Andrew's first AMT speaker is no ordinary speaker - Elac Carina bs243.4 Speaker review ! 

We were blown away by the Carinas at C.E.S., then nothing else at that show sounded as good.

Many thanks for the review. Was looking at both but Crutchfield had a deal for free stands so ended up going with Carina, can't wait to hear them!

Hi, thanks for this good review! How do you compare these 2 ELACs with the Harbeths? A critical comparison will be very helpful.

How would these compare to the comparably priced Wharfedale EVO 4.2 speakers? Would like to see a review on those too.

How does the Carina perform against a wall in a floating shelf situation? I would think the port setup might affect the bass with the rear wall being so close? A front porting speaker would probably be better, I'm assuming.

i need a Bookshelf speaker that sounds great at low volume for tv but can still sound good at a decent volume . how are these at low volume compared to the UB5's?

I really enjoy your reviews! Have you had a chance to audition any Focal? I’m seriously thinking about some Sopra 2’s for my music.

Hey Jay. Great review as always. A few questions if I may. - How are these Elac Carina bs243.4 for nearfield/desktop listening, how do they compare do the PMC DB1 Gold or other PMC models? I'm looking for a pair to use with my computer. Maybe you can do a video on top 3 or 5 bookshelf speakers for nearfield/desktop listening? - Can they be placed near the wall? - One problem you mentioned is that they cannot be raised because of the port on the bottom. Do you have a workaround to get them high up to my ear level for my computer use? I guess you cannot tilt them either? Thanks! 谢谢 : )

I like the carina on my Isoacoustics Aperta's, decoupled...and having tested the vela as well i prefer the...CARINA.

Jay, do you prefer the carinas over the ls 50/meta??

Theoretical question , I am planning to try the carinas on top of Isoacoustics Aperta stands. If I found the sound to be lacking as you described , because of the bottom port, do you think a flat piece of wood or plexiglass, between the base of the speaker and the stand , would solve the "problem" ?

Hi Jay, how do you compare the sound of ADANTE AS-61 mountstanding to CARINA and VELA? Thanks.

I wouldn't rule out any speaker model depending on principal differences. All my small, medium and large speaker pairs have front side port(s) and two pairs with a soft dome tweeter, one with a ribbon. Coaxial, AMT, port or passive radiator, metallic dome, horn, kevlar cone, it's all dependant on design, quality and entirity. And personal taste, too.

Jay , just saw this review and a review of the quad s2. Have you heard the quad ? if not any chance of it getting reviewed ? The wharefedale 4.2 sounds perfect for me also except for off axis response,[ small sweet spot.] Any thoughts ? Thanks soulsik for all the hard work!

Excellent explanation and review. What do you think about pairing the Elac Carina with Parasound 200Pre/275v2 power amplifier combo? I am moving from my Monitor Audio Silver 6 to bookshelf, because of my listening room, and I am considering the Elacs.

I owned the ELAC FS 407 (AMT5). It was a good speaker for certain types of music but lacked the "sparkle" of the Canton Reference series. If you enjoy that little extra decay of notes especially for piano I wouldn't recommend the AMT type tweeter..It also gives a shorter height sound stage wide yet short if standing vs. sitting it was noticeable..

You need to try a set of original Hiel AMT's from yore. They have never been matched since.

I read the review from CNET that he sourced a different folded tweeter from the one the company typically uses to keep costs down, so it may not be exactly the same as the one in the Vela. What does that mean? Material/Sound are lower quality?

I'm looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers when I use my desktop computer and these get very good reviews. 2 important questions: a) how's its near-field performance? and b) most importantly, since you said these are bottom-ported and need to be placed directly on desktop without any stand/foam, my ears will be above the speakers when I sit in my chair. Would that be a problem? Thanks and great review as always!

You mentioned that you listened near field. For desktop listening it's either the Kanto TUK or the Elac Carina bs243.4 - My amp can provide 45W RMS of clean power. Is this enough to drive them and how do they compare to the Kanto TUKs - both using ribbon tweeters? The active speakers use class D amps so it may be too bright? Your thoughts?

If you get a chance to hear the Wharfdale EVO line I would love to hear your view. Seems like it has the hardware to be a extremely transparent speaker line for the price. Thanks again for the uploads, keep it up!

Elac Carina are so elegant😍

How would you say the Carina pairs with class D amps?

I wonder how these compare to Martin Logan Motion 35 speakers?

helpful suggestion on placing it on the table.

Hi where can i buy these elac bookshelf speakers in canada?

So, is it somewhat holographic or some may say 3D as it has the new tweeter? If the carina is up a notch compare to UB5 on soundstage, but still have the warm signature of the UB5, then it’s a solid yes for me

Hello wich one is better for soundstage and quality song elac vela or Carina ? I will have better song with one of them if i change my sonus faber sonetto 2 ?

Nice comparison. What amp were you using? Are both speakers 6 ohms? thanks

Hello, near field good? Thank you.

my worry about these 2 way system vs my 3 way speakers (kef r300) if the woofer is fast as hell...i like listen metal and that is very important, i can't hear this and the vela

Is the Vela twice as good ($$$) as the Carina?

