HECO Elementa 700 Review: Simply breathtaking

Tech Week Score
5.0
- Jonas Müller

The Elementa series by Heco (whose name comes from the Latin “Elementum” – “constituent” and “base”) focuses on the fundamentals necessary for the production of a high-quality product and its constituent parts, namely in audio technology: the best materials, innovative technologies in development and production speakers, high-quality and durable enclosures, elegant appearance, without an emphasis on current fashion, and certainly the tradition and experience accumulated by HECO since 1949.

The speakers used in all of the Elementa series speakers are designed with maximum tonal and timbre identity in mind to provide a homogeneous and balanced sound field.

Long-grain paper used in midwoofers provides excellent impulse response, high SPL with minimal distortion. The minimum mass of the moving system allows you to accurately reproduce the music signal fed to the speaker. The use of paper with good damping for the manufacture of diffusers contributes to a very flat frequency response without sharp steps and, accordingly, high timbre accuracy with minimal color.

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Tweeters with a light silk dome, which have the highest damping, like the paper cones in the mid / woofers, have a minimal tonal coloration and are very clear, detailed and airy. Cooling the voice coil with a ferromagnetic liquid, allows it to withstand increased powers. The horn design of the tweeter contributes to the expansion of the radiation pattern and increased efficiency.

The developers of HECO Elementa have also thoroughly approached the design of the new series. All systems have robust MDF enclosures reinforced with spacers inside. The design of Elementa does not have any bright and catchy nuances to match the one-day fashion, on the contrary, their appearance matches the elegant classic style. Expensive matte silk finish and smooth shapes, no grill fasteners on the front panels thanks to the use of magnetic fastening, screw fastening of the FI ports with optimized airflow – all this to achieve a harmonious and sophisticated appearance of the HECO Elementa.

Description of the speaker system HECO Elementa 700

Floor-standing 3-way, the flagship model in the Elementa series, perfect for both a stereo music system and a multichannel cinema system. Equipped with two 170mm long-fiber paper woofers with high-powered voice coils delivering well-articulated and tight bass with great dynamics and scale, one midrange with a light 170mm long-fiber paper cone, clear and natural mids and a highly efficient 28mm tweeter Featuring a silk dome, ferrofluid cooling of the voice coil, and a powerful twin magnet for clear and detailed high frequency reproduction.

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The elegant appearance is ensured by the sturdy MDF cabinet with numerous internal struts and rounded edges in a satin lacquer finish with a silk effect. The speakers are available in white and black. The protective grill has a convenient magnetic fastening, eliminating unnecessary mechanical fastening elements. This has a positive effect on the appearance of the speaker when the grill is removed. Gold-plated encapsulated screw terminals on the back ensure stable contact.

Representatives of the new series are generally conservatives to the core. Recognizable at first glance, “Heck” tweeters with fabric domes with a diameter of 28 mm in class roughly correspond to those installed in Aleva – they are equipped with chiseled bells and a magnetic system of two ferrites. Three traditional drivers with lightweight paper cones complete the picture. In the description of them, however, there is no mention of the use of stiff kraft paper, or of any additives from wool fibers – ordinary long-fiber cellulose is used. Nonetheless, these heads are quite serious – with aluminum baskets and double magnets. Outwardly, they are absolutely the same (even by rubber suspensions, they cannot be distinguished), however, the speaker operating in the mid-frequency link, of course, has other electromechanical parameters. And, perhaps,

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All of the above is housed in simple rectangular MDF cases. They are very voluminous, slightly rounded from the face and well reinforced with internal struts. A smooth semi-gloss black enamel finish instead of traditional vinyl under wood veneer or imitation of piano lacquer can hardly be considered a design delight, but it looks quite solid. Magnetic fastening of anthers without holes on the front panel and large spikes with a notch, screwed through and through into metal platforms – just those little things that make it easier to install and handle acoustics.

The HECO Elementa 700 can be buy-wired or buy-amped. Moreover, if you need to get a rise in frequency response in the upper register (which, for example, is desirable in a congested room), then you should use the third “positive” terminal on the terminal block. From it, the signal will go directly to the tweeter’s crossover, without attenuation, which ultimately will give an increase of 2 dB (at which frequency is not specified). The two rounded ports on the rear can also be used as a subtle tuning tool. If it turns out that one of the bass reflexes (top or bottom) most of all indulges standing waves in the room, then it can be “turned off” with a standard foam plug.

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However, I have not yet covered the main feature of the HECO Elementa 700. Inexpensive three-stripes, it turns out, can create a great stereo image! The space has all the signs of correct geometry, does not cling to the edges of the stage, admires the integrity of the images. They do not become illusory even at low listening volumes. Tellingly, not only music programs recorded with Hi-Res quality sound spacious, but also orderly compressed mp3 or AAC files, which on other systems are usually played back primitively and flatly.

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