Imaging, detail, soundstaging, fit and finish

Low bass

Comparison was of the B version of the 1801 in a floorstanding model with the Seas driver and the C version as a standmount with the Accuton driver.

First up was the B which I have listened to before in a larger listening area than my current 13’ X 15’ room. In both cased the gear driving them is the same: Atma-sphere M60 v.III amps, a Meridian 508.24 CDP as the source and a Promethius passive pre-amp. All cabling is JPS Superconductor FX.

The B offers superb detail and a forward presentation with the soundstage somewhat in front of the speakers. The strong suit here is imaging. The placement of instruments and voices is obvious with eyes open or closed. I continually find that feeling of awe creeping in as I listen to familiar music that now is changed for the better by the ability to “see” the band through the B’s first class imaging. A very clean separation between instruments is evident and small nuances in the music are readily heard particularly during fade outs at the end of songs. In my previous experience I thought that the detail started to border on edgy though does not quite get there. In the smaller room I have now this effect was less noticeable and took longer to creep into my awareness. The highs are generally excellent being clean but not strident except perhaps on recordings that are bright to begin with – in my case a re-master of Poco’s Greatest Hits. Midrange is pure magic from female vocals to piano having a natural feel that just seems right. Bass is articulate though not particularly deep. The coherence of the sound as a whole though detailed with great imaging still sometimes gives the impression individual units presented simultaneously rather than a cohesive piece of music.

Dropping the C version in place with the same equipment I find a remarkably similar speaker to version B but improved in some dramatic ways. I find the C has a very coherent presentation while maintaining the spooky good imaging and detail of the B. The music always came through as a whole not as individual instruments. Delivery was more relaxed compared to the B while still maintaining detail that makes you smile and say “I never heard that before”. The soundstage seemed a bit wider and a bit further back being on plane with the speakers. I notice a more complete sound off-axis translating to a bigger sweet spot. Though it uses the same tweeter there was never a feeling of edge or etch in the highs. The highs were always sweet and airy with no bite. The same natural midrange and a deeper though slightly less articulate bass were evident. I found female vocalist particularly entrancing on these because of the great mids and cohesive delivery. I found myself listening again to familiar music because I could discern more detail delivered with silky smooth presence. I will call the B the more analytical sound whereas the C maintains the B’s strong points but with more cohesion and smoothness of presentation.

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Gershmann Acousticx X1
ACI Jaguar

Tonal accuracy and transparency. I play the piano and know how it is supposed to sound. The 1801's nail it for me. Dave Ellis (no affiliation) is a solid guy with a quick response to any e-mail question. It was only after putting in the time to build the cabinets myself that I realized how great a deal they are built by him for the price he asks.

The cabinets are rock solid and beautiful to look at. I build mine in oak and they came out good for a novice woodworker. But oak is a rather ordinary looking wood material for a speaker of this sonic quality. I am now redoing them in cherry because I intend to keep them forever.

None that I can see or hear.

I have had and listened to these speakers for more than a year now and I really enjoy them. I built them from the kit because I thought that would be fun. Because of some good guidance from Dave Ellis via e-mail,on the couple of questions I had, it was fun. As others have said they are really terrific sounding speakers. In a nutshell I find them detailed, transparent, tonally accurate, and three dimensional. I can compare them to a pair of Magnepan MG1.5's which I liked a lot but my wife hated, because of their size. I think the 1801's have the same clarity of tone and transparency but with a more solid bottom end. I see no need for a subwoofer for music listening with these. I was using a pair of Axiom M22i's while I was building the 1801's which are good value speakers in themselves and when I first heard the 1801's I couldn't believe the quality of the low end. Others have commented on their imaging which I agree is excellent. It is uncanny how they disappear in my room and project a solid center image when listening to vocals. This is as good as I need my speakers to get. Very highly recommended and outstanding speaker regardless of cost.

Customer Service

Dave Ellis responds to e-mails promptly and is gracious in answering any question you might have. Excellent customer service.

