Elac Unifi ub5, debut b5 & Onkyo TX-8270!
- Thread starter Tbomb25
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Tbomb25
Well-Known Member
The Ub5 is awesome, and the combined with the 8270 it's pretty impressive....the B5 is truly probably the best under $300 speaker I've heard...them and the Eclipse 2 really battled it, but the Ub5 is a astonishing achievement at these kind of prices...it will be my reference until I get the Adante as-61gb at the end of the year.....
Tbomb25
Well-Known Member
Sorry it took so long....the Pioneer was very warm and mushy sounding but it sounded decent with the b5's but it flat out didn't have enough power for the Ub5 and the Ub5 made sure the a20 couldn't find anywhere to hide...so it's very laid-back sound and fluffy midbass was a very clumsy sound. The Onkyo tx-8270 has a much bigger sound with both speakers but the deminsions with the UB5 is bigger than any $1000 combo I've heard...clarity, Dynamics, and bass definition is not like a amp and speaker at this price, some may confuse it for being lean but it certainly isn't the mid-range has great dexterity and meat on the bones with great slam....the bass is definitely in boxer shape the 8270 is the best intergratedamp/receiver I've ever heard for under $500 and yes its specs are pretty true it's pretty powerful.
I've had loads of fun lately it, I bought a pair of Definitive Bp8020st when they went on closeout, and I was very impressed with what definitive has done at that point with it's latest version at getting a reasonably stable soundstage image it wasn't razor sharp but it certainly wasn't bad and the soundstage was gigantic, and the Aluminum dome tweeter didn't bite me, I've always been a fan of Def techs Aluminum dome, although I'm a soft dome guy.
Ultimately the bass was the part that ended up sounding unnatural in my room, the low bass, mid bass, and upper bass never had a real relationship with each other and their was also some loss of texture, my uncle a big Def techs guy wanted them when he knew I wanted to sell them and he basically gave me what I paid for them, so it was a win win, I like to experiment so I had a ball with the bp8020st they have a gigantic scale disproportionate to their size literally and that's not the usual magazine talk on that last aspect of their performance.
So flash forward a week and a half later a uexpected thing happened that I didn't ever think would, Q Acoustics were now being sold in North America, I had been reading about them since 2007 since they 1st came out, and they took the budget speaker world by storm, being a UK company and doing against the 2 oldest speaker companies in audio was impressive, so winning award after really boistering their reputation. But reading and reading forum members can only go so far, so I started with the Concept 20 the complex cabinet lil wonder, and I was extremely impressed with them particularly their topend detail extension, and the speakers impressive way with female voices bass was very detailed for a speaker this size and they played loud louder and cleaner than any other 2 way this size I've ever heard.
So after I tried the Concept 20 I figured I'd try the 3050 Q Acoustics midsize mtm 2 way floorstander that was winning all kinds of award and speaker shootouts all over Europe and Australia....this speaker played big as big as the bp8020st but at least in my room I felt the Concept 20 done everything better than them, but I also think this speaker is voiced for a larger room...they are Very impressive don't get me wrong and I recommend them as well in a bigger room they will shine, they have huge bass and very good lower mid-range power..
I Sold the 3050's for a very good price, a new budget speaker I had my eye on the Tannoy Eclipse 2....a 5inch 2 way floorstander the dual 5inch version the Eclipse 3 has won a product of the year award in What hi fi 2 years in a row. This speaker is very impressive and I still have it Im contiplating whether I wanna build my home theater around them or the Elac debut 5 the efficiencey and no stands is tilting in the Eclipse 2's favor and their extremely impressive and extended topend. The Eclipse 2 and the Elac Debut 5 are the 2 most impressive under $300 speakers I've heard...and by a long way to if I had to pick between the 2 the debut 5 has a mid-range and a soundstage more impressive than many speakers that cost over $1500+ I feel they are the greatest ultra budget speaker ever made.
This brings me to the Elac UB5 it's really hard to put into words what this can do for $500, even underpowered and the under talented Pioneer Elite a-20 showed a lil bit of their super powers....but that's the thing just miniscule samples, they let you know and they beg for better gear, I've heard them with $1000's of gear behind them....modest gear, but even on cheap gear they show you their core great gifts, but the better stuff you put on them the better and more magical they will be they are truly a marvel of engineering.
All the awe inspiring things the B5 do it's magnified a bunch with the UB5, do they have a similar sound signiture yes and no contutraury to what other reviewers say or inexperienced audiophiles. They share that tonality thru the mid-range and lower treble that tonal rightness but that is actually where the similarities end the UB5 is a much more advance tool for evaluation of gear and recordings...it's much more neutral in it's presentation with way more life like Dynamics and much more extended on the topend. The Bass is much more textured and nuanced with way less fat around the midbass...and much better upper to midbass intergration and speed and timing, and the low bass which it actually has with it's true 3 way design goes deeper although with the fatter midbass of the B5 will give the fake illusion with the upper bass Rogers trick that it goes lower but that's just the B5 leaning on the port more it doesn't...the quality of bass between the 2 is not subtle the UB5's bass is Waaaayyyy better.
I can go on and on...the UB5 is that impressive with the right source material they can be mind bending, but you will only get "miniscule samples" on cheap low powered gear....I'd say you want at least 70 watts...but more will be better, don't be scared to have zip code Powa on them if you have it, the more power the more powerful their bass will be which can be room filling and Pretty shocking. I did miss the Concept 20's which are a incredible lil speaker before the B5 showed up and voices pick up some again, but something was still lost and then the UB5 came into the picture and I don't miss the Concept 20's anymore as great as they are they are a distant memory. The UB5 is literally a true high-end reference speaker at a budget price, and because of that and my true love for single driver speakers and point source drivers this coaxial driver speaker with their rediculous soundstaging and imaging is the best bargain in speakers today in my eyes and most definitely to my ears...
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