If there is one individual in home audio who has raised the sound quality bar at the budget level in the past 20 years, it is Andrew Jones. His work, first with Pioneer, then ELAC truly rest the budget speaker market. Even though he left ELAC a few years back, his influence remains. Those young speaker designers under him have taken the Debut line to the next level. Let’s talk about one of their first models, the Debut 3 DB63.
Design & Construction
This 7-3/4"W x 13-5/16"H x 11-3/4"D 17lb bookshelf/stand mount cabinets are designed to give the listener a sample of how a well-balanced speaker should sound like. In a showroom they won’t garner immediate attention by most, as speakers with a top-end sparkle do. But, in return the ELAC philosophy of consistency across the frequency spectrum is to reward the owner long-term listening enjoyment.
The magnetic grills fully cover the front face. As you can see the aluminum tweeter, which honestly sounds more soft dome-like than expected, is set inside a small wave guide design. A vertical “lens” assists in creating a broader dispersion. Also, it overlaps the mounting ring of the 6.5in aramid fiber woofer. This follows the design philosophy of keeping separate drivers as close as possible. This is purposeful in a scientific sense, as the closer the two drivers are to one another, the greater the coherence.
The back panel consists of a port that is nicely flared out to eliminate any chuffing, and create a smooth dispersion. The binding posts are a solid step up from the usual fare at this price point. Asthetically, the matte walnut vinyl wrap looks quite nice and blends well with the front panel.
At the sub-$500 price point, cabinet construction and cross-bracing is a hit and miss proposition. The ELAC team made sure not to ignore, thus there is a cross brace. A knuckle rap confirms the solid nature. Plenty of sound absorption is used. The crossover has plenty of component parts, I counted 18. With a budget speaker having that many tells me the design team won the argument over the accountants.
Listening
The DB63’s do need some wall support. I settled on 15 inches out from the front wall and toe in set to mid shoulder, though many will want directly to each ear. When I first put the DB 63's out with my normal marking starting point of 28 inches, the base frequencies just didn't exist. Whether that’s partly due to the flaring of the rear port, the DB63's need front wall support to deliver bass. The golden triangle measurement is really close to spot on with the DB63’s, as a great starting point since I sit some 8.5 feet back from the front of the speakers and they were set at about 8 feet apart apart. So, pretty darn close. Therefore, definitely start with the triangle and spend an afternoon or two adjusting, especially if you plan to have them on stands.
The DB63's throw a really nice wide sound stage for their price, taking full of advantage of various songs where the recording engineers throw instruments far out to the left or right of the speakers. Or, drum rolls that bounce back-and-forth such as in Steely Dan's classic "Aja". It's also impressive with listening to large orchestra performances. This is especially true with soundtracks by the legendary John Williams. The overall lack of boost bass or treble frequencies I believe really enhances recordings such as the "1812 Overture".
The speakers spent some 70 hours playing 24/7 in my garage/shop breaking in before being brought into my listening space. Since I was completing the comparison between the Eversolo Play and WiiM Ultra, that's where the review started, and both were nice match with the DB63’s. That’s important as both are budget lifestyle products and would be an obvious pairing with the DB63's. Immediately, my impression was that of a speaker that doesn’t go for quick popularity with bass and treble boost. The longer I listened to both amps with the DB63’s, the more I appreciate that these speakers do the basics really, really well.
Moving into my full reference setup of the Galion TS A75 amp and matching P75 preamplifier, WiiM Ultra streamer, Denafrips Ares II DAC, and sibling Iris DDC. The DB63’s were able to show more detail, but at the same time the R2R DAC with the tubes in the P75 softened the sound slightly. Call it laid back and impressive, but not lean-in.
Shifting to some high power class D, first off confirmed the cabinet construction quality. In my experience, budget speakers struggle when fed gobs of power. Cabinet materials and construction are shorted, thus the sound becomes boomy, and over time the cabinet can weaken. The DB63’s do not suffer from this fate. Thus, I went with high power of the Emerald Physics 600.2SE at 600wpc @8 Ohms. This combo provided enough bass for most any music, but more importantly, it got the DB63’s jumping. Providing enough bass for all but action movies in my small 11x 10 ft room. Therefore, you’ll still will want a sub. The EP600.2SE has a switch to engage a pair of tubes to warm the sound a bit. When paired with Thomas Tan’s Gallion TSP 75 pre-amplifier which has four tubes, the treble had a slight bit of rolloff rounding in Joe Jackson's “Heart of Ice”. You can definitely tell the difference in the high hat that opens up the song along with the flute that follows. This was my first indication that the DB63's really pair up nicely, and maybe the best match up with class D amplification as long as you got a little bit of soul touching warmth.
In all honesty, I like this combination better than with Galion TSA 75 which is my reference amplifier being a solid state unit. Now granted there is 500 W per channel difference between the two but class D just added a bit of crispness in the upper mids that really assisted the instruments I previously mentioned.
