Name: ELAC Uni-Fi UC5
Brand: ELAC
SKU: 970UC5
Rating: 5 (22 reviews)

by Crutchfield's Dave Bar

The center of attention

Great home theater sound begins with crisp, clear dialogue and engaging special effects. That means having a top-notch center channel speaker like ELAC's Uni-Fi UC5 in your system. This tidy, unassuming looking speaker packs a real wallop, giving you the power and performance needed to anchor your home theater system's front soundstage to the action on your TV's screen. And since the UC5 was created by renowned speaker design guru Andrew Jones, you can count on true audiophile-quality performance for a steal.

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The center of attention

What's this center channel's secret?

The ELAC concentric driver places its tweeter at the center of its midrange cone for enhanced imaging and clarity.

In part, the UC5 owes its clear, detailed sound to a custom-designed concentric driver. Conventional speakers place the midrange and tweeter in different locations on the front baffle — causing their sound to reach your ears at slightly different times, and smearing subtle details. Instead, the UC5's concentric driver places a 1" soft dome tweeter directly in the center of a 4" aluminum midrange cone. This precise alignment creates a "unified source," ensuring that all frequencies arrive at your ears at the same instant, producing a more coherent and accurate sound.

How about that bass?

The UC5 uses two custom-designed 5-1/4" aluminum cone woofers to supply articulate bass that blends in precisely with the concentric driver. The woofers' large magnets and vented pole pieces increase power handling for bass that's clean, clear, and powerful. Dual rear-firing ports extend bass performance, but keep it tight and tuneful.

Crossovers — the unsung heroes

I don't usually mention a speaker's crossover. That's partly because crossovers are not very glamorous, and to be honest, it's also because many of them aren't really worth mentioning in the first place. But proper crossovers are never an afterthought with a well-designed speaker. In fact, they're one of the most critical elements in any speaker's design and sound, and potentially, one of the most costly.

When Andrew Jones passed around a crossover from one of his Uni-Fi speakers, it was remarkably substantial — chock full of large, high-quality capacitors, precision resistors, and massive copper coils embedded on a heavy PC board with thick copper traces. The fact that ELAC was willing to spend their resources on something that's inside their speakers, where you can't even see it, speaks volumes to the integrity of their designs.

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Product highlights:

true 3-way center channel speaker design
custom-designed 1" soft dome tweeter concentrically mounted in a 4" aluminum cone midrange
two custom-designed 5-1/4" aluminum cone woofers
frequency response: 48-25,000 Hz
sensitivity: 85 dB
impedance: 4 ohms
maximum power input: 140 watts
sophisticated multi-element crossover with high-grade components to ensure smooth transition between drivers
bass-reflex (ported) cabinet design
thick MDF enclosures with internal bracing reduces cabinet vibration that causes unwanted sonic coloration
5-way binding post speaker terminals
magnetically attached cloth grille
black brushed vinyl finish
18-3/4"W x 7-7/8"H x 10-3/4"D
weight: 23.3 lbs.
warranty: 3 years
MFR # UC51-BK

What's in the box:

ELAC Uni-Fi UC5 owner's manual

Center-channel loudspeaker
Grille
Operating Instructions

See the difference between "Open Box" and "Scratch & Dent" Outlet items

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22 reviews

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Researched by Crutchfield's Stacey B.

Features & specs


Enclosure	Bass Reflex
Color	Black
Tweeter Type	Soft-Dome
Tweeter Size (inches)	1
Midrange size (inches)	4
Woofer size (inches)	5-1/4
Connector Type	Post
Power Range	40-140
Sensitivity	85 dB
Impedance (Ohms)	4
Frequency Response	48-25k Hz
Height (inches)	8
Width (inches)	18-13/16
Depth (inches)	12
Weight	23.3 lbs
Wall-mountable	---
Bracket Included	No
Parts Warranty	3 Years
Labor Warranty	3 Years

