Short answer: the ELAC DF63. It ranks #25 of 54 floorstanding speakers by sound quality at $649; the Magnepan LRS+ ranks #48 and costs $1300, so there is not much of a tradeoff to weigh.
What the ELAC DF63 offers: Three-driver floorstanding layout: two 6” dedicated midbase drivers plus a separate 6” mid-range driver (confirmed by measuring different driver impedance/inductance) and a 1” dome tweeter, each woofer given its own stuffed… Watch for: A genuine measured resonance around 200-300Hz (visible in frequency response, impedance, and group delay) causes an audible “droning” coloration on female vocals.
What the Magnepan LRS+ offers: Thin, two-way planar-magnetic open-baffle/dipole panel design (about 48” tall, just 1” deep). Watch for: Extremely current-hungry and power-hungry: even a pair of 600W Macintosh monoblock amplifiers only averaged about 90dB output - a robust, high-power amplifier is essentially mandatory, and budget amps won’t cut it.
Buy the ELAC DF63. It ranks higher for sound quality than the Magnepan LRS+ and costs less, so there is no real case for the other one.
If sound quality matters at all to you, skip the Magnepan LRS+. It ranks near the bottom of the 54 floorstanding speakers, so look higher up the list instead.
Specifications Side By Side
| ELAC DF63 | Magnepan LRS+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $649.00 | $1300 |
| Ranked | #25 of 54 in Large Size Floorstanding Speakers | #48 of 54 in Large Size Floorstanding Speakers |
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 29Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 67Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 71Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 74Hz (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 43.1"H x 7.7"W x 10.6"D (1094.7 x 195.6 x 269.2 mm) | 48"H x 13.5"W x 1"D (1219.2 x 342.9 x 25.4 mm) |
| Impedance | 6 ohms nominal (3.4 ohms minimum, measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Drivers | Two 6.5" Aramid Fiber woofer, 6.5" Aramid Fiber midrange, 1" Aluminum Dome tweeter | Full-range planar magnetic dipole panel (48" tall x 13.5" wide); quasi-ribbon design, two-way with separate mid/bass and tweeter ribbon sections |
| Sensitivity | 86.6dB (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) | 85.1dB (measured, Erin’s Audio Corner) |
| Weight | 58.2 lbs / 26.4 kg each | 30 lbs / 13.6 kg |
| Woofer Cabinet | ported, rear | open baffle |
Related Speaker Comparisons
More useful head-to-heads from the same speaker class:
- Polk Audio Reserve R700 vs Polk Reserve R500
- Revel Concerta2 F35 vs Polk Reserve R500
- Monolith Encore T6 vs JBL Stage 2 280F
- Magnepan LRS+ vs JBL Studio 698
- Polk Reserve R500 vs Magnepan LRS+
The Two Speakers In Full
ELAC DF63: $649.00 Amazon
Pros: Three-driver floorstanding layout: two 6” dedicated midbase drivers plus a separate 6” mid-range driver (confirmed by measuring different driver impedance/inductance) and a 1” dome tweeter, each woofer given its own stuffed chamber inside the cabinet. The dedicated midrange driver keeps distortion low even at higher output, avoiding the intermodulation grain typical of two-way bookshelf designs. The waveguide keeps high-frequency directivity well controlled, and overall horizontal directivity is good up to about 2kHz. Harmonic distortion looks good at both 86dB and 96dB, and multitone distortion stays below the reviewer’s 3% threshold. A shallow bass rolloff (F3 71Hz, F10 29Hz) lets it extend fairly low without a hard cutoff. Preferred by the reviewer over the similarly-priced Polk R500 (too much high-frequency narrowing, less neutral) and considered ahead of the Polk R700 as well.
