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Archive: Epos ES14

Glory in the midrange

By Charles Thomson

October 2004 (originally appeared June 1989)

Epos ES14 loudspeaker. $2135 in 1989

Have you heard of Epos Acoustics? Don't feel embarrassed if the answer is no. When our Editor arrived at home one day and asked if I would review the Epos ES14 he was greeted with a blank stare from yours truly. When the carton was opened to reveal two black speaker boxes of compact size 488mm x 266mm x 290mm (HWD), my spirits did not exactly soar. Our Editor's comment of "Boring Black Box" coming to mind. The next eight hours were spent trying to find out who Epos are, what they make and who is behind them.

Epos Acoustics are a small English loudspeaker manufacturer of recent origin (six years). While these facts are not exactly earth shattering, interest certainly started to quicken when the name of Robin Marshall appeared in connection with this company.

Ten years ago Robin Marshall was a designer for Audiomaster Loudspeakers, which enjoyed considerable success in the UK and Europe. He then moved to Monitor Audio and developed their R-Series speakers, which have enjoyed a worldwide reputation for quality. Credentials having been established, it was obvious that this was not going to be just another box speaker but something special.

From a technical point of view, this speaker has many original innovations. A summary is as follows: Epos make the entire speaker - drivers and all. Bass drive unit - 200mm plastic cone employing a double opposed rear suspension to promote linear cone movement. The pole piece on this driver has a vent hole drilled through the centre so as to relieve any changes in pressure behind the voice coil as the cone moves. No crossover components are used for this driver.

The tweeter features an aluminium dome/voice coil former as one piece - most domes have the former bonded to the dome. A vent hole is incorporated in the pole piece of the tweeter also. The crossover consists of one capacitor hardwired at the positive tweeter terminal to stop bass signals going to the tweeter. A bracing rod inside the cabinet pushes the side walls apart to tension them.

Installing the ES14s in ones system is easy enough; just one set of speaker terminals, but positioning these speakers in the listening room is more time consuming. The enclosed instruction sheet gives good advice on this subject and time spent in finding the right placement will be well rewarded. In my room 500mm from the rear wall and 1100mm from the side walls was the ideal.

Correct stands for these speakers are a must. Epos stands are of the open frame variety (see photo) and in my view have to be included in the purchase 0f ES14s. Substituting stands with a solid plate for the speaker to sit on spoiled the sound stage and muddied the bass.

Equipment used in this review included Onix 801 monoblock power amplifiers, Onix preamp and power supply, Roksan Xerxes Turntable with Rega RB300 arm rewired with van den Hul cables, Dynavector 17D2 cartridge and Sony 557 CD Player. Interconnects were van den Hul Thunderline with the speaker cable Esoteric Ultra Path.

After positioning the speakers correctly one has to decide whether the foam plugs should be inserted in the rear firing ports or not. In my case it was preferred to leave the plugs in place - without them bass became overblown and smeared. Room factors will determine which is correct for you. [In my room it was necessary to remove the foam plugs to get any bass - Editor.]

Initial reaction to the Epos ES14's was almost one of disbelief - was I really listening to a small box. Everything seemed to be just right. The disc being played was Mozart's Quartet in F Major as performed by the Philharmonic Quartet of Berlin. Oboe, Violin, Viola and Violoncello were well separated, natural in sound and beautifully detailed. Aha! said I, these speakers are obviously suited to small scale works; The Mobile Fidelity UHQR LP of Holst's Planets will sort them out - and indeed it did. It showed the Epos ES14s to be an exceptionally good speaker.

So often when writing a review, one feels it necessary to mention treble midrange bass etc, usually because something is not quite right in one of these areas. The Epos isn't like that. It just says "Listen to the music". I was not conscious of strengths and weaknesses while listening to these speakers.

Sure, they don't plummet to subterranean depths in bass, but there is enough there to satisfy all but heavy rock fans. At the other extreme treble is beautifully detailed without a hint of harshness on strings on sibilance in voices. Our Editor said it all in his earlier comments where he stated, "the real glory of the ES14 is the midrange". Most of the sound we hear is in the midrange - bass and treble adding colour and interest to the music. To me the E.S. 14 does everything right in this area.

Listen to Stevie Nick's Bella Donna or Dionne Warwick Hot, Live and Otherwise on Mobile Fidelity. Both voices naturally portrayed and one can really appreciate the contribution of the backing bands. The Dionne Warwick album, which is a live recording, also gives a feeling of audience participation and hall ambience. Records listened to during the review period covered everything from 20 year old jazz LP's to state of the art UHQR Mobile Fidelity recordings.

On completion of 100 hours of listening, sometimes up to eight hours continuously, my feelings were best summed up by one word – enjoyment. Every recording played was enjoyable to listen to. I was involved with the performance, not concerned with the equipment.

What is it that makes the Epos so special? For me it is their ability to produce the texture, timbre and detail of instruments correctly. The two drivers work so well together that the speakers seem to disappear, leaving only a soundstage that is wide and deep.

The appearance of these speakers on their stands is not really that attractive when it comes to room décor considerations. Speakers with their drive units showing can often look ugly and out of place in the domestic living room. With the Epos, home conscious audiophiles (or their wives) can relax. The ES14s have a retrofittable grill available for $70 and a Walnut veneer finish is also available.

While the ES14 has a suggested retail price of $2135, an prospective purchaser of these speakers must be prepared to outlay an additional $425 for the correct stands. In my opinion the ES14 should be sold as a complete package at $2560 – the stands are that important.

Enthusiastically recommended.