Product Research

Features

3-Way Speaker Design: The Elac Uni-Fi UC5 center-channel loudspeaker employs a 3-way design with a new in-house developed concentric driver. A 3-way speaker offers many advantages in the design of a full-range system. By assigning dedicated drivers to high, midrange, and bass frequencies, each is optimized for the frequency range for which its design and material composition is best suited. The UC5 center-channel speaker consists of a concentric midrange-tweeter driver for high and midrange frequencies, while two aluminum-cone woofers handle lower-frequency midbass and bass. At the same time, a 3-way speaker allows for a more straightforward crossover and cabinet design.

Custom-Designed Concentric Driver: The Elac Uni-Fi UC5 center-channel loudspeaker employs a concentric driver design, combining the 1" soft-dome tweeter and 4" midrange cone diaphragm within a single voice coil. Because of its ideal time-domain characteristics, a concentric driver design delivers the most coherent and accurate reproduction across the treble and midrange frequency spectrums. Positioning the tweeter concentrically within the midrange voice coil achieves a uniform directivity pattern, for flat frequency response and formidable power handling, along with enhanced imaging for both on- and off-axis listening positions.

Dual Aluminum Woofers: In addition to the concentric midrange-tweeter driver, the Elac Uni-Fi UC5 features two 5.25" aluminum cone woofers. Through the use of aluminum, resonances that affect the linearity of common paper cones can be placed beyond the driver's operating frequency range. An extended size magnet with vented pole piece increases power handling, for accurate reproduction of bass frequencies that are clean, clear and powerful.

Sophisticated Crossover: One secret to the great sound of the Uni-Fi series loudspeaker is the high quality, audio-grade components specified in the manufacture of each custom, 3-way crossover. This careful 3-way crossover design provides a smooth transition between the high, mid, and bass drivers.

Note: Optimal results for the center speaker are obtained by setting your AV receiver's center channel size to small. If given the choice, set the crossover frequency between 50 to 100Hz.

Dual Bass Ports: The Elac UC5 center-channel loudspeaker utilizes a bass reflex enclosure with two rear-firing flared ports for greater efficiency and bigger bass response.

Robust MDF Cabinet: The Uni-Fi speaker enclosure is engineered for the long run with thick MDF outer walls and a luxurious textured vinyl finish. The Uni-Fi series cabinet incorporates specially designed internal bracing to add stiffness and strength to the cabinet's outer walls. This bracing greatly reduces cabinet vibration, which causes unwanted coloration to the sound. ELAC believes that the only parts of a speaker that should be moving are the speaker drivers themselves.

Magnetic Grille: When the protective grille is removed, hidden magnets beneath the surface of the cabinet keeps the front-panel free of attachment holes, for a clean appearance.

Binding Posts: The Elac Uni-Fi series center-channel loudspeaker is fitted with a set of heavy-duty, binding-post terminals which will accept bare-wire (up to 10AWG), pin-connectors, and banana plugs (single only).

Placement & Mounting Options: The center-channel speaker should be placed directly above or below the center of your TV screen. It can rest on a flat surface like a table top, shelf, or stand. Try to keep the center-channel as close to the same level as your front speakers for a more even soundstage. If this is not possible, you might try tilting the center speaker up (if too low) or down (if too high) to aim it towards the listening area. The speaker should be positioned approximately 1' to 2' away from boundaries, such as walls or corners.

Note: The center-channel speaker does not offer wall-mount capability.

Elac Uni-Fi Series: The Elac Uni-Fi series family of loudspeakers consists of a floorstanding loudspeaker, a bookshelf loudspeaker, and a center-channel loudspeaker (all sold separately). All of the Uni-Fi series of speakers feature concentric driver technology. The Uni-Fi series can be the basis of an outstanding two-channel system, or used to build an awe-inspiring multi-channel surround-sound system.

Optional Powered Subwoofer: Add an ELAC powered subwoofer (sold separately) to the Uni-Fi series to bring more bass to your movie and music soundtracks.

