I'll declare my bias upfront.
I've always liked AJ's work, bought a pair of Kef 104/2 References , new in about 1988 and kept them for 20 years.
Got a pair of Pioneers S-1EX , and love TAD Reference speakers......
Been looking for some stand mounts for a possible downsizing project, bought some Raidho C1.1s , didn't work for me, so when I saw a pair of 61s on eBay, they rang a bell, so hit a few review sites.
It seems they were revered by the Trade and Press , but loathed by the public, they bombed commercially, and AJ and Elac parted company.
My thoughts were, I can't believe Elac and AJ would release a product which is that bad, and surely the audio reviews would also be pretty so so, they are generally never "bad"
So , did a deal with the dealer direct, and they arrived in 2 large boxes.
I wasn't able to get the matching ABST101 stands, it seems Elac probably melted them all down , a couple of stupidly priced pairs in Germany and USA.
On arrival, having no stands, popped them on a a pair of swivel hydraulic bar stools, and despite being different heights, and trying to spin off axis , thought, my these sound quite good.
Popped them back into the black velvet bags , and in the downstairs loo for a week (not obligatory) until the stands arrived.
Bought a pair of Atacama HMS 2X stands, as they were almost the same height , 600mm , as the Elac stands, filled each of the 8 legs with sharp sand that had dried in the airing cupboard all week, positioned them in a perfect equilateral triangle position, about 2.7m x 3 .
I bi amp, as my pre lets me dial in the HFs on the "slave" amp, 4 identical XLR outputs, but 2 have a gain control, so can use entirely disparate power amps , am using a 250W Class D amp on the Low Frequency posts, and a Plinius SA100 Mk3 , in either A or AB, about 150W into 6 ohms , on the High Frequency posts.
And lets go.....
OH my giddy Aunt, they are spectacular .
Fast, dynamic , open, spacious , the boxes disappear, holographic , tight deep (ish) tuneful bass , just bloody amazing.
I then tried just the Plinius , and it wasn't good, didn't have the puff to drive and control them properly.
I've had 2 sets of friends over to blind listen, didn't know what they were, one was blown away , and the other, when told the brand and price, just went very quiet....as I , and possibly he, thinks they bested his 8x the price speakers.
I think the major issue with these AS61s are they need top quality , beefy electronics to make them work, and Elac knocked them out at $3000/£3000 , so people with "lesser" quality power tried to run them, and they would have been awful.
If they were £8 to £10K , which I think they could be, then matched with similar amps, what a match !!
If you get the chance , and there's 2 pairs on eBay , and have grunty amp/amps that will move -85db , then give these a go.
You'll be rewarded with fabulous speakers, for a truly daft low price.
I'm pondering buying another pair !
I've always liked AJ's work, bought a pair of Kef 104/2 References , new in about 1988 and kept them for 20 years.
Got a pair of Pioneers S-1EX , and love TAD Reference speakers......
Been looking for some stand mounts for a possible downsizing project, bought some Raidho C1.1s , didn't work for me, so when I saw a pair of 61s on eBay, they rang a bell, so hit a few review sites.
It seems they were revered by the Trade and Press , but loathed by the public, they bombed commercially, and AJ and Elac parted company.
My thoughts were, I can't believe Elac and AJ would release a product which is that bad, and surely the audio reviews would also be pretty so so, they are generally never "bad"
So , did a deal with the dealer direct, and they arrived in 2 large boxes.
I wasn't able to get the matching ABST101 stands, it seems Elac probably melted them all down , a couple of stupidly priced pairs in Germany and USA.
On arrival, having no stands, popped them on a a pair of swivel hydraulic bar stools, and despite being different heights, and trying to spin off axis , thought, my these sound quite good.
Popped them back into the black velvet bags , and in the downstairs loo for a week (not obligatory) until the stands arrived.
Bought a pair of Atacama HMS 2X stands, as they were almost the same height , 600mm , as the Elac stands, filled each of the 8 legs with sharp sand that had dried in the airing cupboard all week, positioned them in a perfect equilateral triangle position, about 2.7m x 3 .
I bi amp, as my pre lets me dial in the HFs on the "slave" amp, 4 identical XLR outputs, but 2 have a gain control, so can use entirely disparate power amps , am using a 250W Class D amp on the Low Frequency posts, and a Plinius SA100 Mk3 , in either A or AB, about 150W into 6 ohms , on the High Frequency posts.
And lets go.....
OH my giddy Aunt, they are spectacular .
Fast, dynamic , open, spacious , the boxes disappear, holographic , tight deep (ish) tuneful bass , just bloody amazing.
I then tried just the Plinius , and it wasn't good, didn't have the puff to drive and control them properly.
I've had 2 sets of friends over to blind listen, didn't know what they were, one was blown away , and the other, when told the brand and price, just went very quiet....as I , and possibly he, thinks they bested his 8x the price speakers.
I think the major issue with these AS61s are they need top quality , beefy electronics to make them work, and Elac knocked them out at $3000/£3000 , so people with "lesser" quality power tried to run them, and they would have been awful.
If they were £8 to £10K , which I think they could be, then matched with similar amps, what a match !!
If you get the chance , and there's 2 pairs on eBay , and have grunty amp/amps that will move -85db , then give these a go.
You'll be rewarded with fabulous speakers, for a truly daft low price.
I'm pondering buying another pair !
