New Products

ELAC, the German maker of high-quality speakers, has announced a new series of mix-and-match home theater speakers that is the culmination of almost 100 years of experience in acoustic design and engineering.

Slated to ship in early May, the Vela series includes three floor-standing speakers, two bookshelf models, and a center-channel speaker at prices ranging from $4,300/pair for the flagship tower model (in walnut) to $2,300 for the center speaker. All of the models feature a new patented version of the company’s JET 6 Air Motion Transformer (AMT) “ribbon” tweeter, praised for its ability to “faithfully reproduce high-resolution audio content with extended dynamic range.” The AMT tweeter design has been extraordinarily popular and widely used by a number of speaker brands in recent years.

The JET6 tweeter is complemented across the series by the brand’s proprietary multi-layered “AS-XR sandwich” woofer design, which combines a lightweight diaphragm with a powerful magnet system to achieve “precise, energetic bass,” even at high volumes. All of the models have bass-reflex enclosures, which in the case of the tower speakers is a port that vents bass through the bottom of the cabinet.

Topping the series is the flagship FS 409.2 tower, a three-and-a-half-way design combining two 7-inch woofers with a 6-inch mid-woofer and Jet 6 tweeter in a cabinet 51 inches tall. The speaker is rated down to 28 Hz and will sell for $4,300/pair in gloss walnut and $4,000/pair in gloss black or white.

The smaller FS 408.2 and FS 407.2 towers are two-and-a-half-way designs combining two 7- or 6-inch woofers with the tweeter in a cabinet 45 or 39 inches tall, respectively, and rated down to 28 or 30 Hz. Pricing is $3,700/pair in gloss walnut and $3,500/pair in high gloss black or white for the FS 408.2 and $3,200 and $3,000, respectively, for the FS 407.2.

The BS 404.2 and BS 403.2 bookshelf speakers are both two-way designs combining a single 7- or 6-inch woofer with the tweeter in a cabinet 16 or 14 inches tall, respectively. Prices are $3,700/pair in gloss walnut and $3,500/pair in gloss black or white for the BS 404.2 and $3,200/pair and $3,000/pair, respectively, for the BS 403.2.

Rounding out the line is the CC 401.2 center-channel speaker featuring a 6-inch woofer on either side of the Jet 6 tweeter in a cabinet 26 inches wide. Pricing is $2,300 in gloss walnut or gloss white or black.

Fabric grilles are included with each Vela series speaker but you can upgrade to a metal grille that attaches magnetically.

ELAC was founded in 1926 as Electroacoustic GmbH with the mission of researching signal and sound channels in air and water and developing sonar technology that was ultimately used during World War II. For more information on the Vela series speakers, visit elac.com.