FINALLY! A More Affordable Speaker with HDMI ARC! - ELAC ConneX DCB41 Review 

I appreciate you saying that! 🙏 I almost don't understand how someone can't just be honest about something, it's built into my core I guess. I was offered to co-design a speaker before and the person asked if that would be crossing the line. I told them I would review it like I would any other speaker and if it sucked, I would just say so! On a personal level, I figure it's better to know your own weaknesses rather than have someone else point them out for you. 😊

@@joentell after doing this for awhile now, all viewers should be able to see your honesty in your reviews. You have no issue with pointing out the good and the bad of a product. I personally have made several purchases after watching your reviews. You shouldn't have to do the disclosure by now, but if you don't, a hater or two....or three are bound to pop up. Regardless, Joe thank you for what you do. I appreciate it if no one else does.

@@troystevens9506 the disclosure is actually a legal requirement set by the FTC. There are reviewers in our space who refuse to do it, but that's on them.

Yeah, I didn't rush it. These powered speakers have so many features, I want to be able to put the speaker through its paces and try it in different rooms before I make a judgement.

Which TV did you have it connected to? Just in case it's a common issue. I didn't have that issue.

@@joentell LG OLED 2020. Set to PCM; CEC turned on; etc. etc. And don't even think of switching from HDMI2 to 3 or vice versa, that seemed to confuse it even more. Why can't companies just test these things before they release them? And there's no excuse for not explaining how XBass is supposed to work (I noticed no difference).

Damn, that’s disappointing

ARC allows the TV remote to control the volume of the speaker. In some cases it can turn stuff on/off also.

@@joentell I have two Pulse 2i’s. One is connected to my TV via optical cable. The other is connected to the first via WiFi. I control the volume with my TV remote. What’s the advantage of having a HDMI Arc in this case? Thanks.

Mainly if you want to use ARC, otherwise, I would save up for an SVS 3000 Micro, a UMIK-1 and a miniDSP 2x4HD. With those things, you could calibrate your system to sound AWESOME!

@@joentell I returned them because they were distorting and crackling at certain high frequencies. Ended up getting Adam T5V instead. You should review some studio monitors!

@@olivrrrr I have reviewed some. Have you seen my latest video about Top 5 speakers for the desktop? The top 3 were studio monitors.

@@joentell will check it out!

It depends on what you consider good sound. I like bass extension and an overall neutral response. I've never heard those active Triangles, but I did review the Triangle LN01A and I didn't love it, but maybe the others are better. In the video I mentioned that the Klipsch have more deep bass extension. These may have a brighter top-end response relative to the bass, which is crazy to say considering Klipsch is kind of known for that.

@@joentell Thank you very much for your reply! Probably, I will manage to demo both the Fives and those 3 Triangles in a couple of days! I will come back with my impressions!

Thank you sir! 🙏

Thank you! The lighting is a bit harsh, but it was a quick setup, so I was willing to take that trade-off. 😁

Yeah, tough to compete for the desktop/studio space at this price point when something like the Kali Audio LP-6 v2 and In-5's exist. The ability to use HDMI ARC in addition to the other connections is its USP unique selling proposition.

None of them have HDMI input, though. That’s what separates this from those.

I'm with you on that!

I get where you're coming from hence why I said I wished they were priced even more aggressively. It might not be fair to compare these to refurbished speakers though, but I've seen The Fives on sale for around $500.

@@joentell probably not fair to Elac to compare to refurbished, but it's fair to the consumer if they have the option. Anyway, the main point is The Fives offer a better feature set for the same current MSRP.

@@RickRalstonAsumendi at their current sale price of $459, I would agree that The Fives offer a more compelling value proposition. amzn.to/3M3ozJb

I really appreciate you saying that! I understand that some people might be skeptical about any type of relationship between manufacturers and reviewers. I think it's best to leave it up to the viewer to decide if they're comfortable with that. For me, it's just easier to be transparent. I'm human, and I tend to become friends with people/companies I work with. I let companies, know that my integrity and the trust of my viewers is of utmost importance. If they're not ok with that, they should not have me review their stuff! :-) Luckily, most of these companies are super cool, and they know I don't mean harm if I'm critical of their stuff. I want them to make better stuff for consumers, and that will lead to more sales for them in the long run. If something is terrible, I suggest to them to stop producing the product for their sake and the consumer's sake. They don't always listen, but sometimes they do. I have personal preferences, like the love of bass ;-), that are subjective. I let the audience know, though. It's all about being open. It's not that hard. I'm surprised when other reviewers seem to have a difficult time with it. It's actually easier to me.