Great video, though I think the biggest difference with a coaxial driver is the lack of vertical lobing. Ribbons are horrible, and two ways are bad for this. If you move your head up and down nearfield, you can hear the soundstsage and frequency response fall apart. Also, the Navis has superior crossovers, and you can bump the lows, mids,or highs up or down a bit. I'll have to listen to these, but for soundstage stability vertically and crossover wise, these have inherent disadvantages compared to an active coaxial speaker. (I had the Navis and enjoyed it nearfield besides the port chuffing on some songs. Returned it and have a Genelec 8260 now that I'm happy with that can play flat from 18hz to 20khz+ in a room, and has incredible dispersion.)

hi, Jay, I bought 243.4. and i thank you to remind the speaker shall stand direct on platform withoit any buffer in below. without your suggestion i might never imaging a shock absorber will be roblem. this speaker have to stand direct o the table.

Hey Jay, new subscriber here! So far you’re the only RU-vidr reviewing these more ‘expensive’ speakers. I can absolutely benefit from that because I’m thinking of upgrading to a more refined set of speakers. I currently own the UB5 UF5 2.0 (tower speakers). They sound absolutely lovely, but now I think it’s time for me to take it up a notch. I did consider the Vela’s but they are more expensive. Might just go with the Carina’s. Anyways, thank you and keep up the great work!

The port design on the Vela is called fixed boundary loading fyi.

How would these work for a nearfield setup? Could I put this on my desk?

Hi. I wanted to let you know that the Solono in the Elam line is getting awesome reviews! I was wondering what you are hearing?

ELAC MUITO bons produtos de alta fidelidade de qualidade e preços aconselho vivamente este produto muito bom mesmo espetacular incrível mesmo garantia absoluta de altíssima qualidade abraço

Is the Carina floorstanders also designed by Andrew Jones?

Just found a cracking offer on ebay / new in black for 380€!!! 440usd

Hey there, Any idea about the Elac BS 243 old version. How good are those speakers ? A guy is selling the old version and I am thinking if its going to be a good buy or not : www.whathifi.com/elac/bs243/review

Looking at the specs and some videos of the woofer on the Vela, it seems that is superior for bass response. Vela goes down to 41hz. Carina goes down to 46hz.

Hi i was set on ACT SCM11 or Buschardt s400 , but then i saw your review on the ELAC Vela BS403 and that threw a spanner in the works 😂, now i'm leaning towards Elac Vela BS403, i run m&k v12 subwoofer don't really think i need the Buschardts s400 as i already have bass from the subwoofer. I like to ask a few questions about Elac Vela BS403, do they need a lot of space behind them or can the be placed closer to a wall without affecting sound. Do Elac BS403 work as nearfield speakers? When you tested the ELAC vela BS403 did you use single wire or bi-wire? Thanks for all the videos been relesed recently 👍, i will also be keeping eye out for the written reviews

Try out Elac BS-312!

Price point?

This was reviewed (with measurements) in the latest edition of stereophile. Their sensitivity is almost as bad as MBL's speakers.

😄 he sabotaged his Carinas w/those pads I jus want premium-ish bookshelfs that look good in my space & these in white are 😍

Hey you forgot the link to the sound-absorbing material

You'll be alright if you what do you use foam or the pucks just place it on a inch thick piece of plywood make sure it's sticking out the back of a couple inches then you won't have your problem it might find just sticking it on some Blu-Tack flat that will help but not take away the bass

Please Elac vela vs buchardt 400 on The Way to bye one or The other

Someone told me that the Elac Vela only perfom well with loud volumes and are overall extremly exhausting to listen to. Is this true? And are you planning to do a comparision between the Elac, Kef and Buchardt?

How do these compare vs the Adante?

Hey man nice reviews, but we need more information. Like you barely talked about bass, soundstage width and depth. Carina reach 46db while Vela 40hz. Isnt that should be noticable? I never seen Bookshelf with such low reach like vela.

Compare to Buchardt S400's.

Sorbotane

The Carina does Not use a Jet tweeter. Elac calls it Jet-like folded AMT. Only German Elac speakers use the original Jet 5 tweeter.

So strange. I had the Carina home for 2 weeks. I found the sound very good, but my uni ub5 i still like more. Half the price. So in contrast to ub5 what im saying i guess is that i had an even higher hope for the Carina. This was tested with a primaluna dialouge premium amp. Ub5 is something really special.

2:09 „It has a hole at the bottom with an opening.“ Well, did you ever see a hole without an opening? 😉

Count the really really, Little bits 🤪

"there was a lack of bass, especially in the bass region." and if you want to seal it like the Vela, just add a small piece of plexi under the port on top of the pucks. Problem solved.

After listening and ready a lot of these Elac reviews, I’m becoming a little bit sceptical!

We all need a hole at the bottom 💨

Jet=AMT. No operational difference, just marketing

What the heck!?!!!!..

Andrew Jones speakers are over rated, I prefer the non AJ Elac better.

haha ribbon? dam and me who thought you knew your stuff! this an AMT tweeter not a ribbon better fix your title.

Elac offers waaay to much. It turns me off intellectually.

Too many words, any music through these lovely speakers NONE.

If you have more $$ to spend better go elsewhere