10 reviews for ELAC 4″ Passive Bookshelf Speakers

1. 

   5 out of 5

   Grant Boquet – January 23, 2020

   I was looking for a pair of speakers to fill in the surrounds for my home theater system. These, and two other MouKey speakers, were priced at $68. I decided to give them all a go because hey, they’re all the same price. The MouKeys have much worse build quality, came slightly damaged even though they were listed as new, and listening to one of the pairs (M20-3) in my office where I normally run a pair of Sony SSCS5s left me unimpressed. I hooked these Elacs up after a long listen on my Sonys and WOW. WOW!! These kick some serious butt!!! Sound is full and vibrant, plenty of bass and punch. No sub needed in a smaller room for sure for music listening. Some call this veiled in the high end, but I haven’t noticed it. Highs are what I look for the most in my speakers as I’ve got a sub on all my systems and this is not lacking in any way in that department. The whole musical spectrum sounds amazing on these. Clarity is plenty enough for the majority of the population. Imaging isn’t perfect, but neither is my equipment. Even serious audiophiles would likely have a hard time knocking these at the sale price of $68, or even at the MSRP of $150.Normally I would not write a review until I’ve thoroughly tested a product, but this is one of those exceptions. I started my critical listening and promptly stopped as I was just whisked away by the beauty these speakers presented me with. These will not be relegated to surround duty. These are my new office buddies. Now to get them tuned in with my sub in here to really bring out some magic. And now to figure out what to do with the Sonys. Anyone looking for a pair of lightly loved bookshelf speakers?

2. 

   5 out of 5

   Tony E. – March 24, 2020

   Andrew Jones, the designer, is a genius!I see two types of buyers…. low end buyers who stumble upon these speakers and High End audiophiles that are in the secret and understand what an absolute steal these babies are.They arrived today and I hooked them up. Not broken in at all and already I could hear good imaging when I had them set up four feet apart and I stood four feet from them. The treble and midrange are smooth and the bass is quite good for such a small speaker. No harshness. It’s really incredible for such a price.I found out about these speakers from the fellow who has been rebuilding my vintage receivers. He has a pair of these on his test bench and they sounded really good. He needs speakers that will let him hear his work and yet not so expensive that if he blows them he’ll be out of serious cash.I’m actually thinking of buying one or two more pairs… to set up a vintage quad system.No need for a subwoofer, as I would not use them as a full blown stereo, but use them either in a small room or in a home office in near listening, as I plan to do with my first pair.Awesome.

3. 

   5 out of 5

   FunT3ch – July 2, 2020

   I purchased these for my home office – wanted to have better sound that filled up the room, better than my tv speaker could. These are fantastic – warm and rich but not too bright, and they just sound…unobtrusive.The best way I can describe it, is I didn’t think about the sound when they started playing, which means there wasn’t anything sticking out that was bad. They’re not the best bookshelf you can get, but for the price? Don’t think you can beat these. Ordered another pair and considering ordering the center speaker to create a 5.1.

4. 

   5 out of 5

   Matthew Tan – August 13, 2020

   Excellent excellent speakers. Too good. They are my mains now for my gaming PC rig, with Polk T15s being my secondary speakers for my CWGTV, both systems sharing the same HDR gaming monitor. Driven by Aiyima Tube A3 Pro tube pre & Aiyima A03 amp. (I discovered that you should pair the same number of preamp w amp for Aiyima products). The BS41s handle my games exceedingly well. Music sounds great too. Movie dialogue good too. Cheapaudioman commented that they sound like a blend between the 1st & 2nd generation Debuts. I wouldn’t know cos I never heard an Elac speaker before this one lols. Actually, I auditioned the DB52 center channel (Debut 2.0) and it really, really sucked. Maybe it hadn’t been burnt it yet. But it lacked a lot of things. Coming back, for the so-called “bloated bass” for this BS41, it goes away after 10-20 hours of usage. What’s left is a pretty meaty yet not boomy bass. Just don’t shove these against the wall. The sound is just so full and nothing like I heard of. I even closed my eyes during the initial testing as the speakers were truly disappearing and all I wanted to feel was the music. They are brilliant and worth the extra I paid for to ship them to Singapore.

5. 

   5 out of 5

   victor – August 13, 2020

   Not sure I’d recommend these over $100 cause there are other options. But under $100 this is my new recommendation over Miccas (haven’t tried the Neumis yet). Got these with a budget fosi audio amp for my sister and her husband and we hooked them up in time to watch the superbowl at their place. This was absolutely great even in a medium-large size room especially for someone that would have been using TV speakers, computer speakers, or a soundbar instead. So this is a great way to get your feet wet or a great gift to get someone you want to start experiencing stereo separation. The sound was nice and full and definitely more refined than the Micca’s (marginally so anyways). I run Elac Debut B6.2 and C6.2 at home with Micca Covo-s for surrounds cause the previous elac speakers were just so big. I am considering getting these now as surrounds.

6. 

