Elipson Heritage XLS 15 Speaker Review & Comments

Well, that was a blast from the past!

It is funny how the whole concept of "retro" works, isn't it? That something "old" can somehow be "new" and relevant and desirable.

I do think it's very brave of you to not only review something like this, which is probably niche at best, but enjoy and celebrate it too. And when it comes to speakers, yes, size does matter, even with the sonic compromises that can accompany this.

And if a picture can say a thousand words, your first image in the review of the PMC on top of the Beast pretty much says it all - this is what you are getting and this is what you can expect.

I would suggest that these are designed for a more relaxing listen, not for anything too hard-driving or busy, and also someone of a certain demographic maybe? My only criticism is its appellation - I thought it was a 15" driver, not a 12", as that's how most manufacturers tend to identify their speakers.

Regardless, even though I would never buy a pair of speakers like these, I'm still very glad they exist.:)
 
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Still undecided on the looks but I would think they look strange with a bung poking out. Also would it not be sonically better if they were a mirror image of each other rather than 2 singles? And finally get those heating pipes boxed in man.
 
I'm strangely drawn to them... it has a "Aye, I'm a speaker, what's the problem?" menacing sort of honesty to it...

The divorce would be as swift as the headsman's axe mind....
 
I'm hugely drawn to them! Have always liked the look of speakers like this but have always been put off by both price point, and having somewhere to fit them in.

The looks, performance and price of these look good. Still doesn't resolve the fact I've nowhere to fit them in :)
 
They remind me of my mate's Wharfdale kit speakers from the 80s - monsters. They sounded quite good too.
 
Not sold on the looks to be honest, although looks always take a back seat to performance for me when choosing speakers.
Or women for that matter.
In fact these look like one of my many failed attempts to build my own.
Great review though.
 
Not sold on the looks to be honest, although looks always take a back seat to performance for me when choosing speakers.
Or women for that matter.
In fact these look like one of my many failed attempts to build my own.
Great review though.
You build your own women? Sweet!

Andy
 
I could never own these even if I have space for them. My OCD would prevent me from having the asymmetrical speakers. Unless they're mass produced with specific machinery or tooling, how hard it could be to make them symmetrical or perhaps it would be uneconomical without a too great a price increase.
 
To my mind just need the front baffle rotating through 180 deg, buy I know nothing about speaker manufacturing.
 
As you say, it’s no mean feet to get a 12 inch driver behaving itself up to 700Hz, I would also add it’s no mean feet for a dome (tweeter style) to go down to 700Hz. The speakers of the era that this harks back to usually had a mid driver with a large excursion.
Anyone remember the KEF B110?
 
After just purchasing a completely refurbished pair of kef reference 105 3‘s all I can say is these look fairly small and could easily equate to the PMC comparison if they were placed on top of my Kef’s. Although the combination would be about 8 feet tall.

The sort of soundstage and omph you describe is very similar to what I have experienced with my recent acquisition.

Unfortunately for reasons of marriage preservation I am moving my new speakers on, but at least I have experienced something sound wise that I remember from listening to these old classic designs in the 80’s and 90’s
 
They remind me of an old pair of 5 way Kenwood speakers I used to have when I was a teenager. The Kenwoods were probably slighly bigger though. :)
 

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