Eltax Monitor III ticks in all the right fields: Big metal spikes at the bottom, bi-wiring terminals at the back – and a “Monitor” in the name! And if you do not get too close, the cabinet looks quite reliable.
A little closer you can see that the black ash veneer is plastic and that the drivers behind the front grille look cheap. If you knock with a knuckle on the side, it sounds hollow. But the chubby speakers still look pretty cool on the shelf in the teen room.
And then there is the price; it is matchless! In fact, the Eltax Monitor II costs only a third of the most expensive in the test, the Elipson Prestige Facet 6B.
The sound quality
The sound of the Eltax Monitor III is a pleasant surprise. The balance is really good and the sound neither thin nor hollow. In fact, we are dealing with a pair of well-balanced speakers where no tonal ranges are missed or allowed to dominate.
The bass is solid – not very deep, but deep enough for a small bookshelf speaker. And it can accept being placed on a stand with no help from the surroundings. In fact, it should preferably not get too close to the wall or corner as it reveals that the bass is not particularly accurate and actually a bit resounding.
The midrange is pleasant, but not very well resolved. Voices sound natural, but the personal touch is missing, so it is difficult to hear the difference between them.
The same goes for instruments that lack the distinctiveness and timbre that reveals whether you hear a Stradivarius violin worth a million or a mail order violin from Thomann.
The perspective is fine, the price taken into account, but not very big. The scene never gets really wider than the distance between the speakers, and there is no significant depth perspective.
Conclusion
The Eltax Monitor III is an amazing speaker. Fair to say, it’s clearly the worst of the test. But at a price that is far below all others, hearing good music from it is more than impressive.
When, despite a fantastic price, it still does not end up with the price for the best purchase, it is because we believe that the price difference to the second cheapest is so small that even at a tight budget it pays to put the few pounds extra on the counter .