treble with its inverted dome. But this kicked in only occasionally, such as with older live cuts on the Blue Note and Verve labels. Especially with small Jazz combos here the Neat could get a bit fresh or hot. Mind you, that's complaining at a very high level. The FS 507 is a fabulous speaker where each day mined new appreciation because it did what a speaker should without extra flourishes or add-on chrome: transmit music with conviction and believability.
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Conclusion. A speaker for life. Short but sweet, that's how I'd like to condense Elac's FS 507 VX-JET into one sentence to take away. Brilliantly finished, exciting to look at, timeless in design and sonics. Depending on focus, the Elac is good for relaxing deeply and sensually into the tunes or hone in on the smallest of details. The speaker never looses its cool and always presents a seamless coherent reading. Nothing is prettified. This is an honest transducer. To the point but involving. And then there's the adaptability of the tweeter's relative position.
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For a speaker in this class properly T-nutted bolts would be preferable to fast-threaded wood screws.
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Psych profile for Elac's 507 VX-JET...
Convinces foremost with exceptional coherence and a wealth of detail.
Spans the audible expanse without any audible seams or transitions.
Bass extension is very good and always in control.
Mid/treble continue 'of a piece'.
The treble is light-filled and clear without hardness.
Micro and macro dynamics conform to price expectations.
Staging is realistically rather than generously broad but highly sorted and layered in the depth domain.
The lower bass champions integral flow over the last word in speed.
A wheel adjuster adapts dispersion to the room.
These are bona-fide top-level long-term suitable speakers.
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Chamber music at HighEnd Munich 2012 - FS 507 in foreground, FS 509 in the back.
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redaktion @ fairaudio.de
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Facts.
Concept: 3.5-way bass-reflex tower with coax system
Dimensions and weight: 1192 x 280 x 41mm, 37kg
Connections: Biwire
Sensitivity: 88.5dB/W/m
Nominal impedance: 4 ohms
Trim: High-gloss black, nut tree, tobacco
Other: Position-adjustable coax head driver
Warranty: 10 years for registered owners, completely 'made in Germany'
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