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Magnepan MG1.5's, Axiom M22ti's, Ohm Microwalsh Tall's,

World class midrange and treble, excellent bass
Will reproduce recordings with utmost fidelity

Will reproduce recordings with utmost fidelity...bad recordings will be exposed, while good recordings will leave you stunned.
Won't play the bottom octave - but this is seldom an issue.

These speakers are amazing. Anyone with a small to medium sized listening room owes it to him/herself to try these out, as they deliver astounding bass for a 2-way. I had planned to consider a subwoofer; that idea is certainly on the back burner now. Bass is plentiful and has slam. 40 Hz happens to be just below the bottom string of a bass guitar, but that only tells half the story - these speakers will satisfy all but the most bass hungry of listeners. The midrange and tweeter are absolutely world class. With good electronics the speakers completely disappear, leaving you with the naked soundstage in front of you. Detail and imaging are "you are there." Crossover is undetectable. For well under $2K, these speakers need to be heard to be believed.

So before you blow a wad on some big fancy floorstanders, by any means try the Ellis 1801s. I am convinced that a lot of people would be completely satisfied with them and never bother getting another speaker. Designer Dave Ellis and crossover engineer Dennis Murphy have hit a home run.

I purchased my pair from Jim Salk of Salk Sound. He does beautiful cabinet work. Charges a premium over Dave Ellis, but the waiting period is considerably shorter. Consider upgrading your electronics; these speakers are at the level to notice the minutest of differences in your upstream components. They can play very loud, are relatively inefficient and thus appreciate a healthy power supply. My amp produces 160 wpc which is more than adequate.

The Ellis 1801s excel reproducing all types of music. Whether you prefer orchestral, jazz, rock, Afro pop or whatever, you're going to be wallowing in how good these speakers are. DIYers can order the kit from Dave Ellis for half price.

Treat yourself!

Detail, imaging, world class tweeter and midrange, astoundingly good bass for a 2-way

Will not play the bottom octave

These are the first 2-way monitors I have tried and owned, and I have a feeling I picked an awfully nice pair of guinea pigs. In short, the Ellis 1801s need to be heard to be believed. There are more than 40 other positive reviews here, so I'll confine myself to adding to the chorus of "Yes, they really are that good."

My prior speakers, for perspective, were Revel F30s, a 3-way full range floorstander that retailed for around $4 grand. The Ellis 1801s outperform the Revel F30s in every area except low bass. That said, if you have a smaller sized listening room you will likely find absolutely no need for a subwoofer. The 1801s do play to 40Hz, and the quality of the bass may shock you. The quality of everything else is world class; these speakers totally disappear.

My 1801s were built by Jim Salk of Salk Sound in Michigan. He receives the kit from Dave Ellis, and his cabinet work is superb and fully customizable. DIYers can order the kit from Dave for half the price; or, you can have Dave build them for you for less than Salk, though with a considerably longer wait period.

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none

Extremely detailed, open sound. Reproduces ALL kinds of music, it just need to be a good recording. Then the instruments and voices will go materialize itselfs.

Tight bass, goes very deep for a bookshelf. Excelent mids and high's, very balanced. Every instrument caracteristic is revealed.

Nothing, just that bad recordings will sound bad.

But sometimes, CDs that you thought that were bad recorded, sounds surprising good. So listen everything!

I decided to build the 1801b loudspeaker because I already know very well the Hiquphon OWI tweeter and the Seas Excel midwoofers, they are very, VERY good.

With the excelent cabinet construction and crossover components, the 1801b can't be nothing but extremely good! And that's what it is! This is a serious speaker, it "sounds" like a really TOP loudspeaker that might cost thousands of dollars. I said "sounds", because it doesn't have a sound, it's neutral and reproduces every instrument "timbre" with extreme fidelity.

It's a very low cost compared to the performance, trust me! But it will need excelent electronics to take 100% of it.

It's the result spected for the very best components in the market.

Attention, it is NOT that speakers with a lot of detail but not a vivid sound. It is VERY musical! You can spend hours and hours listening with no audio fatige!