Now while the speakers were more energetic, the one thing you should be aware of is that at this $500 price point the depth of the sound is pretty short. It's no match for the $1300 Buchardt P300’s, and even more so with their big brother, the S400 MK2’s. However, for the person purchasing in this price point that's not going to be at the top of their list. What they will be looking for is an overall pleasant sound with the added benefit of not being fatiguing. Though an uneducated purchaser may be initially driven to something brighter in a short demo. They will quickly find themselves exhausted or at least fidgety.
Obviously a $500 a pair of speakers are not perfect from the beginning of my time with the DB 63s I noticed that male vocals seemed to sit back a bit and lacked the last measure of normal forwardness. Listening to Bob Seger, one of the most underrated male rock, vocal artists, the DB 63's seemed to leave him a bit shy. The same holds true for Roger Daltry of The Who, especially when he went full throat in “Love Reign O’ Me”. I kept waiting for the extra horsepower to kick in. To take a car analogy it’s the difference between stepping on the accelerator full force at 2000 feet of elevation versus 5000 feet. The lack of oxygen does hinder the thrust.
For female vocals, it wasn't the power that was missing. It just seemed a bit of rounding, especially the true sopranos: Alison Krauss, Amy Grant, Karen, Carpenter, and even Pink. That nuance of detail and artifacts of the upper reaches of their voices just once again was a bit shy.
As I was looking over my notes and starting the write up, I looked up and saw that Erin's Audio Corner had done a review of the DB 63's. His Klippel machine measurements showed a dip in the male vocal range from approximately 300 to 600 Hz and another one though not as great with female vocals. Erin talked about for those that have the ability to EQ it out, and he showed the difference with his WiiM Ultra. On the other hand, owners may find that certain amplification as I've discussed such as class D, as away to solve the female vocal issue at least. For myself, the male vocals was definitely less noticeable with the 300 W per channel of the Peachtree Carina, X or 600 W per channel of the previously mentioned Emerald Physics 600.2 SE. But, and I want to emphasize, this is a subtle thing and once again, if you're purchasing in this price point, chances are it's not going to be a dealbreaker for you at all. For example, JD Southers recording of “The New Kid In Town” has just a hint of pull back. Beyond that this track is a terrific demo for what the DB 63's can do. When the bass acoustic guitar kicks him behind the lead, it's an impressive sound that the speakers deliver As always, your taste music, room treatments, and acoustics will help determine your happiness.
Now, I did bring these out to my family room and decided to watch a couple of movies with them. Action adventure in other music. And other more than dynamically inclined soundtracks and overall sounds a subwoofer is a definite add-on if you wish for the full impact. I first tried it with my 6 inch Totem Dreamcatcher sub, and later with the Vera-Fi Audio Caldera 12. In both cases, there is a difference though I will admit that the Caldera made Top Gun Maverick movie a whole heck a lot of fun.
Equipment matching.
I spent a lot of time detailing the value of class D with these speakers. My vacuum tube Vista Audio I 34 integrated because it has a fairly tight sound for tubes was good. But overall, these speakers I believe perform better when the amplifier section itself is either solid state or class D. For those with a quality AV receiver or classic vintage models will drive the DB63’s nicely. Though you may find certain vintage brands to be a little dark. The Peachtree Carina 150 with its built-in ESS DAC price-wise would be a really nice match as Carina X was really outstanding with them. I could honestly see a lot of people using SMSL, Topping, Ruark, Ayima, and other China hi-fi amplifiers with the DB63's.
Comparison
The closest speaker I have to really match up against the DB63s would be the Vera-Fi Audio Scouts at $299 a pair. In the top end, the DB63's are more open while the mid range of the Scouts is a notch better. Bass response, the DB63's have more to offer. Imaging, the Scouts offer midrange artifacts. They also performed better farther out from the front wall, though to be fair, in a final comparison, I did hook up the Caldera subwoofer and listen to both give give the the necessary bass output.
In the end, it's all going depend on how you enjoy the treble more than the bass, if you desire a more open top end, then I wouldn't doubt that you would save up the extra $200 and grab the DB63s, but if you're enamored by a sweet mid range, the Scouts are the choice.
Final thoughts
For frequency balance across the audio spectrum, at $500 a pair the ELAC Debut 3 DB63's are just downright impressive. The consistency is its reward. I hope more manufacturers would take this approach over boosting the highs to grab immediate sales or increase the boom in the bass. There's something about non-fatiguing, all day sound that while it may not get one salivating, there's so much value in just relaxing and enjoying without becoming distracted or fidgety.
I'm in a quandary whether to keep these around and buy them out right my problem is that I've run out of rooms to put speakers into, but on the other hand it's always good to have another set around in the stable for reviews. What I will say is this, for $500 you can't go wrong whether it be in the black ash or the nicely done low sheen walnut the ELAC Debut 3 DB63's are an absolute sound and value winner.
Specifications
https://elac.com/db63
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