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Evett & Shaw Elan bookshelf/computer speakers
Estimated price for orientation: 1 200 $
Category: Microphones and Wireless Systems
Class:
Description Condition: Used: An item that has been used previously. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended. This item may be a floor model or store return that has been used. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitions- opens in a new window or tab ... Read moreabout the condition Brand: Evett & Shaw Model: Elans Type: speakers
"The Ultimate Desktop Luxury Statement" ( this is part of an old internet review)
Priced at an astonishing $2200/pair, the Elan is smaller than a shoebox, yet surprisingly heavy: 15.5 lbs. The cabinet is constructed of 6.5mm-thick aluminum plate throughout and is then heavily braced and damped with 1.5 lbs of North American black wool. The front and rear panels are aluminum; the top and bottom plates appear to be faced with mineral-loaded black acrylic (white is also available); the side panels on the review pair were finished in mirror-polished wood veneer, though many other finishes are available.Beneath a removable perforated-metal black grille on the Elan's front baffle can be seen a single drive-unit, with a 2.5"-diameter plastic cone. (There is no tweeter!) This driver crosses over below 250Hz to a pair of similar drive-units mounted facing downward on the speaker's base. To give the low frequencies room to escape, the front of the speaker is propped up at the front on two solid-bearing bronze cones, with a single vestigial cone at the rear. An optional accessory is a flat 12" by 6" sheet of polished grained marble, for the speaker to sit on.According to Evett & Shaw's website, the Elan "requires 127 steps prior to completion, giving it Swiss-watch build quality." They refer to their speaker as "The Ultimate Desktop Luxury Statement."Sound at home
Although Evett & Shaw states that the Elan has been "specifically engineered for nearfield listening," I started my auditioning in my dedicated listening room in order to get a baseline reference for its performance. I placed one of the accessory marble slabs on top of a massive 24" Celestion SL stand, this spiked to the floor beneath the rug. Each Elan was placed on top of one of these slabs and toed-in to the listening position. The slight tiltback from the speaker's different-sized front and back cones meant that, in my listening chair, I was on the midrange-treble unit's axis.I wasn't expecting any low bass, nor did I hear any. This is not a speaker on which to enjoy the finer qualities of the Puff Daddy remix of Sting's "Roxanne." I also didn't hear any midbass frequencies. But the upper bass was exaggerated in level. Kick drum had little slam, but each impulse was surrounded—not by "boom" as such, which implies more lower-frequency content—but by a warmish follow-through tone. This was not unpleasant, and gave the impression that the speaker was reproducing more bass information than it actually was. However, this excess of upper-bass energy will make integrating the Elan with a subwoofer more problematic than usual, unless you set the crossover above 200Hz, which in general is too high a frequency for optimal imaging.Listening to the speaker cabinet's resonant behavior with a stethoscope revealed how well damped and braced it is. I couldn't detect any discrete resonant behavior at all.At the other end of the frequency range, the highs sounded mellow, even rolled-off. The various tinkly belltree effects on Clannad's Magical Ring (English RCA ND71473) just didn't tinkle enough, and cymbals came over with more of a "swush" than a "swish." However, the highs were notably free from grain—provided you didn't play the Elans too loud. The level peaked at about 85dB SPL at my listening position, which was about 8' from the speakers.
