John Darko
ELAC has announced its second Debut ConneX powered loudspeaker model. The DCB61 expands on the platform established by the DCB41 with a 6.5″ polypropylene mid/bass driver and wave-guided 1.9cm soft dome tweeter that are respectively powered by 60-Watt and 20-Watt Class D amplifiers. That’s one amplifier per driver. Why? Because this is an active speaker whose DSP crossover precedes those amplifiers.
It goes further: all four amplifiers reside in the primary enclosure. Why? Because the DCB61 system-in-a-box runs in a primary-secondary configuration where the audio signal and wall power are fed into the primary loudspeaker and the secondary loudspeaker’s drivers receive an already-amplified signal via a 4-pole umbilical. Confused? Sorry.
As is common with the actives of this type, we can expect to see cable vomit yawning from the back of the primary box, especially when fully-loaded: TOSLINK, USB-B, HDMI ARC (w/ Dolby Digital) and a twin-RCA analogue input that’s switchable between line-level and MM phono. This primary speaker can be set as the left or right channel via a nearby toggle switch. Next to that sits a volume rotary — not the handiest of placements.
The DCB61’s LC3+ Bluetooth input not only accommodates lossy audio streams but it also allows us to turn on/off the subwoofer output via ELAC’s iOS/Android app. According to ELAC, these actives are 3dB down at 48Hz, which will be plenty low bass for most listeners.
However, with toggle switches for the subwoofer, XBass and Night Mode sitting alongside EQ and ‘placement’ inside the app – plus the 4-pole umbilical and a near-identical set of hardwired inputs – we are reminded of Klipsch’s The Fives. (Let’s hope the listening experience isn’t the same).
Pricing on the newer, bigger Debut ConneX says hello at £699, €799 or US$899. Your choice of white, olive green, black or walnut finishes.
Further information: ELAC
