Eclipse TD510Z MK2 Speakers Review

Eclipse speakers are a statement speaker just by their looks alone and for most people something completely different compared to the usual box type speakers, but they are designed this way for good reason, the technology and over engineered design is in reality one of the reasons so many big names in the audio industry use their speakers for music reproduction, Brian Eno is one of them and if you research the list is many. Futuristic comes to mind when I look at them with the main speaker resembling an egg shape enclosure but if you understand how speakers work their design makes a lot of sense, with form certainly following function in the world of audio reproduction and music.

The reproduction of the original audio signal and accuracy of that audio signal through the Eclipse speakers is what sets these speakers apart from the crowd and most of other speaker designs. The shape of the enclosure that houses the driver mitigates distortion in the sound wave that is coming from the driver thanks to its egg shaped enclosure meaning the input signal and exiting sound wave are as close to the original with with hardly any distortion in that sound wave when compared to other speaker designs as shown in the diagram below.

Build Quality and Features

As I have explained above the technology and design is intriguing with the build quality is which sets them apart from the standard box type enclosure, the driver is comprised of a 10cm fiberglass cone with an oversized magnet assembly and optimised to enable a full range driver. The driver is held by a 5 point stay which holds the drive unit securely and keeps it perfectly damped inside the egg shaped enclosure allowing the speaker to perform with no vibrations affecting the enclosure or drive unit itself, standing waves are negated thanks to the egg shape enclosure which usually plague a box type design.

The speakers are sold separately allowing you to purchase them individually and can be used for stereo or multichannel applications, you can also purchase a matching subwoofer so as to drive the lower octaves which can fill in what you feel the speakers are missing and dependant on room size, impedance is 6 ohms which means they are slightly harder to drive and a good quality amplifier is recommended. Brackets can be used to mount them on the ceiling or their table top stands can also be used, for review I have the beautiful matching stands which holds them perfectly and really do set them off visually, made from an extruded aluminium alloy this allows them to be setup easily thanks to the coupling mechanism on the stands which has a 3 metal spikes with a ball joint in the centre and wheel for tightening which allows the speakers to be tilted up or down for the correct orientation for setup in relation to your seating position. The stands have a great built in cable management system where you can hide the cables connecting to the speakers, the TD510Z speakers are a ported design with the flow port at the rear of the speaker with speaker terminals just below the port.

For this review I am powering the TD510Z speakers with my Cyrus Audio 82 amplifier and for source components I am using the Denon DP400 turntable for vinyl playback, Cyrus CD8SE CD player and streaming music with the Bluesound Node, for DAC duties I am using the Chord Electronics Hugo 2 DAC, all cables connected are from the Chord Company, for lower bass I am using the REL T5 subwoofer.

Sound Quality and Performance

Setting up is a breeze thanks to the stands and their ability to adjust so finely as I am able to angle the speakers directly to my ear height and with a slight toe in I find the sweet spot very quickly. Seeing as the Eclipse do roll off fairly rapidly in the lower Hz a good subwoofer like my REL T5 is needed although moving closer to the wall does help reinforce the bass response but in my size room a subwoofer is needed with the TD510Z speakers to fill in the lower bass notes. Eclipse do sell their own subs as well Eclipse Subwoofers and would love to try that combination.

For my first album I am listening to the brilliant Jean Michelle Jarre, Planet Jarre which is five decades of music on one album, I have this stored on HDD in high resolution 24bit 48kHz. Track 3 Rendez Vous 1 is a great track and the Eclipse speakers just immerse you in sound, and when I say immerse you the speakers simply disappear with a soundstage that is vast and sounds coming from all around, left to right and centre stage, with some stunning imaging, akin to surround sound and can only imagine what a full 5.1 system would be like, they are extremely detailed with every note portrayed perfectly. Track 4 Millions Of Stars is a tour de force of sound and the Eclipse throw out a sound that is hypnotic and draws you into Jarre’s music, with the sound of swirling water and chimes all around me such is the detail and it’s quite astonishing the resolution that they manage to dig out and all from the single driver, around the 4 minute mark orchestral music takes charge and a violin is placed centre stage, wonderful music from the master of electronic. On disk 3 of the album track 9 Revolutions is an experience and a dynamic showcase, they absolutely love electronic music playing with startling clarity and separation of instruments and vocals. Track 4 Music For Supermarkets on disk 4 of the album made me smile as it is a track full of synthesiser sounds but not just for the name of the track but how well the sounds seemed to bounce around my room with real depth to the imaging, percussion instruments have real impact on the Eclipse speakers and sound so natural and no more so than on track La Cage, it’s almost as if Jarre is just playing with sounds on the finale of the album and his ability to create such a massive and cohesive soundstage, if your speakers are up to the task of replicating what he was trying to achieve then you get to enjoy his genius, thankfully the TD510Z are more than up to the task giving a holographic performance, these speakers simply disappear which is a testament to their design.

