Everywhere I go I hear about Andrew Jones the speaker design wizard, and how suddenly, this "trending" new combination of established manufacturing smarts (ELAC America) and engineering magic is making high-value speakers at astonishingly low prices. (I had just submitted a review of the ELAC Debut B6 for the May issue of Stereophile before boarding the plane for Vegas.)
Before all the aramid cones had even broken in on the Debut Series, Elac America has introduced a new series called the "Uni-Fi"—which consists of a floor stander (the UF5), a bookshelf model (UB5), and a center channel—all featuring aluminum cones and a concentric mid-tweeter unit. While at KEF, Jones participated in the development of that company's famous Uni-Q concentric driver, which now anchors the entire KEF line. This new "Uni-Fi" series of concentric driver+woofer for Elac suggests a similar approach. The UB5s Jones demoed played faster, stronger, more clearly than the Debut B6s I reviewed. It appears that Elac is picking up momentum very quickly.
