Elac Debut 2.0 5.1 Home Theatre System

Outstanding performers don’t always combine to best effect. Take the star-studded England midfield of the mid-2000s, for example; world-class individuals whose achievements amounted to far less than the sum of their parts. In hi-fi terms, it’s especially true of home cinema packages, where the individual speaker elements may be impressive in their own right, but might not gel together.

The Elac Debut 2.0 5.1 Home Theatre System has at least six such elements – the Elac Debut 2.0 F5.2 floorstanding front speakers and the Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2 standmounter surrounds are both five-star rated, but with a centre and a sub too, does the whole package come together in a class-leading performance?

The Elac Debut 2.0 speakers have been redesigned from the original Debut range of 2016. The internals of the MDF cabinets and the drivers have changed, but what hasn’t is their understated class.

The build is more solid thanks to the internal MDF bracing, which adds stiffness and strength, and reduces unwanted vibrations. The drivers are a step on too. The new silk-dome tweeters have a wide-roll surround that lifts the frequency response up to 35khz for more realistic reproduction at the top of the range. The woofer cones are made from a woven aramid-fibre; Elac’s choice of compromise between the clarity of stiffness and the damping needed to stop unwanted resonance.

Works a treat

These treats come housed in the Elac Debut 2.0 F5.2 floorstanding fronts, two Elac B5.2 standmounters and the C5.2 centre speaker. The floorstanders are fitted with four drivers apiece – a 25mm silk dome tweeter and three 13cm woofers, plus there are three rear-firing reflex ports for a deeper push.

The bookshelf surrounds come with a tweeter and single woofer with the reflex port at the front to make positioning less crucial. The Elac C5.2 centre speaker also has front-facing ports; two within its cabinet, one at either end alongside the single tweeter and dual-woofer combo.

There are also Elac Debut 2.0 A4.2 Dolby Atmos modules, available at an extra £250 per pair. These fit on both the front and surround speakers and turn your 5.1 set-up into a 5.2.1 system with overhead sound for any height effects in Dolby Atmos-compatible films.

Lastly, the Elac SUB3010 subwoofer is a 36cm tall box, weighing 14.5kg, with a 25cm long-throw driver. There are no volume controls, instead use the Elac SUB Control smartphone app to alter the volume by Bluetooth or let it use your mobile’s microphone to determine the best EQ settings for the sub.

We sit down with Martin Scorcese’s classic boxing opera Raging Bull and right from the off, this package is a knockout. As Intermezzo from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana pours through the front speakers, the orchestral strings soar through the room and the hairs on the back of our necks stand up.

The audio is a touch bright and grainy, but we sit agog as Jake Lamotta ducks and weaves on the canvas. What we hear is more refined than either the Missions or the Qs. Punches thump on contact or swing and miss with threatening weight. The calls from the baying crowd come from all around as the boxers turn – and we’re standing in the ring amongst it all.

Delightfully balanced image

What’s astonishing is the realism of the soundscape. These aren’t effects picked and placed in one of six carefully positioned speakers as you get with the more raw Q Acoustics; instead, it’s a delightfully balanced audio image – not as forward or aggressive as some of the other packages here. The Elacs are subtle and balanced with no part of the frequency range dominant, but still snappy and crisp. It’s easy and transparent, but capable of warmth too.

We try out the Dolby Atmos speakers on the front floorstanders with The Predator, and there’s an excellent sense of height as the growls and echoed taunts of the titular alien dance over our heads. The roof of the audio dome is still very much at the front end of our space, and it’s obvious that a set of four of these would be well worth the extra outlay – adding a subtlety to your home cinema experience that’s impossible not to like.

Their silky sound production creates the kind of wonderfully open and detailed soundstage that true cinema sound is about. They put you in the heart of the action so succinctly that you almost forget about the speakers.

This Elac package is a real matchwinner, whether for the two-channel or full surround. Just a pity they weren’t around for the World Cup in 2006.