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B&W's, Dynaudios, and other speakers that not worth the price.

Great sound; accurate reproducers of what is on the source material. Beautiful finish and great to look at.

None.

They say that all good things come to those who wait. Well, I had to wait for a full year to get my 1801's, and it was worth it. These are certainly the best speakers I have ever owned and I have owned quite a few in the last 35 years.
I do not intend to comment about how good these sound or explain why; this has been more than adequately done by all the below reviewers. Instead I would like to mention several items that may be of interest to those contemplating purchasing these fine speakers.
My amplification is a Prima Luna Two with 40 watts per channel of power. I was somewhat concerned that this would not be enough for the 1801's since they have a room sensitivity of about 84db. My concerns were totally unwarranted. I have way more than enough power to play these beauties loudly. I have never had to turn up the volume control past the 6 o'clock position in my average-sized living room. By-the-way, the Prima Luna Two is a fantastic integrated and mates nicely with these speakers.
David Ellis was a pleasure to deal with. He is very knowledgable and helpful. He says that his speakers need very little burn-in time, and he is correct. However, I personally found the sound better after about 45-50 hours of use. Whether this was due to burn-in, or just my getting accustomed is up to debate.
When these speakers first arrived I unhooked my sub-woofer since the 1801's do a great job with bass. But after a few weeks my wife (who loves bass) asked me to re-hook the subs. The sound of my speakers seemed to improve after this move! Perhaps the drivers could handle the midrange better being released of the duty to produce the really low frequencies. Perhaps it is all in my head.
Be that as it may, I am very happy with these speakers. I will contentedly listen to my music with them for years to come.

Customer Service

The best!

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Axiom M22ti, Paradigm 20's; Dynadio 25.

Excellent sound quality at all frequencies. Beautiful to look at. Very natural sound that accurately captures what is on the CD, so some of your old CD's may not sound so good anymore. But any properly recorded CD will sound fantastic.

None.

They say that all good things come to those who wait. Well, I had to wait for one full year to get my 1801's and all I can say is that it was well worth it. These are certainly the best sounding (and best looking, too) speakers I have ever owned. And I have owned many pairs of speakers during the past 35 years of my expensive hobby.
I will not add to what others have stated about the sound of these beauties since they have already done such a fine job of elaborating on the many strengths of the 1801's. I would like to make just a couple of comments about my personaly experience with them for the two months I have owned them.
First, my amplifier is a Prima Luna Model Two with 40 watts of all-tube power. The speakers have a low room sensitivity of about 84db and I was somewhat concerned waiiting for my speakers that my amp would be powerful enough. I need not have given this a second thought! 40 tube watts is more than sufficient. I play my music relatively loud in an average sized living room and I have yet to turn the volume knob past the equivalvent of 6 o'clock. By-the-way, my Prima Luna is a fantastic amp and I believe it mates very well with these speakers.
David Ellis is great to work with and I enjoyed talking to him on the phone. He states that his speakers need very little burn-in time, and he is correct. However, I found that they did open up more after about 45-50 hours. Perhaps this was just my getting used to a new sound, but my enjoyment really did improve after these hours went past.
At first I disconnected my sub-woofer since the bass on the 1801's is excellent. After about 6 weeks, however, my wife (who really loves bass) asked me to re-hook up the sub-woofer. Perhaps it is just my imagination, but I believe that the sound improved! Maybe taking some of the lower frequency load off allowed the mid-range to come through more cleanly. I am not sure, but I share this experience only as it applies to me. You may find otherwise.
All in all, I am very pleased with these speakers and plan to keep them as my main speakers for many years. Do not hesitate to buy a pair for yourself.

Customer Service

Excellent. Could not be better.

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Axiom M22ti. Dynaudio 25. Paradigm 40's.

Middle to Upper

Too heavy (plywood cabinet)

Hello Dave,
You may forget me now, but I owned 1801 for over a year. It is really an excellence loudspeaker in all range. Also, it is the most transparency two ways speakers I have ever heard. (even beat Dynaudio Special 25. IMO)

Great Job!
from Hong Kong

Customer Service

Excellence.

