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EPI Speakers Appreciation

corbin said:
One thing I learned when recapping my EPI 70s is that a poly cap will pass slightly more high frequencies than an electrolytic capacitor, especially an old electrolytic, due to ESR differences. So it makes sense that replacing the old cap with a new polypropylene (or film and foil) would emphasize the treble a bit more.

I was so worried that installing a poly cap would alter the frequency balance of the speaker, that I went through the trouble of installing an L-pad in series when I recapped my EPI 70s, so I could dial down the tweeter if necessary. It turned out to be ultimately unnecessary, as there is no harshness up top even with the L-pad in the max position.
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Totally agree with your ears. No harshness, just sparkle and a little more richness. Especially with the first gen masonite tweeter. I think the gold ring are my favorite.
 
I know the 80s Magnus line doesn't get much respect, but I knew a couple of people who had these back in the day and thought they sounded really impressive. Could have been my 18 year old ears... But they were my first hands-on experience with EPI and I liked them.
 
I've done a bit of critical listening A/Bing my EPIs in sig with my BA A150s. Both speakers are hooked up to the A/B outputs on my Sony STR-6060FW. Source is a relatively inexpensive chi-fi DAC, the Topping D30. I have a library of FLAC files which I used during the listening, mostly well-recorded 70s rock (Supertramp, Fleetwood Mac, John Lennon, Pink Floyd), but I also listened to some modern synthesized music and acoustic.

Up until now, I've not really been able to put my finger on why I prefer the EPIs, only that their smoothness makes them easier to listen to for long periods of time. This quality is important to be since I'm more likely to have music on as background music rather than dedicated listening "sessions". The Bostons are the much bigger, more expensive speaker - they should sound better. Indeed, they play bigger, louder, and deeper than the EPIs. Switching between the two, the EPIs impart a coloration/boxiness that isn't apparent with the BAs - I guess that's what triple the price and several years development gets you. Acoustic instruments, especially strings, tend to sound more realistic and crisp on the BAs. Overall, they are more accurate. Yet, for whatever reason, I find myself going back to the little EPIs. It seems to be a combination of less detail (not a huge amount less), and a more forward midrange which make for easier listening. It's easier to pick up the melody with the midrange out front - whereas on the BAs I find myself straining a bit to hear lyrics or soft guitar.
 
Oddly on Human Speakers the 70s are designated "EPI 70" whereas all the other models have an "M" before the model, e.g. "M50, M60, M100".

I'm finding EPI 70s a great match with the Nakamichi SR-3A. This combo makes my digital source sound very smooth. It's hard to find a track that sounds strident, just the "makes everything sound good" quality I look for in a vintage system. At the same time I don't feel I'm missing out on much detail.

The smaller 6" EPIs are the gems of the range IMO. The cabinets are smaller so they don't need as much internal bracing, and the 6" woofer handles the midrange better than the 8". Really a great foundation for a bedroom or office vintage setup.
 
Back when I lived in a party house in college that we called the "Morrison Hotel", one roommate had EPI A240's hooked up to a Carver Cube. Wow is all I can say. Those speakers sounded good and were very efficient as well. Put out a lot of good sound.
 
Own a pair of walnut veneer 100s - very early serial numbers with no tweeter controls. I replaced the one cap in each speaker and other than that they are bone stock standard. They sound great with several small vintage amps including my Leak Delta 30 and NAD 3020. I've sold quite a few speakers over the last few years but I just love the simplicity of the EPI M100 so they're not going anywhere anytime soon :-)
 
I restored a set of A300s a year ago and they are my bedroom speaker. Fantastic treble and bass. A little thin in the mids but Im only driving it with a 25WPC HK 430. Despite that I cant tell you how many times they sucked me and I find myself in bed (the sweet spot) with them cranked up just jamming out unexpectedly. I should really try driving them with more power. I rescued them from a guy that was going to destroy the cabinets to make shelves :eek:

Beautiful walnut veneers to boot. Debated upgrading the tweeter to one of the Human Speakers titanium one many times. Someday....
 
coonmanx said:
Back when I lived in a party house in college that we called the "Morrison Hotel", one roommate had EPI A240's hooked up to a Carver Cube. Wow is all I can say. Those speakers sounded good and were very efficient as well. Put out a lot of good sound.
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Funny. When I lived in a party house with 3 other guys at college in New Orleans- everyone dubbed our house 'Animal House'. You had much nicer gear in yours! On the upside- with nothing nice to break we could play floor hockey in the house lol.
 
