Good evening

[EposEs14]

Good evening from Germany!

My name is Ralf and - as the nick shows -I'm owner of a pair of Epos ES14-Loudspeakers. Since I'm the first owner of these none-available speakers you might estimate my minimum age ;-)
Tried to find better speakers but finally came back to them again and again (the small Harbeth speakers seem to be the only ones which might suit my requirements better in some cases).
Though I like them, the Epos' seem to have one disadvantage - they are really not the nicest speakers ever seen...just "boxes". Due to that, I found (by chance) a foto of Epos Es 14 once owned by a forum member standing on small, non-oem-stands which pimp (don't like that word, but you know what I mean) their look.
Hope I find the member (Mike) to get some additional information about those stands - though I'm afraid he hasn't got them any more.

And you - what do you think about the Epos speakers? Ever heard them?

Ralf

[walpurgis]

Hi Ralf. Welcome to AOS.

I'm sure you'll get plenty of opinion on Epos speakers here.

What is the rest of your system. Show us some photos, we have a Gallery section for them.

And tell us what music you play.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[trio leo]

Hi Ralph,
Welcome to the AoS from me, I 2nd what Geoff said.

Enjoy your music :)

cheers Al.

[EposEs14]

Hi Geoff and Al,

as I denoted, I originally come from the analogue age - therefore you won't be surprised ;) that I still have
a record player = Clearaudio Emotion
tape deck = Onkyo TA 2570
tuner = Onkyo TU 4970
amplifier = Symphonic Line RG 9 MK IV
speakers = EPOS ES 14 MK I
...ok, and some digital equipment as
TV Sharp 37'' GE1E (as for the Epos speakers, you won't find much information on this Full-HD-Line in the 'www' ...didn't make it's way to Europe in quantities)
Muvid 209 DVD-Player
...well, and some backups like an Onkyo 8780 Amp, small Wharfedale speakers etc.

Music: Too much to list, so I only list some
Springsteen, Hugh Masekela, Genesis, Steve Winwood, Aretha Franklin, Cal Tjader, Toto, (ok: I grew up in the 70/80th), but music which wouldn't fit in this list, too, as e.g. "the day lord thou gavest is ended" (look at g...le),Sam Smith's "Lalala" or Jan Akkerman's "Am I losing you", Philip Catherine, and some classics, too.

Ralf

[Andrei]

Hello from NZ Ralph
Whereabouts in Germany are you from?
I did g.....e that 'the . . . . .ended' and very good too. As a classical music lover I naturally have a lot of church music - masses from Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner etc.
I have had a turntable by Marantz called a TT15. It was basically a rebadged Clearaudio Emotion. The only difference I understand is that the emotion has a magnetic bearing. I rather liked the minimalist styling and it looked pretty good too.
Well I hope you have a good time here.

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Ralph.

Geoff. :wave:

[EposEs14]

Hello Geoff, hello Andrei,
although the www i s worldwide, I am again and again astonished to get in contact to people "on the other side of the world" so quick.
Think I'll never get used to it.

Andrei,
I come from the region around Hannover and Braunschweig/Brunswick, quite in the north of Germany/Lower Saxony. And you - do you know Germany? I have never been to New Zealand; however - perhaps I make it someday. Where do you come from? Though - or because - I never have been there, your name doesn't sound typical of NZ, is it?

Yes, as far as I can see, the Marantz is quite similar to the clearaudio - didn't know that Marantz' model, thank you for that information.

If you g***ed the song and liked it - perhaps you have a suggestion, too, which you would recommend? I am not an expert in church music and classical music (one of the few titles I would be able to identify by name e.g. is "Clair de Lune" from Debussy) - I surely heard many more during my life and can recognize them, but without beeing able to tell title and componist, in contrast to more contemporary music). But I like trying...

Ralf

[Andrei]

The little I know of Germany mainly comes from the Bundesliga, my preferred teams to watch are Hoffenheim and Bayern - I like teams that score goals. In the English Premier League I follow Liverpool and Chelsea. I have only been to Germany once and that was a short holiday to Cologne. Which reminds me to ask a question: After driving there I have come to the belief that there is no phrase in the German language for 'speed limit'?
I live in an area called Hawkes Bay and we get a lot of German tourists here - mainly young backpackers who work in the apple orchards over summer.

Anyway check this out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqsWtjPVvAY
It is by the Stockholm Cathedral Choir. It can be heard in HD on YouTube

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Ralf,

Looks like you have settled in nicely here already. Well done - though we would still love to see some phographs of your system if possible! :)

Enjoy the Forum.

Regards
Barry

[EposEs14]

Hello Barry and Andrei,

Barry, I do apologize - I'm not at home at the moment - no chance to take photos. (Ok, I could take a photo of my parents Sehring System 50 speakers - nice and seldom stuff, too, but that's not what you are asking for).

Andrei, thank you for the music, sounds nice - although I only had the chance to hear it via internal Notebook speakers due to circumstances mentioned above.
- I lived near Cologne about 25 years ago during my apprenticeship. Of course, there are german words - and signs - for speed limit: "Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung" oder "Höchstgeschwindigkeit", "Tempolimit" (circle with a red line around, in the middle the number for the max speed in km (not mph))...but indeed, you have the chance to drive faster in case there are no such signs - if there is no traffic - and especially around Cologne this should be quite unusual. There a r e traffic and/or sign. But in other areas...it works. Once per month I drive from my hometown to south of Germany (about 550km one-way) and there are high-speed-zones indeed. Nevertheless, it takes about 5 hours :-(.
Germany is well known for football/=soccer of course. Generally spoken, I'm not very interested (think those guys earn much to much). However, that changes during the world cups. And this year "we" made it.
I think I s h o u l d travel to NZ once in my life at least. Just took a look on fotos of your region - looks very nice (nothing else did I expect) - and as I see one can get wine, too. Another reason to do so.