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They are balanced, precise, detailed, and musical... and beautiful.

Absolutely none. Ah yes, their price: they are not expensive enough to be credible :-)

I have purchased the kit in February and finished the speakers in June. After 4 months of listening, I think I am ready to give my opinion. The kit is not too difficult to build but it takes some time to complete. The instruction manual is clear and helpful. Anyone with some experience in woodworking should be able to build it. My version of speakers is really a clone of Dave's one (with braces, biscuits, no screw, double thick front panel, quater-rounded flanges, flush-mounted drivers, etc.). This is quite important because the Ellis 1801 are very sensible: a minor modification will make them sound differently. After completing the kit, I was very happy: precision, soudstage, attacks were impressive, etc. Then, I visited a french friend who also had a pair of 1801... The two versions were completely different. Mine was very precise, but a bit aggressive with a lack of bass. The other was the dual: less precise, but had much more bass, and even some sub-bass. After studying my version I discovered that I made 2 mistakes: the event was too long, and the stuffing was not exactly as recommended by Dave (a bit too much stuffing). I made the modification and also replaced the 8/15 ohm resistors by a 8/13 configuration. I also added a better pair of stands. I discovered a completely different speaker: a bit less precise (or demonstrative) than before, but much more balanced, smoother, with tigh bass, pleasant to listen, more musical... In one word: perfect! From this experience, I learnt that the Ellis 1801 are so well designed that you need to spend some time to take their best, and to adapt them to your listening room. I am not expert, but it seems that the amplifier has to be carefully choosen. As suggested by Dave, I bought a Jolida 302B, and then made some upgrade. I am very happy with this choice. Recently, a friend came with a Cayin A88T. The Ellis 1801 were again completely different, much more aggressive, ... the musicality was lost. I now have a complete system: Ellis 1801B, stands, modded Jolida 302B, and a Vecteur L-4.2. I am more than happy and I cannot imagine a better system for a comparable price. What characterize the Ellis the best is their neutrality and their precision. You can hear the instruments as if they were played in your room, you can hear the voice as if the singer was there. I find the 1801 very impressive on Guitar. It is not given to anyone to have Clapton for diner every evening :-) If I recommend the 1801? Oh yes! Congratulation Mr Ellis. Your tenacity makes us happy, by allowing us to have a wonderful product.

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mid's and vocals price

not very efficient highs (which,from what I understand,Dave fixes on the newer 1801b's)

When I received the traveling pair of 1801's I unpacked them immediately and was impressed by the look of these speakers and also by how solid they felt.I hooked them up to my system with Supersonic Q-10 to the driver and Supersonic T-14 to the tweeter.After I had them set I was ready to listen. I put my Favorite Celine Dione CD in and off I went.The soundstage on these speakers was readily apparent and I even had to get out of my seat to make sure my center channel was not on cause celine sounded like she was front and center and sure enough it was all the 1801's.The midrange on this speaker is so true and honest to the music that I would have to say this is the speakers strongest attribute.I tied this speaker with and without my velodyne sub and found the sub to add a little more feel to the bass but all in all was very suprised at how well this speaker handles the bass.I also tried a couple of DVD's one was Diana Krall live in Paris and the other was Saving Private Ryan.These speakers did a great job on the Diana krall DVD, I was amazed at how much better here voice sounded on these speakers than my 602's.The speakers did a fine job on Saving Private Ryan but I was unable to tell much difference from the 602's.I then had some friends over to listen to some varying CD's and we used a left right comparison of my HTM2 on the right channel and one of the 1801's on the left.The HTM2 is not really meant to be a left or right but a center and the B&W is a little bit more effiecient than the 1801's.We found that the HTM2 did a slightly better job on the highs than the 1801.I enjoyed having these speakers in my house and would highly recommend a listen to these speakers if your in the market for an excellent set of speakers at a great price.