[Listening test] Elac Uni-Fi 6.2 Reference - bookshelf speakers with concentric midrange and tweeter

Product: Elac Uni-Fi6.2 Reference (UBR 62) loudspeakers
Manufacturer: Elac - Germany
Test sample kindly supplied by LP Audio - Italy
Approx. price: €800
Reviewer: Lucio Cadeddu - TNT-Audio Italy
Published: July, 2024

Certainly, this is not the first time that the Elac brand appears on these pages, as we have already reviewed the speakers from the first and second Debut series, the introductory line at the base of the prolific German manufacturer's catalog. I really liked the 6.2 Reference, a speaker that was a cut above the "normal" 6.2 version, despite not being significantly more expensive. The Uni-Fi series is a step above the Debut one, and offers more refined technical and aesthetic solutions. The Uni-Fi Reference series tries to bring the performance of the Uni-Fi series to a higher level and, of course, above the Debut series.

This Uni-Fi UBR 62 being tested is Andrew Jones' later and last project, before leaving the Elac design department apparently for new professional adventures. It is not clear whether it was a consensual agreement, Jones probably wanted to try to create something very different (apart from the MoFi adventure). In any case, this speaker represents his farewell note.

A closer look

The entire Uni-Fi series was created around a coaxial mid-high unit, with a 1" dome tweeter placed in the center of the 4" midrange. The very name of the series comes from this aspect. This 6.2 Reference is therefore a three-way speaker, an anomaly in the market of small-sized stand/bookshelf speakers. Midrange and tweeter intersect at 1800Hz, while midrange and woofer cross at 260Hz. This means that the 4" midrange takes on an important job in the mid-low range, while the tweeter does the same in the mid range. The woofer is a 16 cm unit, with an aluminum membrane, loaded in bass reflex with a rectangular front firing port, a bit like in the Debut 6.2 Reference that I reviewed some time ago. The cabinet is stiffened by numerous internal reinforcements and bracing on each wall, to limit vibrations and resonances. This means that the speaker is quite heavy (over 10 kg per unit) and solid. On the back some nice connectors allow for biwiring connection. Two refined finishes are available: this one on test, oak with a satin white front or walnut with a satin black front.

Claimed tech specs

Play It Again, Andrew!

Resorting to aural memory, especially when reviewing many products like I do, is always a gamble. Luckily I have a pair of Elac Debut 5.1 at home while, thanks to a friend, I had access to a Debut 6.2 Reference to do some quick comparisons. This test proved to be quite interesting, because it allowed me to test my aural memory. Both the 5.1 and the 6.2 REF impressed me greatly, due to the simply out of this world quality/price ratio. I expected these Uni-Fi 6.2 REFs to up the ante even higher. Well, I'll be clear right away: the ante has moved too far, so much so that it has fallen.

Without a direct comparison with their “sisters”, these Uni-Fi 6.2 REFs appeared to me to be substantially correct, with a defined and extended mid-high range, and a good bass, although not particularly deep or powerful. The concentric unit requires some more experimentation to find the optimal position, given that the midrange membrane acts as a wave guide for the tweeter's output. In these cases, sometimes a little toe-in towards the listening point is beneficial. In my environment, however, the Uni-Fis sound best when parallel to the back wall. The presence of the front reflex port is a little less critical in terms of proximity to the rear wall, but I preferred to keep the speakers about 1 meter apart from the wall. Obviously I did several experiments until I found the optimum.

As I went through my usual test discs, I felt a strange sensation growing, as if something was missing. I'm not referring to particular drops/peaks in the frequency response, let's say that the frequencies are more or less all there, but I couldn't find that magic that I remembered being present in both the 5.1 and 6.2 REF, and which had partly already disappeared in the Debut 2 series. A little disheartened, and convinced that my memory isn't serving me well, I decide to connect the Debut 5.1 which, moreover, I had been holding for a long time, unused. From the first notes that magic reappears, the sound regains a cohesion and musicality that is absent in the Uni-Fi 6.2 REF.