Ralf

[zombilly]

I approve of the Clearaudio. Got wan myself. Ever thought of getting a Thorens and renovating it to compare? Take it from me its well worth the effort and makes for a good pastime.

[EposEs14]

Hi Moonshine,
Thorens is nice - my parents have one (don't ask me which type it is - they have already gone to sleep now), but it is a "small" one. Didn't like the look of those "black boxes" (as I said I am not totally happy with the look of my Epos Speakers either) when I decided to buy the clearaudio.
And, although I still prefer the analog sound - well, I can't help, CDs and MPGs are easier to handle. Therefore, I nearly buy records no more...doesn't make sense to me to change the turntable (moreover, I have another old german DUAL tt at home) or put another "brother" on its side. But - I still like tts as far as sound and look and all the things you have got to do when you take the time to hear records is concerned.

Ralf

[Floyddroid]

Welcomen
Hello Barry and Andrei,

Barry, I do apologize - I'm not at home at the moment - no chance to take photos. (Ok, I could take a photo of my parents Sehring System 50 speakers - nice and seldom stuff, too, but that's not what you are asking for).

Andrei, thank you for the music, sounds nice - although I only had the chance to hear it via internal Notebook speakers due to circumstances mentioned above.
- I lived near Cologne about 25 years ago during my apprenticeship. Of course, there are german words - and signs - for speed limit: "Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung" oder "Höchstgeschwindigkeit", "Tempolimit" (circle with a red line around, in the middle the number for the max speed in km (not mph))...but indeed, you have the chance to drive faster in case there are no such signs - if there is no traffic - and especially around Cologne this should be quite unusual. There a r e traffic and/or sign. But in other areas...it works. Once per month I drive from my hometown to south of Germany (about 550km one-way) and there are high-speed-zones indeed. Nevertheless, it takes about 5 hours :-(.
Germany is well known for football/=soccer of course. Generally spoken, I'm not very interested (think those guys earn much to much). However, that changes during the world cups. And this year "we" made it.
I think I s h o u l d travel to NZ once in my life at least. Just took a look on fotos of your region - looks very nice (nothing else did I expect) - and as I see one can get wine, too. Another reason to do so.

Ralf

[EposEs14]

Hi Steve,

thank you. Had a look on your website. Is it t h a t Teasside I know for the steel works (competitors in my former working life ;-))?

Ralf

[YNWaN]

I used ES14's for many years and only changed them quite recently - I loved them (still own them). It took a very much more elaborate system to better them.

[EposEs14]

It took a very much more elaborate system to better them.

Hello Mark, sorry, I'm not a native speaker. Therefore - just for the reason to not misunderstand you. What does this mean?
- Did you decide to "reengineer" your whole system...so finally the Epos found their master (in better loudspeakers) or
- does this quote mean that it took a long time (and much money) to find out what's the best backend for the Epos'Es?

By the way - I love them, too. I think I already wrote it - one of the few real alternatives I recognized are the Harbeth PSR (or, larger, the 30.1). And...somehow different...the Sehring Speakers I mentioned above which my parents own (and, young as I was, which I recommended when they decided to buy).
And t o d a y I had the chance to buy two of them second-hand...(don't think they are common in GB, even in GER still quite unknown, and for the older models 'almost no way to get them') - so I made the deal. Small monitors - like my Epos in black-ash - but more homelike (the only minus for the epos after about 24 years of ownership).
I won't give the EPOS away, anyway, after hearing so many other speakers which did not conquer them. However, that's the opinion of one who has limitations in living conditions (right expression?). It could be I would prefer other speakers in home without any neighbours...

Finally, one remark to the alternative epos stands (which were the reason for me to join this forum): I wrote to the distributor of those stands, of course, but:...they are no longer available (and distributor was not able/willing to give any more technical specifications). Seems that I have to wait another thousand years to find those stands as second hand - as for the Sehrings...

Ralf

[YNWaN]

Hello Mark, sorry, I'm not a native speaker. Therefore - just for the reason to not misunderstand you. What does this mean?
- Did you decide to "reengineer" your whole system...so finally the Epos found their master (in better loudspeakers) or
- does this quote mean that it took a long time (and much money) to find out what's the best backend for the Epos'Es?

Hi Ralf (your English is excellent by the way), I meant a bit of both with regard to the ES14 replacements. I eventually replaced them with Yamaha NS-1000M's but they had to be heavily rebuilt and ended up being driven semi-active (active drive to the bass drivers) - so a much larger speaker and a much more elaborate solution in total (modified cabinets, external passive crossovers, super tweeters, custom stands, separate power amp for the bass drivers with active crossover and DSP).

The problem with ES14's is, in my opinion, that they are too cheap - as such they are often partnered with budget or mid level sources and amplification; they really deserve (and need) the best source and amplification.

[EposEs14]

Hi Mark,

thank you for your explanations and commendation ;-).

"The problem with ES14's is, in my opinion, that they are too cheap - as such they are often partnered with budget or mid level sources and amplification; they really deserve (and need) the best source and amplification. "

Yes and no:
Yes:
I agree with you that - as far as the former prices for new ones are concerned, and compared to what they offer - they were too cheap...and therefore often run on systems which do not tap their full potential.
No:
1. I believe that hifi-equipment should match with different components und shouldn't be too choosy.
2. Although they might have been too cheap - compared to the original prices - second-hand market has already recognized their potential, at least in Germany. Just now, a pair of ES 14 is at e... for 750 € - not a bargain if you know the price they had been offered in the 90'.

But finally - that doesn't matter at all. I am glad to have two of them.

Ralf

[YNWaN]

I also have two pairs :).