Cons: A genuine measured resonance around 200-300Hz (visible in frequency response, impedance, and group delay) causes an audible “droning” coloration on female vocals. A mild peak around 10kHz makes shakers and similar high-frequency percussion jump too far forward in the mix; needed about 2dB of EQ to tame in testing. A dip in the 1-3kHz range gives the speaker a warm, slightly veiled character - the reviewer suspects the tweeter crossover point (around 2-3kHz) is set a bit high and could be lowered to fill this in. Directivity shows a noticeable handoff mismatch around 2.5kHz where the midrange driver hands off to the tweeter, though it’s minor at the -6dB point. Vertical directivity is narrower than horizontal, so listeners need to stay close to the tweeter axis. Low EPDR (about 1.5 ohms minimum) means a Class AB amplifier should be well-ventilated. Best positioned pointed directly at the listener and closer to the front wall - toeing it out into the room causes too much high-frequency rolloff.
Full ELAC DF63 review and specifications →
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 29Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
|---|---|
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 71Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 43.1"H x 7.7"W x 10.6"D (1094.7 x 195.6 x 269.2 mm) |
| Drivers | Two 6.5" Aramid Fiber woofer, 6.5" Aramid Fiber midrange, 1" Aluminum Dome tweeter |
| Impedance | 6 ohms nominal (3.4 ohms minimum, measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Sensitivity | 86.6dB (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Weight | 58.2 lbs / 26.4 kg each |
| Woofer Cabinet | ported, rear |
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Magnepan LRS+: $1300 Magnepan
Pros: Thin, two-way planar-magnetic open-baffle/dipole panel design (about 48” tall, just 1” deep). Delivers a uniquely dramatic and enveloping soundstage with genuinely three-dimensional depth effects that work across all music genres, not just classical or orchestral material as commonly assumed. Extremely tight, locked-in center-phantom imaging when set up correctly. Open-baffle design avoids the “boxy” enclosure coloration of conventional cabinet speakers. Multitone distortion is remarkably consistent from low to high frequency, a characteristic the reviewer hasn’t observed in conventional cone-and-dome speakers. Compression at high output stays modest (about 0.5-1dB) through the midrange and treble, giving roughly 20-26dB of usable dynamic range in that region. At its price, a strong contender for a dedicated secondary listening room, even if not a main-system replacement.
Cons: Extremely current-hungry and power-hungry: even a pair of 600W Macintosh monoblock amplifiers only averaged about 90dB output - a robust, high-power amplifier is essentially mandatory, and budget amps won’t cut it. Bass rolls off very quickly (F3 74Hz, F10 67Hz, described as falling off “like a rock”), making a subwoofer an absolute requirement for any low-end content. A roughly 3dB dip in the mid-bass (100-300Hz) region thins out vocal body and fullness compared to a conventional bookshelf speaker. A resonance/bump around 400Hz adds a mild boxy quality, though it responds well to about 2dB of EQ correction. Extraordinarily fussy about exact positioning - both seating height (must align with the acoustic reference point between the panel’s lower tie-down points) and horizontal aiming are unusually critical; moving just a couple of inches can cause treble content above roughly 500-600Hz to nearly vanish. Distinct off-axis cancellation zones exist directly to the sides of the panel, where very little sound is audible at all. Fails badly under extreme dynamic-transient testing in the bass, and the reviewer blew fuses pushing the speaker during testing - not built for high-volume or highly dynamic playback. A genuinely different category from conventional hi-fi speakers, requiring more setup patience and experimentation than a typical monopole design.
Full Magnepan LRS+ review and specifications →
| Bass Extension (-10dB) | 67Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
|---|---|
| Bass Extension (-3dB) | 74Hz (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Dimensions | 48"H x 13.5"W x 1"D (1219.2 x 342.9 x 25.4 mm) |
| Drivers | Full-range planar magnetic dipole panel (48" tall x 13.5" wide); quasi-ribbon design, two-way with separate mid/bass and tweeter ribbon sections |
| Impedance | 4 ohms nominal, 3 ohms minimum (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Sensitivity | 85.1dB (measured, Erin's Audio Corner) |
| Weight | 30 lbs / 13.6 kg |
| Woofer Cabinet | open baffle |
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