ELAC 4" Passive Wired Bookshelf Speakers

Update 2/2: A note for those of you out there that, like most people, have limited options for speaker placement… Yes, it’s important to be aware of how close the speakers are to the wall (or all six surfaces for that matter), but don’t forget about the space between them. My system is in a shared space, so either side of a TV in surrounding bookshelves was what it was gonna be. This ended up being about 6’ apart, 1’ from the back wall, >6’ from the nearest sidewall, and about 13’ to the listening position (a couch on the opposite wall). I was aware of the “isosceles” guidelines for a listening position, and I realized they were probably too close together for 13’ but it really felt like the only option at the time (mainly for aesthetic reasons in a shared space). Long story short, one Saturday, I decided to try moving them laterally to the opposite edge of their respective shelves (extending the distance to ~8’). It was like a different system. Toeing is important, but even before tuning that, the less direct sound leaves much more canvas for your brain to paint on and for the first time in 2 years, the speakers disappeared✨ It probably also doesn’t hurt getting a bit further from the reflective TV. Thankfully, “shareholders” of the space found it visually acceptable and I haven’t looked back 😅 Honestly, it’s making me rethink my goal of a 5.1 system - not sure I need it! I wanted to share this to underscore if these are your first speakers, they will grow with your system. Will better speakers sound better with upgraded components? Most likely. Do the BS41’s have a ceiling? Absolutely, and proportionately lower. But they’ve responded to everything I’ve added, and that support pushes them past the price I paid (in my experience/opinion). ✌️ 5/1/25 Update1/2: So, I’ve had these for over a year now and I’m here to report life is good - particularly as I’ve learned to tune the system and make some technical upgrades, the value of these speakers (to my ear) has increased. I generally subscribed to the philosophy that one “works their way in” from the speakers when building a system and when cycling through upgrades… But my experience lead me to question that. My living situation did not make it practical to upgrade my speakers, but the enduring interest had me upgrading components “ahead of schedule,” including a notable leap from a Schiit Modi3+ to a Denafrips Ares 12th 😅. A more modest change has been getting in early on Fosi V3 Monos and dropping some Sparkos SS3602's in their buffer stage [all seen in second photo]. That, combined with being a bit smarter with the sub, these Elac’s continue to come to life! As I said, I started to wonder if working my way in was the wrong idea, but I realized the lesson was if the perceived value of the speakers went up, I’d be within the same cycle :) All that to say, if your room is in moderate shape, you do your homework with gear, and take electrical interference seriously, you should not feel bad about paying more than $150 for these. The question rather, is where’s your line to save up? 7/10/24 Original review: The pic is what’s currently feeding the BS41’s (out of frame is also an Airmotiv SE8 subwoofer), but I started with just the Elac’s, an Aiyima A08 Pro, and my Pro-Ject T1 Phono SB (and it steadily grew from there since March of this year). It’s my first system, and my first set of speakers, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to (to say nothing of the odd room size) but I think they sound great! In retrospect, I probably should have saved up a for one of the front-ported models (my only options in my current living space is to have them fewer than 12in from the wall), but I don’t regret owning these. That said, if they go over $150, I recommend saving for the step-up. The rumors are true, these put out a surprising amount of bass, and there’s no “glistening” top end, but they’re not muffled by any means. Their focus is punch for their size and price, and they nail it in my opinion. Not the common scenario, but I have the high-pass filter on the sub set at 60, which I think helped tighten the woofers, and the upper mids definitely enjoyed the extra juice. I also have the Schiit Lokius adding some support for the highs. All in all, I think these are a great entry level speaker for the 2.1 listener that likes it on the warm side (as I do). BUT, truly consider something front-ported if you know these are going to be against the wall.

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?

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.

Elac fashion sound. Built to compete with the Pioneer obviously and I would say the Micca MB42. There is a bass bump like Joe & Tell described in his review on YouTube. This is with only about two hours on them. I'm breaking them in now with pink noise for a few days. The mid-range magic on the Pioneer 22's reigns supreme to these but...the bass is more forthcoming. That's where they compete with the MB42's. The treble is dark and veiled out of the box but they are much happier in a equalateral plop down situation than the RB42's. I would rather much have these on a desktop pointed at my face than the RB42's but that's preference. I have both warm and detailed centric speakers. For close listening I would rather have the softer non fatiguing speaker of the bunch. These are going into the garage for most of their duties but I wouldn't hesitate to keep them in my office or bedroom. They expand slightly beyond the box horizontally and come at you with spacial information as much as a 4' driver is capable of. You will miss some of the details in the highs if you're not inline with the tweeter. Once that happens, all is good (So verticle dispersion is not so great in my experience). I've been happy with them so far and for the purpose I bought them for is perfect. If you're in the ballfield I've been describing then you'll be fine with these. My speakers range from Tekton, Triangle, Wharfedale, Polk, Elac, Klipsch, Definitive Technology, Revel, Infinity, Micca, and of course the Pioneers that everyone had... Happy listening and I hope this helps. I will update when I can for long term reference. 2/16 They have started to open up. Not as congested and veiled from the first listen. Still on the dark side but the treble and mid-range has gotten better. They are a little chesty but not horribly so. I'm really enjoying these for music. They are a great set of non-fatiguing speakers. They definitely have the Elac house sound. I would buy another pair if I had the need.

