jbrink@bcm.tmc.edu (Jacob Brink) (06/14/91)
Hello fellow-netters, I've been following the postings in this newsgroup for say about 2 and to much of my suprise I haven't seen anything about Elipson speakers. Nor for that matter about Bryston amplifiers. As it is, I own a set of Elipsons (model no. 1303), which are truly remarkable. They are manufactured in France; the 1303 came out probably 15 years ago. By popular demand /that is in Europe -:) / upgraded versions were made, which unfortunately didn't sound a whole lot better. The basic design resembles a column, about 1 meter high with a footprint of 30 x 30 cm. Elipson used a three-way system in this model, with the midrange speaker mounted in a so-called Helmholtz resonator. This supposedly eliminates all kinds of colouration in this very sensitive part of the spectrum. As a result, human voices sounds very "present", quite comparable to what you would get with electrostatic speakers. The speakers costed me about $ 700 some 5 years back. New they would have been close to $ 2000 a pair. As for the amplifiers, I noticed that the speaker sounds a whole lot better when powered by for instance a Bryston or Mark Levinson. I think it has to do with the decreasing impedance as the frequency goes up (around 1 Ohm above 10-12 kHz). Power handling is no problem. The Bryston I own can produce a cool 400 Watts in 4 Ohm, and I tell you, the only thing happening was that I got funny looks from the neighbours, like if I was trying to blast away the wall with sound. My question -- I haven't heard speakers which are a big step up compared to the Elipsons. Therefore, I'd like to ask all knowledgeable people whether: a) is there anything better, and b) if NOT, who knows where I can find a dealer of Elipson speakers? I appreciate any input. Jaap Brink --- "always searching for a better sound" JBRINK@BCM.TMC.EDU -- Jaap Brink ----------------------------------------------------------| | Baylor College of Medicine, Biochemistry Dept. | | Houston, TX 77030, JBRINK@BCM.TMC.EDU | |____________________________________________________________________|