   5 out of 5

   Brett A. – September 17, 2020

   I get annoyed every once in a while when reading or watching speaker reviews… overall impressions are ALWAYS subjective to the audio equipment being utilized to drive them, the environment the speakers are put in, speaker placement relative to walls and furniture, speaker toe-in/toe-out, height relative to the listener’s ears, speaker burn-in/break-in (yes dummy, it’s real), grilles on vs. grilles off, and the user’s personal tastes and perception whether preconcieved or not… all rolled up into one all-too-convenient box that can sometimes be misleading or downright deceptive.What is REALLY rediculous though is when speakers that sound THIS GOOD for under 100 bones get picked apart and disected as if they were 1000. This is not one of those reviews. I refuse to participate in the shenanigans.My take? Good luck finding a pair of excellent sounding “audiophile” worthy speakers for just $68. Fight me. I have many, many hours of listening to the legendary budget “bright-sounding” champ Sony SSCS5, the “bass-is-rediculous-for-it’s-size” Micca RB42, and now the wonderfully rewarding and buttery warm-sounding ELAC BS41. I’ve used and experiemented with several different amplifiers, tube pre-amps, tubes, DAC’s, OP amp chips, and home theater surround recievers in different rooms and conditions. I’ve enjoyed the aforementioned speakers immensely and each has found a specific place in my home. The BS41’s have now done the same.These are impressive speakers. JUST BUY THEM. In the audio world, $68 is nothing but chump change. Andrew Jones designed them, so there really isn’t much left to argue or debate about in my opinion. ELAC has one hell of a reputation in the audio industry for a reason, don’t just take my word for it. Do some research and you will understand why.Let them play and burn in before you pass too much judgement on how they sound out-of-the-box. Bass will become cleaner and treble will loosen up a bit the more they get played, to the point where you will probably find yourself doing a double take saying HOLYSH!T these are good. Also, don’t be afraid to take the mesh grilles off the tweeters, it’s super easy to do and noticably improves treble output and clarity. That said… if you don’t like warm sounding speakers, the Sony SSCS5’s are hard to beat budget speakers for the money when they are on sale. Just keep in mind that their bass output is mediocre at best and vocals are not nearly as pronounced or engaging, even when compared to the output of the smaller 4″ woofers that the ELAC’s have. The BS41’s bass output will probably surprise you, especially if you’ve never heard or experienced speakers like the Micca RB42’s. It can be chest-thumping in near field listening, something the Micca’s don’t do until pushed to the point where they begin their annoying port chuffing.I bought these BS41’s for rear surrounds. I’m so impressed with their tonality and performance in a 2-channel setup that I am now convinced that I need to invest in ELAC’s Debut 2.0 B6.2 or B5.2 for the front channels in my home theater room, along with a matching center. Budget audiophiles rejoice… these are no joke! Highly recommended, even if the price jumps up to $150 some day. They are worth every penny in my opinion. Every. Single. One.

7. 

   5 out of 5

   Stephen R. – September 18, 2020

   I’m not an audiophile, just a guy who move from hip high speakers to book shelf cause it bother the wife. I liked the full rich distinct sound of those big speakers,… bass thru treble. And after living with Bose with pretty good success, came across these Elac 4. I’m almost speechless, its got to be a mistake. Distinct highs, full bass, and beautiful mid range for voice. I took a chance because another buyer talked about these in comparison to Moukey 3 way. Would love to thank him for that.Being that these are from China, I kinda feel i betrayed the manufactures of the West. But quality is quality,..and price is price. Nuff Said.

8. 

   5 out of 5

   greenwich – January 18, 2021

   I was skeptical to buy these speakers, but I decided to give them a try as these are Elacs and they are cheap. These speakers are just amazing. They are small, dynamic, have decent soundstage and bass. They are a bit dark on the top end, but overall they sound amazing for the price. I’ve tried many expensive speakers, and these should cost way more than the price they are selling at. These are perfect for a desktop setup and play perfectly fine on my cheap SMSL A12 amp. Highly recommended!These are the specs (Missing on Amazon):Model: Elac BS414″ Polypropylene Bass Driver1″ Cloth soft Dome TweeterFrequency Response: 48 – 35000 HzNominal/Peak Power Handling: 40/80 WpcNominal Impedance: 6 OhmsSensitivity: 84dbCrossover Frequency: 2000HzDimensions: 6.6″ x 10.9″ x 8.9″

9. 

   5 out of 5

   Chuck Ebby – January 18, 2021

   At 68 dollars these are a steal.It wasn’t until I hooked these up as main speakers that I realized how good they are. That’s not how I will use them but with a decent sub and center channel they could do an excellent job. They are replacing Sony SSCS5’s as surrounds and height speakers in my system. Doing a totally subjective A/B comparison with the SSCS5’s they have more base and that stretches up better into the midrange. This was very pronounced listening to Adele’s Hello. While the Sony’s seem to do everything very precisely (and do it well) these have something sweeter going on that matches my Elac Debut 2.0 speakers very nicely.

10. 

    5 out of 5

    C.B.123C.B.123 – February 18, 2021

    Just right to the point these are great bookshelf speaker’s surprising low end built solid high end is the only thing these lack for the price point I have tried and tested many bookshelf speakers for now these will be playing music and movies for awhile until I find (and can afford a new pair I am a speaker junkie! You won’t be disappointed in these especially if your listening to HI Res nuff said!