https://lancaster.craigslist.org/ele/d/epicure-m400-solid-walnut/6637950478.html
Very hard to find. Decent price? Not my ad!!
Very hard to find. Decent price? Not my ad!!
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Epicure 400+ in South Central PA
- Thread starter MER71
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rmeade
Super Member
I have a pair and I think that their asking price is on the high side.These speakers are complicated; they have placement issues (far from wall- middle of room). At this point all (8) of the 6" woofers will need to be re-foamed (I had to do this) as well as the capacitors. Given all of this , a price south of $100 would be more appropriate (in my opinion).
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Wow a c-note is all a big speaker is worth? I understand the work involved but would hope the results would be a lot better than all those bookshelf speakers that sell for 100-200 bucks.
savatage1973
Addicted Member
Unfortunately, in many cases--YES. Unlike a lot of US, most people are "downsizing", and big heavy speakers can be hard to move--both in terms of selling them, and physically moving/storing/shipping them. If you were to do the work yourself, the foams and caps alone are probably >$100. Lancaster is not that big of a market, so most likely, someone is going to have to drive some distance to go get them. I don't recall them being on anyone's "top 10" list either, which doesn't help.
If they were $100, I would have bought them. Not sure if they would beat out my Polk SDA-1A. Lancaster is sure a tough market for high end stuff. Foams and caps shouldn't be over $100.
savatage1973
Addicted Member
I don't think I'd have run for them at $100--like I mentioned, I don't recall them being on anyone's "top 10" list back in the day. I don't think they'd even touch your Polks. Lancaster is definitely a tough market, but so is mine about equal distance from Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh out in the stix, but people will make the trek, and I have a secondary residence/office in Pittsburgh.
It would be easy to crack the $100 mark for foams and caps--there are 8 woofers to refoam, and then the crossovers (I assume they are not too complex, but still going to be a few bucks there).
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Yes Lancaster is a tough market. I got a KD-600 tonearm cartridge Crown preamp with power supply MC phono amp and cabinets for about a penny on the dollar a few years ago. Short 40 minute drive.
Redoing the woofers and one has 8 tweeters and 8 woofers. Worth more than the cost of admission as parts. But the woofers are for the smaller EPIs.
Redoing the woofers and one has 8 tweeters and 8 woofers. Worth more than the cost of admission as parts. But the woofers are for the smaller EPIs.
Everyone is assuming that they need to be refoamed, but there's a decent chance that they have rubber surrounds.
rmeade
Super Member
What is the condition?
The screens are nailed (brass nails) so you probably need to buy them without seeing the woofers. I had to re-foam all 8 of mine, as mentioned. I broke some of the screens in the removal process. They like lots of power, do you have this? As I mentioned before they want to be placed in the center-line of the room. In addition the glue used to assemble the boxes had dried and I had to re-glue the boxes. Probably the most needy speakers that I have purchased (with the exception of the AR3a).
They are interesting to listen to, though. But represent a 'unique' acquisition. They are not better or worse than anything else I have, different.
They are not easy to sell and I still hold to my opinion that something under $100 is more appropriate. The pair that I bought were listed for a long time. I watched patiently and offered $50, it was accepted. When I arrived the owner said, on his own, that he would accept $35. This was a few years ago.
good luck with your decision.
The screens are nailed (brass nails) so you probably need to buy them without seeing the woofers. I had to re-foam all 8 of mine, as mentioned. I broke some of the screens in the removal process. They like lots of power, do you have this? As I mentioned before they want to be placed in the center-line of the room. In addition the glue used to assemble the boxes had dried and I had to re-glue the boxes. Probably the most needy speakers that I have purchased (with the exception of the AR3a).
They are interesting to listen to, though. But represent a 'unique' acquisition. They are not better or worse than anything else I have, different.
They are not easy to sell and I still hold to my opinion that something under $100 is more appropriate. The pair that I bought were listed for a long time. I watched patiently and offered $50, it was accepted. When I arrived the owner said, on his own, that he would accept $35. This was a few years ago.
good luck with your decision.
That's a great price. Run...
Owning both, I can tell you that the Epicure 400+ sounds better than the much more common EPI 400 version, even though the only real difference is that the drivers are placed a lot higher in the cabinets in the 400+.
I always marvel at the people that assume butyl rubber surrounds are impervious to breakdown, and will never fail. That is most assuredly not the case. They can last up to twice as long as foam, under the right conditions, but, if exposed to tobacco smoke, and/or direct sunlight, to any great extent, they will fail, and spectacularly so. Either way, with these speakers being 30+ years of age, figure that they will need new surrounds, if they have not been done already.
Grill removal is best accomplished with a small allen wrench. Clamp the long end in a pair of locking pliers, and insert the short end alongside the grill, and parallel to the face. When it hits the baffle, turn it 90 degrees, and gently begin to pull the grill out, sliding along, searching for nails. With patience, and a bit of luck, you can remove the grill without cracking the Masonite frame.