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2 questions already asked

This speaker is rated at 4 ohms, which is a bit unusual, especially at this price point(?). How well would my Onkyo TX-RZ620 drive this speaker, as compared to the ELAC C6.2 (8 ohms)? As I understand it, 4 ohms is easier to drive than 8 ohms, but you run a risk of overloading easier?? I don't intend to use ultra-high volumes (most of the time!). Thanks.

jason Mar 10, 2019

5 answers

I use a Onkyo TX-RZ810 with these speakers and it seems that they do demand quite a bit of power from the receiver. I turned the volume settings on the receiver to max, and I still have my volume set to between 60 and 70% when watching a movie or show. That being said they sound great. From my understanding 4 ohms is harder to drive then 8 ohms, and the reviews of these ELAC speakers recommend a higher end receiver.

zachary Mar 16, 2019

You should be able to set your receiver to drive 4 ohm speakers in the speaker configuration menu. The room setup will balance the sound of all your speakers as well. It will work fine.

john Mar 13, 2019

Yes, your will handle the load. Be sure to set at 4 ohm load in the menu. You will be fine. I am really enjoying mine.

gordon Mar 13, 2019

Yes, I do own an Elac Uni-Fi UC5, but I use it with a Denon X3300W. I don't play music extremely loud but I do sometimes play movies pretty loud. I have never had a problem with the receiver overheating. I don't recall if I used the Elac system with the Onkyo receiver or not. I imagine I did. But, I never had a problem with it overheating either. Like you I have read that using a 4 ohm load can cause some amps to overheat. But, in my over 50 years of pretending to be an audiophile I've only had one amp to shut down from overheating. And that was quite a long time ago. I think newer amps are more tolerant of difficult loads.

dennis Mar 13, 2019

The Onkyo TX-RZ620 is a relatively new receiver and capable of 4K/60Hz and HDCP 2.2 so I'm going to offer that it's certainly capable of handling the power and dynamic demand of speakers rated at 4 - 8 ohms. Older receivers and tube model amps might have some issues and certainly could have heat problems but I'd say that any model truly 4k compliant has been designed to provide all the tolerance for variable loads needed by modern speakers. Older speakers were mostly rated 8 ohms but the fact is that music is always dynamic in terms of load with both watts and ohms. This particular receiver is a generously powered model and has plenty of power as stated by the specs. It's rated at 100 watts RMS at 8 ohms and 215 watts at 6 ohms. That's close to a guarantee that it won't even blink with a 4 ohm load. Unless someone with a very technical understanding has an alternative opinion and can offer more insight to this question I'd say your golden with either of the speakers you've mentioned. Most of the Elac line are rated at 6 ohms and you've got a great match in your receiver. Feel confident in purchasing anything in the Elac lineup. BTW I'm not affiliated in any way with Crutchfield or Elac but I do have all of the speakers in the home theater system and at least for my purposes they're amazing in general and perhaps one of the best values in audio to date.

bob Mar 13, 2019

any reason I couldn't stand these on end and use them as mains?

tbone2 Feb 27, 2017

4 answers

I see no reason at all why that wouldn't work.

mark Feb 28, 2017

I am sure you can do anything you want, but why? - according to ELAC materials, you get better frequency response, and more woofers (3 in UF5 vs 2 in UC5) - if budget is a concern, but you want to stay with Unifi line , UB5 is an option with still better frequency response for lower price - if budget is a concern and you are not tied to Unifi line but want Elac, why not Debut speaker line ? in short, there are many alternatives and options depending on what is important to you

simeon Feb 28, 2017

I don't know. I do know that it is an excellent center speaker when paired with the two matching Elac speakers.

martin Feb 28, 2017

It's what I'm doing with mine! Unifi on each end and a unifi center and definitive technology ceiling mounts for back/surround! Sounds great in my small room!

leslie Feb 28, 2017

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