Rega ELA mk II's

Posted by: wal riley on 29 April 2002

Just obtained a pair of these mighty midgets, (I have admired them for a few years now) and was hoping for some advice as to best placement for them, 'cos my last pair of speakers took about 4-5 months to get right - I don't think i'll have the patience this time! Needless to say, they don't work as well in the positions the original speakers took, which was 9 feet apart, about 5 foot each from the listener, and firing across my living room rather than down it. They were also about 18" from the rear wall. They will be on the end of a Rega Planet and Electrocompaniet ECI-2, connected using 5 metres of NACA5. Any clues 'cos at the mo' they're still sounding a bit gutless and shouty and i've heard them do much better than this!

Posted on: 29 April 2002 by Chris Brandon

Hi Wal

Having used them for some time,all I can say is that there are no hard and fast rules about placement.

I rang Rega on this subject and was told that they are pretty unfussy about placement,on the whole this seems to be true,but the literature stated "hard against a solid wall","No toe-in".

After much experimentation,I ended up with a few inches out from the back wall with a slight toe-in.

In my case,this cleared the chimney breast and reduced the interaction between the Ela's and the false sound-proofing / neighbour freindly rear wall I installed. Unfortunatly the arrangement I have does speakers no favours ! (I effectivly battened and sheeted creating lots of little "sound transmitting pins" and the construction itself,whist decent in quality,is not conducive to good sounds...DOH !!!! ...you live and learn on these things !

But,as always,experimentation is the key !(...and yes,they are well worth the effort !)

At this point I must say that initial impressions upon getting them home were not very good at all ! They seemed lifeless,but after a couple of weeks,Bingo !

Use the search facility,there are a few postings about Ela's. ( Unless you are into Dub-Reggie,or Bass heavy music,I suspect that you will enjoy a very long-term relationship with your Ela's,Tight and Fast,Lean and Mean are the keywords, Not heavy & pounding )

I have never come accross the "Electrocompaniet ECI-2" amp.(or any of their products). It looks interesting,care to give a breif description of it's sound ?

Regards

Chris

(Happy listening !)

Posted on: 29 April 2002 by wal riley

Thanks mate!
I have spent most of the afternoon mucking around with the little blighters and, at last, the sound is coming together. The fact that it only took an afternoon is testament to the quality of them, considering how long it took to get my last speakers sorted. Coincidentally, the final set up arrangement concurred almost exactly with your suggestion, so once again - thanks.
As for the amp, I would say that Electrocompaniet are probably more round earth than flat. The ECI-2 is an integrated 50 watter which, according to the literature, sounds very Densen-like in it's design philosophy, if not in the final sound itself. It's a touch darker and sweeter than most flat earth amps. I find that vocals have a little more weight, and are all the better for it at mid to high volumes, but the amp still has plenty of drive and authority when needed, and for me, was the best compromise between the 'flat' and 'round' philosophies.