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.

The BS-41 Elac speakers are collective set from the Debut 2.0 series but these 4" drivers are a bit unique and made of polypropylene instead of the same hybrid material as the other Debut 2.0 woofers. The sound signature from these are typical Elac just like the rest of the Debut 2.0 series. Here are the specs directly from Elac.... Elac BS41 Enclosure type 2-Way Bass Reflex Frequency Response 48Hz-35,000Hz Nominal Impedance 6 Ohms Sensitivity 84 dB @ 2.83v/1m Crossover frequency 2000Hz Max power output (NOT RMS) 80 watts Tweeter 1" Cloth Dome Woofer 4" Polypropylene Cabinet CARB2 Rated MDF Cabinet finish Black Brushed Vinyl Port Dual Flared Binding Posts 5-Way Metal Dimensions (WxHxD) 6.6" X 10.9" X 8.9" If you can live with their limitations, the Elac BS41's have a very natural sound signature. They are limited in overall SPL output (especially extended low frequency SPL). If you want to maximize their sound fidelity, remove the cloth grills and also the metal dome grills covering the tweeters with a paper clip. The high frequencies are much more extended and smoother sounding without these grills in place. Pair them with a nice class D amp and you will get more quality sound out of these speakers than other speakers costing much more.

If you know you know, these sound great, just buy them. For the price you won't find anything better.

The in room performance of the Elac 4" Passive Wired Bookshelf Speaker (and every other decent sounding speaker) just got better. I connected the Elac BS41 speaker (the model name for this Elac speaker) to the WiiM Amplifier (also purchased on Amazon). The WiiM Amplifier (also the WiiM Pro Plus music streamer) now feature room correction. Room correction enables you to create a custom parametric equalizer curve for your speakers in your room when heard from your favorite listening location. The room correction process takes less than than 1 minute to complete. Room correction improved the sound of the Elac BS41. The improvement is noticeable, especially in the low end and mid range. The efficiency of the BS41 is on the low side for a ported speaker (there is a flared port on the rear of the BS41 speaker). Use an amplifier rated for at least 40 watts of power into 6 ohms. Unlike some other other small speakers (such as the Jamo S 801 * also sold on Amazon) you don't necessarily need to use a subwoofer with the Elac BS41 speaker. Bass response as advertised is -6dB @ 48 Hz, with a definite bump just above this frequency. (Room correction smoothed out the low end response of the BS41 speaker in the 40 to 60 Hz range. I use a subwoofer with the WiiM Amplifier's subwoofer output with bass management when listening to the Elac BS41 speakers. I have the Elac BS41 speakers on 30 inch high stands about 2 feet from the rear wall. If you have been on a fence about whether to buy the Elac 4" Passive Wired Bookshelf speakers and want to try music streaming using one of the WiiM streaming products sold on Amazon, there has never been a better incentive than room correction. (Note: WiiM's room correction, known as RoomFit, is now enabled for every WiiM music streamer including the WiiM Mini. In addition the WiiM Amp, WiiM Amp Pro, WiiM Amp Ultra support RoomFit. I also tried using the room correction with the Jamo S 801 small bookshelf speakers that I purchased on Amazon. Room correction greatly improved the sound of the Jamo S 801 by filling in the midrange. I use a WiiM Amplifier (purchased on Amazon) with a 10" subwoofer and the WiiM Amplifier's subwoofer output with bass management when listening to the Jamo S 801 speakers. The Elac BS41 and Jamo S 801 speakers are both very small bookshelf speakers (these two speakers are almost the same size. ) The Elac BS41 plays down to below 50Hz, by design. (Kick drums have a fundamental frequency right around 50Hz.) You don't need to use a subwoofer with the Elac BS41 speaker unless you want to extend the bass response even lower. The Jamo S 801 needs to be used with a subwoofer to enjoy full range sound