Affordability is subjective, isn't it? It doesn't necessarily mean inexpensive or cheap. It means it's something someone with a median income could possibly afford. With so many people walking around with $1000+ smartphones, I think it's safe to say it's possible to afford this. Whether it's a good value and something someone will WANT To afford, is a whole different topic. I don't think even ELAC would argue with me in saying that a smartphone has a lot more features, but they're not in the smartphone business, and I don't specialize in reviewing smartphones. :-) I think The Fives are currently it's #1 contender, and I've posted in another comment that it's a tough sell considering The Fives are currently on sale at $459 compared to its original $799 MSRP. I mentioned it in my video also.

@@joentell Yeh saying something is "affordable" does not mean you're saying it's THE best value item on the market & I think it's fair to say most people on a 1st world country average wage can afford $600 for a pair of speakers.

@@northeastcorals I get it though. When I first started I would've thought anything over $100 for speakers was expensive. 😁 The $499 I spent on the ELAC UB5's was a splurge. It's not lost on me that this is expensive for some folks, old me included.

​@@joentell I absolutely agree, just sayin folks shouldn't get bent out of shape if you say somethings "affordable" when it can realistically be in an average full time wage earners budget as I don't think you can't really base it on anything more inclusive as that. But there will always be somebody who complains regardless so it doesn't really matter 😅

Thanks. I think I reviewed those Monolith MM5-R's. I prefer the ELAC to those. They had good bass but had amplifier hiss. If I remember correctly, the response was less neutral as well.

Check my latest video! 😉

The Fives are currently on sale, but I'm not sure how long that will last

They respect my integrity and I would be surprised to see any areas where they would disagree with my assessment. My review methods haven't changed. I've been critical of their past speakers also as I have with every speaker I review. No speaker is perfect. I don't know why you think they wouldn't be happy with me specifically. They made the product and I'm sure they understood the tradeoffs they had to make prior.

That was a happy accident. I can't take credit for it. LOL! Someone else mentioned it and I had to re-watch it.

Now that the updated Apple TV 4K support hdmi arc and Dolby atmos, seems a reasonable completion between them. They will be good for both Audio music and movies I guess

It's tough to say going off memory. I would have to look at graphs. The Pioneer is a significantly larger cabinet though, so I would assume that would naturally have deeper bass, but the Xbass at the max setting might compensate for that difference.

That was an accident. LOL

I use mine for that specific purpose

I use these regularly, but with HDMI. No sync issue. I don't recall an issue via USB though.

Trash amp inside, hiss is an issue of the past on decent class D solutions today. SNR wont be great with audible hiss.

You may be jumping to conclusions on the "trash amp" comment. I didn't say it had a lot of hiss. It turns off so quickly, it's hard to notice. I also had my ear right up against the speaker. I would have to measure it or listen to it next to a known quiet amp like the one on my Kali Audio LP6-v2.

The day we see Joe say there's too much bass from a speaker will feel weird because he's always like I need more haha 😂

@@TylerStout lol. There's definitely such a thing as too much bass, even if it's clean, smooth bass. It can overpower higher frequencies. Most speakers aren't close to that threshold. You need subs to reach that level.

Just do a conversion using Google. That's what I do when it's the other way around

I would love to find out.

SVS is about to launch the Prime Wireless Pro (eventually), which would be more of a direct competitor. The existing Prime Wireless doesn't have HDMI. They're supposed to send me a set due to some long-standing issues I've had with the Prime Wireless, but I'm not holding my breath. They're still calling the ones they're showing publicly "prototypes".

I think it's a good idea.

Very different. Take a look at my review of The Fives and compare the frequency response graphs. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7_GSnL4klQY.html

@@joentell I've not heard either but in researching price i saw the Klipsch for $459.99 or $140 less than the ELAC. I'm shopping for a friend so it may come down to the lower cost and his budget.

@@scruffy8861 Klipsch have more deep bass extension and real wood veneer.

@@joentell I think we know where this is going.👍

@@scruffy8861 Aesthetics and bass are important to me personally. Some people might value other aspects more. I try to give people the information they need to make the best decisions for themselves.

What’s your argument? HDMI arc is a messy protocol. It’s a bit glitchy from time to time.

Unfortunately, it's necessary when you want to use these on a new TV. They often don't have analog or digital/optical output options anymore.

@@joentell Seems ridiculous, so you have to use the DAC in the speaker. Also just the cable is massive overkill for audio and a waste

@@iamyila I didn't make it up. I prefer analog outputs on a TV but a lot of the new ones just simply don't have it. I also like headphone jacks on my phone...

@@joentell I don't care about headphone Jacks, since there's no extra stage of DAC. But if i was a hifi home cinema guy, I'd want to control my DAC point, therefore I wouldn't want to send digitial audio to a speaker with some WACK DAC ;)