Elac Vela VBS 403 (Pair)

Elac BS 403 marks the entry into the 400 line, but don’t be fooled by the compact dimensions. In small to medium-sized rooms, the 2-way, bass-reflex construction delivers a playback that won’t let you miss a single nuance. An impressive example of how design and functionality can be reconciled.

Excellent signal fidelity at any volume level and a breathtakingly deep bass response thanks to the newly developed bass and midrange chassis. Combined with the JET 5, the 400 Series speakers deliver a performance that leaves no doubt that a new acoustic milestone has been set for speakers in this class.

JET 5 Tweeter

The ELAC JET Tweeter is one of the most legendary tweeters and has achieved world-wide fame with its exceptionally transparent and effortless sound reproduction. It is the perfecting of the famous Air Motion Transforme, a meander-folded film membrane driven by a strong magnet system made of neodymium rods.

This drive moves the air much faster than with the heavier piston diaphragm technology. The result is high efficiency and exceptional dynamics. With a wrinkle width of only 0.84mm, the production of the JET requires precision above all.

Manufacturing

To ensure consistent quality even with larger quantities, Elac partially automate the production. The gluing and handling are now carried out by three SCARA robots. The absolutely reliable precision of the robot during gluing and handling is thus the ideal complement to irreplaceable manual work. Thanks to continuous development, the JET III tweeter effortlessly plays airily and transparently without resonance up to 50,000 Hz and, with its maximum linear frequency response, is particularly suitable for playing DVD-A and SACD.

Crystal membranes

The surface of the crystal membrane immediately catches the eye and is more than an attractive design feature. The patent-pending crystal membranes are manufactured in the tried-and-tested aluminum sandwich design AS developed by ELAC. In a special bonding process, a 0.125 mm thick and crystal-embossed aluminum foil is connected to a pulp cone to form a sandwich membrane.

The embossing stiffens the dome-shaped membrane shape significantly, which again noticeably improves the partial vibration behavior, the discoloration-free and precision and in particular the large-signal behavior of the aluminum sandwich construction. This technique extends the transmission range and the double-asymmetric surround allows an even larger stroke for even greater headroom and a rich bass foundation. For a chassis of this size, such large deflections are a unique feat.

Down-firing chassis

Speakers with downfiring have a bass reflex port or woofer on the bottom of the speaker. At a defined distance to this is the bottom plate, which is bolted via spacers fixed to the housing bottom. The use of flow-optimized double-sided rounded bass reflex tubes is a matter of course.

Magnetically held frame

The fabric-covered cover frame to protect the speaker chassis on the baffle is magnetically held. For this purpose, the cover is only briefly led in front of the baffle of the speaker until the magnetic attraction is felt. The frame is then tightened and centered automatically in the middle of the baffle. To protect the baffle from scratches and for noise-free coupling felt pads are on the cover frame. Visually, the baffle is thus completely free of stringing frame bushings or other recordings.