On to my next album and considering the stunning reproduction of Planet Jarre via the Eclipse Speakers I just have to spin some Boris Blank Electrified on CD to see how well they perform.
I have recently being playing this album on systems varying in price and most recently to one costing many hundreds of thousands so how can my more modest system perform with the Eclipse speakers?

Track 1 Electrified is a blast and a show piece for any good HiFi system and I already know how good the TD510Z speakers can handle electronic music with Planet Jarre, fast dynamic with tonnes of detail so what can they do with Boris Blanks rollercoaster ride, electrified is how the TD510Z makes the room feel with sounds eminating from all around the soundstage, the speakers melt away with not a hint of location, the 10cm driver pumps out huge amounts of sparkly detail and are completely free of the usual box type enclosure thanks to the design but this is what I am also amazed at that a single driver can produce such an amazing top end so detailed and similar to how my ribbon tweeters perform which is an airy and sparkly top end with tremendous detail retrieval, but then produce a luscious mid range and also delving lower, they blend seamlessly with my subwoofer. Track 2 Time Tunnel sounds swirl around my room with lightning speed from left to right and not a hint of where the sounds are coming from. Track 5 Key Largo has some brilliant brass instruments playing, with the sound of a plane taking off at the beginning moving from the bottom left of my room to high right (ceiling) of the soundstage which sounds so convincing and real, the depth and scale of this soundstage is impressive and when you close your eyes and then open them it’s hard to believe that the sounds are eminating from the Eclipse speakers.

For my final album I am listening to the stunning Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here album on 180g vinyl, this is probably my favourite with The Wall a close second in their portfolio, it sounds sublime on vinyl. Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5 is a masterpiece of music and a marathon of instrumental madness which can only be achieved by this legendary band, the Eclipse speakers manage to produce this album in all its glory with a scale as good as any other large bookshelf or floor standing type speaker but with the benefits of  a holographic presentation thanks to their clever design, they manage to fill my room with  music full of dynamics and large scale which seems to defy their size and stature, Gilmours guitar is centre stage with pin point imaging and again detail retrieval is excellent and sounds perfectly natural. Welcome To The Machine is the next track on side 1 and the acoustic guitar is placed off to the left of the stage with the percussion taking the centre stage and synthesised sounds moving around the soundstage, the Eclipse speakers don’t fail to impress with a dynamic and vast soundstage but they do manage to catch me off guard with the ability to throw sounds out to areas of the soundstage that you were not expecting, like at the end of Welcome to the Machine when the sounds of the machine start up and were off to the far right of the soundstage and then crowds of people are laughing in the distance very clever and shows how good the Eclipse speakers perform.

Conclusions and Final Thoughts

From the very moment I fired these speakers up they simply disappeared from the soundstage and just left me with the music, the design and technology that has developed these speakers is clear and shows in the performance which is free from the constraints of the usual speaker cabinet designs, incredible imaging and when paired with a good subwoofer give what can only be described as a holographic experience, all this from a single driver is quite an achievement.

The Eclipse TD510Z speakers are outstanding performers and I highly recommend getting a demo from your nearest dealer to hear for yourself. The Speaker Shack awards the Eclipse TD510Z speakers with an Outstanding award. 

Price at time of review per speaker with stands £2000 each.

https://www.eclipse-td.com/uk