Description
| Condition: | Used: An item that has been used previously. The item may have some signs of cosmetic wear, but is fully operational and functions as intended. This item may be a floor model or store return that has been used. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitions- opens in a new window or tab ... Read moreabout the condition | Brand: | Evett & Shaw |
| Model: | Elans | Type: | speakers |
"The Ultimate Desktop Luxury Statement" ( this is part of an old internet review)
Priced at an astonishing $2200/pair, the Elan is smaller than a shoebox, yet surprisingly heavy: 15.5 lbs. The cabinet is constructed of 6.5mm-thick aluminum plate throughout and is then heavily braced and damped with 1.5 lbs of North American black wool. The front and rear panels are aluminum; the top and bottom plates appear to be faced with mineral-loaded black acrylic (white is also available); the side panels on the review pair were finished in mirror-polished wood veneer, though many other finishes are available.Beneath a removable perforated-metal black grille on the Elan's front baffle can be seen a single drive-unit, with a 2.5"-diameter plastic cone. (There is no tweeter!) This driver crosses over below 250Hz to a pair of similar drive-units mounted facing downward on the speaker's base. To give the low frequencies room to escape, the front of the speaker is propped up at the front on two solid-bearing bronze cones, with a single vestigial cone at the rear. An optional accessory is a flat 12" by 6" sheet of polished grained marble, for the speaker to sit on.According to Evett & Shaw's website, the Elan "requires 127 steps prior to completion, giving it Swiss-watch build quality." They refer to their speaker as "The Ultimate Desktop Luxury Statement."Sound at home
Although Evett & Shaw states that the Elan has been "specifically engineered for nearfield listening," I started my auditioning in my dedicated listening room in order to get a baseline reference for its performance. I placed one of the accessory marble slabs on top of a massive 24" Celestion SL stand, this spiked to the floor beneath the rug. Each Elan was placed on top of one of these slabs and toed-in to the listening position. The slight tiltback from the speaker's different-sized front and back cones meant that, in my listening chair, I was on the midrange-treble unit's axis.I wasn't expecting any low bass, nor did I hear any. This is not a speaker on which to enjoy the finer qualities of the Puff Daddy remix of Sting's "Roxanne." I also didn't hear any midbass frequencies. But the upper bass was exaggerated in level. Kick drum had little slam, but each impulse was surrounded—not by "boom" as such, which implies more lower-frequency content—but by a warmish follow-through tone. This was not unpleasant, and gave the impression that the speaker was reproducing more bass information than it actually was. However, this excess of upper-bass energy will make integrating the Elan with a subwoofer more problematic than usual, unless you set the crossover above 200Hz, which in general is too high a frequency for optimal imaging.Listening to the speaker cabinet's resonant behavior with a stethoscope revealed how well damped and braced it is. I couldn't detect any discrete resonant behavior at all.At the other end of the frequency range, the highs sounded mellow, even rolled-off. The various tinkly belltree effects on Clannad's Magical Ring (English RCA ND71473) just didn't tinkle enough, and cymbals came over with more of a "swush" than a "swish." However, the highs were notably free from grain—provided you didn't play the Elans too loud. The level peaked at about 85dB SPL at my listening position, which was about 8' from the speakers.
Priced at an astonishing $2200/pair, the Elan is smaller than a shoebox, yet surprisingly heavy: 15.5 lbs. The cabinet is constructed of 6.5mm-thick aluminum plate throughout and is then heavily braced and damped with 1.5 lbs of North American black wool. The front and rear panels are aluminum; the top and bottom plates appear to be faced with mineral-loaded black acrylic (white is also available); the side panels on the review pair were finished in mirror-polished wood veneer, though many other finishes are available.Beneath a removable perforated-metal black grille on the Elan's front baffle can be seen a single drive-unit, with a 2.5"-diameter plastic cone. (There is no tweeter!) This driver crosses over below 250Hz to a pair of similar drive-units mounted facing downward on the speaker's base. To give the low frequencies room to escape, the front of the speaker is propped up at the front on two solid-bearing bronze cones, with a single vestigial cone at the rear. An optional accessory is a flat 12" by 6" sheet of polished grained marble, for the speaker to sit on.According to Evett & Shaw's website, the Elan "requires 127 steps prior to completion, giving it Swiss-watch build quality." They refer to their speaker as "The Ultimate Desktop Luxury Statement."Sound at home
Although Evett & Shaw states that the Elan has been "specifically engineered for nearfield listening," I started my auditioning in my dedicated listening room in order to get a baseline reference for its performance. I placed one of the accessory marble slabs on top of a massive 24" Celestion SL stand, this spiked to the floor beneath the rug. Each Elan was placed on top of one of these slabs and toed-in to the listening position. The slight tiltback from the speaker's different-sized front and back cones meant that, in my listening chair, I was on the midrange-treble unit's axis.I wasn't expecting any low bass, nor did I hear any. This is not a speaker on which to enjoy the finer qualities of the Puff Daddy remix of Sting's "Roxanne." I also didn't hear any midbass frequencies. But the upper bass was exaggerated in level. Kick drum had little slam, but each impulse was surrounded—not by "boom" as such, which implies more lower-frequency content—but by a warmish follow-through tone. This was not unpleasant, and gave the impression that the speaker was reproducing more bass information than it actually was. However, this excess of upper-bass energy will make integrating the Elan with a subwoofer more problematic than usual, unless you set the crossover above 200Hz, which in general is too high a frequency for optimal imaging.Listening to the speaker cabinet's resonant behavior with a stethoscope revealed how well damped and braced it is. I couldn't detect any discrete resonant behavior at all.At the other end of the frequency range, the highs sounded mellow, even rolled-off. The various tinkly belltree effects on Clannad's Magical Ring (English RCA ND71473) just didn't tinkle enough, and cymbals came over with more of a "swush" than a "swish." However, the highs were notably free from grain—provided you didn't play the Elans too loud. The level peaked at about 85dB SPL at my listening position, which was about 8' from the speakers.