If you’re short on time and just want the highlights of this article, here it is:
In summary, the ELAC Carina BS243.4 2-Way Bookshelf Speakers are decent bookshelf speakers that deliver balanced stereo sound with detail and clarity. The soundstage could be wider, the bass punchier, and the treble smoother, but overall it does a good job and you can expect a wide range of audio in the output. The speakers offer good connectivity with 3.5mm auxiliary input and Bluetooth capability, making it easy to connect your devices and stream audio wirelessly. The speakers are easy to setup and would make a good choice for people who are looking for a decent set of bookshelf speakers at a reasonable price.
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Now let’s get to its bolts and nuts.
ELAC Carina BS243.4 Review: Sound quality
Let me tell you something right off the bat.
The sound quality performance you'll end up getting from a speaker will always depend on your room acoustics - particularly room dimensions and speaker positions.
The impact of the combination of these two is actually so strong that in most cases, it doesn't even make sense to utter a single word on sound quality without speaking of them.
This is also why it's not unusual to see completely different reviews of the same speaker.
In one case the speaker might be placed in a sweet spot inside the room and hence the user might be satisfied. In other cases the same speaker might be ill placed and hence user might even have returned it.
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The point most people miss here is that it mostly isn't even about the engineering behind the speaker itself. It's about where you place the speaker inside which room.
So, in order to solve this problem, I've partnered with Acoustics and Audio Engineering PhD Andrea Cicero from AC Acustica and created Soundton - a simple, 2D, browser accessible online speaker placement calculator.
With Soundton, now there's a way to figure the sound quality of most speakers before you buy them.
Read more about its working principles at soundton.com.
The end colormap provides you the locations with the best (green) and worst (red) acoustics.