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Americans might be forgiven if they haven't heard of Epos. A small, British specialist loudspeaker manufacturer, it was founded in 1983 by its designer, Robin Marshall—an ex-BBC engineer and a onetime consultant to Monitor Audio, according to Roy Hall of Epos's US importer, Music Hall. Their first model, the ES 20, didn't make it to the US, and was apparently a bit too pricey in the UK to make much of a splash there (about £700, $1300 at the current rate of exchange—a mint in a country with the patent on sub-$500/pair (UK prices!) two-ways). In 1986 or thereabouts, the new, smaller ES 14 was…
Sound
Even more than the Monitor Audio 852s, the Epos 14s did not grab on first listen, but snuck up on you; once they caught me, they definitely had my undivided attention. Perhaps it is the minimum crossover, perhaps something else, but the 14s are superbly coherent loudspeakers. Nothing about them shouts for your attention, but with the notable exception of the extreme lows (and, to a far lesser degree, the extreme HF), everything is there in pleasing, natural proportion. That made it something of an annoyance to have to concentrate on individual aspects of the presentation, as a…
Even more than the Monitor Audio 852s, the Epos 14s did not grab on first listen, but snuck up on you; once they caught me, they definitely had my undivided attention. Perhaps it is the minimum crossover, perhaps something else, but the 14s are superbly coherent loudspeakers. Nothing about them shouts for your attention, but with the notable exception of the extreme lows (and, to a far lesser degree, the extreme HF), everything is there in pleasing, natural proportion. That made it something of an annoyance to have to concentrate on individual aspects of the presentation, as a…
I have already discussed the superior overall dimensionality produced by the Eposes. In one respect, however, they came in behind the Snells: that of overall sense of space and expansiveness. Perhaps this was because the Eposes had less extreme HF than the Qs, or a narrower radiation pattern. Whatever the reason, the Eposes presented a less open, airy soundspace, although they gave the best presentation of depth and were superb in image focus.
The Epos shares another characteristic with the other loudspeakers here: it is not comfortable at lease-breaking levels. But don't get the idea we…
Sidebar: The Boring Part
All of the loudspeakers under test were auditioned in my large listening room (about 120m3). Associated equipment included an Eminent Technology II with Monster Alpha 2 mounted on a Luxman PD-300 turntable (used with Audioquest mat sans the turntable's vacuum holddown), and California Audio Labs Aria CD player. CD was used heavily on this evaluation, partially because my reference analog front end is on the verge of an update. Analog was used as an important cross-reference. Also used were the Klyne SK-5A preamp, Aragon 4004 power amp, and Monster Interlink…
Sam Tellig wrote about the ES 14 in January 1990 (Vol.13 No.1):
Old-home week.
I got in another pair of Eposes—updated from the originals. Sound is quite close to the Thiel CS1.2—both are equipped with metal-dome tweeters. The Thiels, being made in the US, are perhaps a better buy. And they don't need stands. The Eposes are $1200/pair, plus $200 for stands. I wish they cost $995/pair, in which case I could recommend them with greater enthusiasm. As it is, I'd have to give the nod to the Thiels. They look better, too.
I didn't have the Thiels on hand for direct comparison…
John Atkinson reviewed the Epos ES 14 in January 1995 (Vol.18 No.1):
In the ice-cream world, chocolate is the universal end of the line. Vanilla experiments that taste great but look foul, maple syrup flavors that are more maple than syrup, tutti-frutti that's too tutti—all are recycled as chocolate flavor, their visual sins permanently hidden from view. In the world of wood, the equivalent of chocolate ice cream is the ubiquitous "black ash" veneer. The original color and character of the wood are irrelevant: it all ends up stained black.
In the ice-cream world, chocolate is the universal end of the line. Vanilla experiments that taste great but look foul, maple syrup flavors that are more maple than syrup, tutti-frutti that's too tutti—all are recycled as chocolate flavor, their visual sins permanently hidden from view. In the world of wood, the equivalent of chocolate ice cream is the ubiquitous "black ash" veneer. The original color and character of the wood are irrelevant: it all ends up stained black.
I was reminded of chocolate ice cream when…
Sound
I started off using the foam inserts in the ES 14s' ports, but in my room, which is rather bass-shy, the balance was too lean. The acid test for a loudspeaker's bass alignment—pace all those who diss those of us who find nonclassical music useful for reaching accurate value judgments—is to play a rock or fusion track with heavy four-in-the-bar bass guitar and kick drum. It might seem obvious, but, as demonstrated in a paper presented at the 1994 AES Convention by Sean Olive and Floyd Toole, you can't judge a loudspeaker's performance at the frequency extremes with program material…
I started off using the foam inserts in the ES 14s' ports, but in my room, which is rather bass-shy, the balance was too lean. The acid test for a loudspeaker's bass alignment—pace all those who diss those of us who find nonclassical music useful for reaching accurate value judgments—is to play a rock or fusion track with heavy four-in-the-bar bass guitar and kick drum. It might seem obvious, but, as demonstrated in a paper presented at the 1994 AES Convention by Sean Olive and Floyd Toole, you can't judge a loudspeaker's performance at the frequency extremes with program material…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, stand-mounted, reflex-loaded box loudspeaker. Drive-units: 6.5" thermoplastic-cone bass/midrange, 1" aluminum-dome tweeter. Measured crossover frequency: 3.3kHz. Frequency response: 36Hz-20kHz ±3dB. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m. Nominal impedance: 8 ohms (7 ohms minimum). Amplifier requirements: 35W recommended minimum.
Dimensions: 20" (508mm) H by 9" (229mm) W by 12" (305mm) D. Weight: 24 lbs (10.9kg) each.
Serial numbers of units tested: 008592 (1995).
Finishes available: black ash, walnut.
Price: $1100/pair (1988), $1395/pair (1995…
Sidebar 2: System context
Power amplifiers used to drive these speakers were a pair of Mark Levinson No.20.6 monoblocks; the preamplifier was the remote-controlled Mark Levinson No.38S. A Mod Squad Phono Drive EPS amplified LP signals from a Linn Sondek/Cirkus/Trampolin/Lingo/Ekos/Arkiv setup sitting on an ArchiDee table. Digital source was a Mark Levinson No.30 driven by a Mark Levinson No.31 transport via Madrigal AES/EBU cable and an Audio Alchemy DTI•Pro or a Sonic Frontiers UltrajitterBug.
Interconnects used were AudioQuest's AudioTruth Lapis x3; speaker cable was a bi-wired…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Almost all the measurements accompanying this review were made with the DRA Labs MLSSA system, a full-length card that fits into a PC. This generates a pseudo-random noise signal which is picked up by a B&K 4006 microphone, calibrated to be flat on-axis at the approximate measuring distance I use. The host computer then compares the microphone's output with the drive signal it sent out to the loudspeaker and, by performing a cross-correlation operation, calculates the speaker's impulse response. By windowing out reflections of the speaker's output from room…