Crang said:
Funny. When I lived in a party house with 3 other guys at college in New Orleans- everyone dubbed our house 'Animal House'. You had much nicer gear in yours! On the upside- with nothing nice to break we could play floor hockey in the house lol.
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We did get so many people that at one point someone actually cracked a beam in the basement because he was jumping around in a crazy manner. At least the turntable was mounted on the wall and usually it would not skip. But the Carver/EPI combination sounded good. And got plenty loud as well. Down the street was the Blue Barn where a guy had a Nikko separates/Polk system that rocked. And then there were parties at Acid House where at Christmas they decorated the tree with joints. Pretty sure they also had a good system....
 
I found some M150s in a thrift store some years ago, great for a small to mid-sized room. I don't want it any louder than they can go in that room, powered by a vintage remote control Onkyo TX series receiver. Keeping that little system.
 
Qtronic said:
I have 100s and a new to me set of M202, rubber surrounds are shot, I have the new surrounds here and ready to install, other than that they’re minty.

I like your theory on the roll off and chokes Akustic! :music:
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I'm just old enough to have been listening and paying attention when very few speakers had a choke, and then in the late 60's and early 70's when everything seemed to grow a choke, I noticed that the midrange was often "depressed" or lacking .. I think that it was "presence" that I was missing, so I forever and always blamed the chokes ..
Looked into a bit and noted that air cores were preferred over iron cores, but could only find a couple of designers who were really chasing that dragon ..
I think that I recall that Burhoe, and I think Richard Vandersteen writing about it ..but that was long ago ..
 
Just walked in the door with a pair of T/E 100's I picked up this morning at a tag sale for 30 bucks. Haven't even had a chance to hook them up yet, but they're in pretty excellent shape aside from one of the woofers starting to disintegrate. I'll be re-doing them in the near future if they work OK. Glad to see some respect for these on AK...these are my first Epicures!
 
EPI M-1000 towers are among the very speakers, at any price, that I've heard. Back in college i worked at a Hi-Fi store run by college students. We tortured all kinds of hi to gear. If I have money space, I would take the M-1000s over any speaker . They need a large room plenty of clean power. We sold the entire EPI line and they bargains at every price point.
 
A pair of EPI 120s were my second set of speakers, replacing a pair of BIC Formula 2s. I was using a Marantz 1070 integrated amp, a Sansui TU 7700 tuner and a BIC 940 TT with a Shure M91 ED cart. Sound was great....it was so smooth, and so musical, and the Marantz could provide enough punch to really feel the bass that the 10" woofer and large enclosure could produce. I loved that system. In a moment of downsizing I sold the 120s, replacing them with a set of Celestial DL8s. Not a bad speaker, by any means (I still have them), But I do miss those EPIs. Maybe someday, again...
 
I once owned a pair of Model 2.0 but sold them to a friend recently. I liked them a lot, but he liked them better. I still have a recapped pair of EPI 200C and a recapped pair of EPI 180, which was the reason I was able to part with the Model 2.0 pair that were not recapped.
 
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I have a pair of EPI M1000's that I run with a tube preamp and a Yamaha PC2002, they are exceptional speakers.

I ran them for a while with 2 x PC2002's in bridged mode but found that I prefer them with the single amp.
 
EPI M50's and 180's here and both are excellent. I hope to land a set of M100's soon. Back in the mid to late 70's, there was only one local audio chain that sold EPI's and I never took them seriously. Not sure why, as they are terrific sounding especially for their size/price. A local friend has a pair of 350's and they sound amazing.
 
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