I then decide to put the new speakers on a longer running-in period, but the result essentially does not change. The speakers play music (let's say, sounds), but they don't fascinate: the voices, both male and female, lose a bit of pathos, the consonants, the labials and the singer's breathing are less real, less present. The harmonic richness of the piano struggles to be heard, the notes are there, but they have something electronic, artificial. The same goes for pizzicatos, cymbals and percussion. Even the low range does not go deep as it should and in more complex tracks it is always a bit late. Certainly not a good thing for PRaT! Raising the listening level doesn't help, quite the contrary, it seems that these Uni-Fis are made for intimate and relaxed listening.

At this point, increasingly disheartened, I decide that the comparison with the Debut 6.2 REF is mandatory. And, again, my aural memory wasn't wrong. The Debut 6.2 REFs sound better, no ifs or buts. Way better. Perhaps the Uni-Fi are more open, but decidedly less communicative. Convinced that I was wrong and that I had to resort to a new audiometry, I involved two other people, who were unaware of both the value of the speaker and Elac's hierarchical scale. I bring the Uni-Fi to the listening room of a friend who owns the Debut 6.2 REF and was planning to evaluate a more expensive Elac, and I await the verdict. Basically the verdict agrees with mine: the loudspeaker play sounds but they don't convince, they don't communicate and they don't involve the listener in the process. The Debut 6.2 REF brings you closer to the music. The 3D image is also worse; smaller and more blurry. The dynamic performance does not balance the score, quite the contrary. Both the old Debut 5.1 and the Debut 6.2 REF sound faster and with more impact. All you need to do is put on something strongly rhythmic with killer bass tracks to realize that the Uni-Fis are unable to involve the listener like the other two. Disappointing, to say the least.

Don't ask me the reasons for this outcome which is very surprising to me. I have always thought that in an inexpensive three way speaker design creates more problem that it solves, problems that perhaps not even Andrew Jones was able to solve: budget spread over three drivers instead of two and a necessarily more complex crossover filter. Do the Uni-Fis aim at a different type of audience, more attracted by aesthetics and beautiful finishes? Or did Jones himself, now resigned, no longer have much intent to replicate the very high standards to which he had accustomed us? Perhaps it is a sum of all these reasons, the fact is that the extra 250/300 euros between the 6.2 REF of the Debut series and the 6.2 REF of the Uni-Fi series are absolutely unjustified by the audio performance. In fact, without knowing it, I would have said that the most expensive speaker was the Debut. The difference in terms of overall performance is not small. Of course, listened to without direct comparison with the two samples used, the Uni-Fi 6.2 REF sound good for the price, perhaps not a miracle, but they are acceptable. With the comparisons carried out however, the verdict is merciless. One thing is for sure: this is not a problem due to the concentric unit, because the last speakers I reviewed using a similar technology, the Kali IN8 monitors, despite being of similar cost (and also being active!) simply put these Uni-Fis to shame.

A side note: as I have already had the opportunity to remark, I don't understand the commercial philosophy of Elac, which offers a vast catalogue, so much so that it is difficult to understand what the meaning of some series or models of speakers are. So, while I consider the close presence of standard Debut 6.2 and 6.2 REF useless (the difference in performance with respect to price is too large) I wonder why a Uni-Fi 6.2 REF sounds worse, and costs more, than a Debut 6.2 REF. A pure nonsense. I am not in the position to suggest commercial strategies to anyone but, perhaps, a less extensive offering could increase the meaning and value of each individual model and would allow the company to concentrate design and construction energies more efficiently: fewer things, but done better. Let's leave the obsessive-compulsive prolificacy to certain Chinese brands, such as Fosi Audio, for example, convinced that releasing a new product every month helps to increase sales.

Conclusions

This farewell note from Andrew Jones leaves a bad taste in the mouth, for what it could have been (another reference speaker?) and wasn't. Of course it is not easy to replicate old exploits, but I expected these Uni-Fi 6.2 REFs to be a step, even a small one, above the corresponding Debuts. Unfortunately this is not the case, which makes it clear, once again, how amazing the quality/price ratio of the first Debut series and the Debut 6.2 REF is. Good Andrew, but not great. We are waiting for you for something amazing in the future.

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Elac Uni-Fi 6.2 Reference (UBR 62)

Play It Again, Andrew!

A closer look

Claimed tech specs

Play It Again, Andrew!

Conclusions