Rega Elas, Do I/Don't I?

MikeD

MikeD

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I've got the chance to pick up a pair of Mk1.5 Elas for £60... :p

Trying to decide whether or not to go for them. Reading through some of the old threads on them is pushing me towards them, but I'm still undecided.

They'd be coupled with a Marantz PM6010Ki, and be up against a pair of B&W 602 S3s... Stiff competition? I've always loved the 602's clarity and poise, but I imagine the Els would be more fun...


Convince me, either way! :D
 
The B&W's are no match for the Ela's, even in terms of clarity. I know, I've heard them side by side.
 
i`m using the twin brothers (royd apex`s) exactly the same as it was a joint venture between royd and rega. the elas use the same royd mid bass driver and scanspeak tweeter in the transmission line array.
using them with a 3k valve amp and the sound is stunning.

just to give you an idea of sound quality, i demo`d some monitor audio gs20`s (£1500) proac studio 140 (£1400) on thursday of last week, and took my apexs down to compare.
the apex/ela beat them in every area, especially "airiness" and speed.no contest really.They are very uncoloured, no cabinet honk even at high volumes and are one of the most coherent loudspeaker i`ve ever heard. Also, they are very unfussy about placement, and disappear completely, leaving a superb soundstage.
The only "downsides" to them are the bass isnt the deepest (but extremely fast and tight) and they don`t go super loud due to the small mid bass driver, and the drive units are impossible to get hold of, so take care with them!
I`m looking at audio physic virgos to replace them (at £4k!!) so the elas really are that good.

against the elas, the 602 s3` sound a "budget" speaker! really.
At £60, its an absolute no-brainer m8, buy `em.
 
andrew1810 said:
At £60, its a no brainer, if you don't like them you would get around £100-£150 back!
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Aye, that's what I've been seeing. Certainly removes some of the risk.

yahoodie elbow said:
The only "downsides" to them are the bass isnt the deepest...and they don`t go super loud
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Not a problem for me: I've got a kids bedroom in the flat above me, so mega volume and heavy bass are no-nos.

yahoodie elbow said:
and the drive units are impossible to get hold of
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eep!

yahoodie elbow said:
I`m looking at audio physic virgos to replace them (at £4k!!)
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I'd heard they were good, but, yikes!

yahoodie elbow said:
At £60, its an absolute no-brainer m8, buy `em.
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I believe I shall!

Cheers all! :)

My only hurdles are: getting the car down to collect them; and having a spare £60...
 
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I have heard Yahoodie's Apex's and can vouch for their performance, only when you REALLY pump it up do things get lairy, until then, they sound brilliant.
 
Another vote for Elas. They are very very fine speakers, especially for the money. I changed mine for a pair of Mk1 Linn Kabers, which I think are better, but bear in mind they retailed for about 4 x the price of Elas. At 60 £ you won't get better speakers. I never heard B&W 602 but I demo'ed 601 a couple of years ago, and they are no match for Elas.

Thom
 
aquapiranha said:
I have heard Yahoodie's Apex's and can vouch for their performance, only when you REALLY pump it up do things get lairy, until then, they sound brilliant.
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Another very good reason not to drive Apex's too hard.

"The difference between one kind of musical instrument and another is entirely due to differences in the quantities of the harmonics and their phase relationship, compared to the fundamental. A violin and a flute sound different when playing the same note because the harmonics produced by these instruments are of wildly differing magnitude compared to the fundamental.
A loudspeaker should reproduce the recorded fundamental and harmonics in the correct proportions and at the correct time (i.e. phase relationship). It is possible (in fact very likely) that the harmonics will not be produced at the correct time with respect to the fundamental. This alters the sound of an instrument; with many loudspeakers it is impossible to tell whether a violin is a Stradivarius or one bought at the local second-hand shop. It should sound obvious, which instrument is being played and if it is an orchestral piece then a 90-piece orchestra should not sound like a 15-piece ensemble. If it does then the reason is that the rest are lost in a forest of resonance's and phase errors. Resonance's in the walls of the cabinet or any other component of a loudspeaker including the bass unit cone and chassis can only detract from the quality of the sound reproduction by reducing the detail and the imaging and in bad cases sounding "boxy". Resonance's in any part of the bass unit or tweeter will also result in non-linearity of the phase response of these units and can contribute to the muddiness of the sound reproduced.
Simple first order crossovers will produce some phase shift. Second order crossovers will produce greater phase shift and introduce an anomaly about the crossover region. Third order crossovers will produce even more phase shift but without an anomaly but on the down side they also produce resonance's. A crossover is essential to protect the tweeter from bass frequencies that would destroy it. The higher the order of crossover the more protection is afforded. It would appear that some reviewers do not recognise that each type of crossover has a characteristic sound because of the different phase shifts across the audio range and their inherent resonance's. A full third order crossover has a 360° phase shift across the audible frequency range and a fifth order has a 720° shift. This means that the harmonics of a particular musical note are delayed in time by different amounts. Some will be going backwards instead of forwards and all will be starting too late. It also means that they stop too late. If the woofer and tweeter are not linear in their phase response this can make matters worse. A manufacturer should consider the phase characteristics of the woofer and tweeter when deciding which type of crossover to use - this does not always happen. There is no such thing as "euphonic distortion", which some manufacturers and reviewers think improves the music. It should be left to the artists, conductors and record producers to decide how the music should be interpreted. A "euphonic distortion" may be appropriate for some recording artists but will surely insult the rest.
One way out of this quagmire is to use a simple first order crossover of modified form, which produces less phase shift than a standard first order. The problem with this approach is that the protection afforded the tweeter is not adequate for general-purpose use. You cannot use such a speaker when having a party and playing music extra loud. It will only cope properly with listening at home at normal listening levels. If what you want is disco type sound then this is not for you. The advantages of a first order crossover in a loudspeaker using a bass unit and tweeter with linear phase characteristics and critical damping are immediately obvious to the listener. Bass notes not only have correct pitch but also reveal texture because all the harmonics are pretty well in their correct phase relationship and there is negligible overhang. The stereo imaging is greatly improved, the timing perfect and instruments recognisable. Singers sound natural and the dynamic range is reproduced with accuracy. For enjoying music nothing else comes even close."*


*from Royds website,
 
I got my Elas (Mk1) for £50 - in slightly rough (but usable!) shape.

They're excellent - they're far superior in most areas to my Dynaudio Audience 52s, as I found out on Saturday when I moved them back down from my AV rig to try them on my Naim stuff.

If you buy them and don't like them, I'll take them off your hands - could have a set at front AND back in my AV rig then :)
 
Cheers guys, went in today and stuck £20 down for them.

Getting them for £50 now :banana: Wasn't about to correct him when he said it ;)

Just need to get the car down to Carlisle. Should manage it inside of a fortnight.

*twiddles thumbs*
 
Well,

I picked them up on monday, and managed to pick up a cold at the same time!

Currently driving them from a Sony STR-DB930 - which will let me easily A/B them, once my hearing is back to normal - and they certainly sound good. :)
 
I've got a pair of mark 1.5s in good condition that I'm going to sell. Hopefully, I'll get a bit more than £50 though.

Cheers
Steve
 

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