Help identifying and restoring Epicure speakers

[efrance45]

Hi all! Yesterday an old record store near me had a $1 sale to get rid of old speakers and stereo equipment, and I found a pair of old Epicure speakers that seemed promising enough to restore. Right now I haven't tested any parts for functionality due to being busy with college classes, but I'd love help ID'ing them. To me, they look like an early Epicure Model 10 or Model 100, but I'm not sure which series or when they were produced. I think they have the first cloth inverted dome, but the grill shape is different than most picture I saw online.

I'll be testing the speakers and pulling drivers for model numbers within the next day or so! One woofer has some intense suspension sag, so i have it upside down currently to counteract that a bit before testing and possibly refoaming. However, it seems like both woofers might actually be functional after trying to center the voice coil by hand. One of the drivers is clearly a replacement, but I'm not sure which of the two, and also I'm wondering if it was a factory replacement or not. Thanks in advance for help!

 

[RTally]

The baffle and grill are not like any I have seen. Interesting that one woofer has 8 fasteners and other has 4.

I suggest measuring the cabinet. The dimensions may be the best way to identify the speakers using the info on the Human Speakers website.

 

[efrance45]

After some quick measurements, the cabinets are 22" tall by 12" wide by 9.5" deep, including the front baffle protrusion. Without, they are 9" deep. From this Human speakers webpage, they appear to be a mix of the two generations of The Epicure 10, with the earlier tweeter, but later driver positioning. The blue woofer seems to be original as per the same web page, but I'm still unsure about the black woofer. The grill also reminds me of the later version shown on the webpage, but I haven't been able to find any with similar baffles.

 

[Mrpajamas]

After some quick measurements, the cabinets are 22" tall by 12" wide by 9.5" deep, including the front baffle protrusion. Without, they are 9" deep. From this Human speakers webpage, they appear to be a mix of the two generations of The Epicure 10, with the earlier tweeter, but later driver positioning. The blue woofer seems to be original as per the same web page, but I'm still unsure about the black woofer. The grill also reminds me of the later version shown on the webpage, but I haven't been able to find any with similar baffles.

You are correct. These are Epicure 10's with original Burhoe design tweeters - Woofer that has "black" cone is a original EPI unit that appears to have replaced the original blue cone unit at some point in its life ( After EPI ran out of blue cones they substituted the newer woofer with charcoal black cones- performance is the same just a different color.) The Blue coned woofers were used in the early Epicure series ( The tweeter was later replaced with a 5" cast aluminum face plate with Epicure logo and utilized a phenolic one piece diaphragm.) Only concern I see from photo is to check that the black cone/VC is still attached (glued) to the voice coil and is not lose before you reform. If the spider is sagging severely it should be replaced so that the voice coil / cone do not bottom out hitting the back plate as you can damage the voice coil. If I can help out further let us know. Enjoy - Very nice speakers when up and running and "sing" very well.

 

[SiliconTi]

https://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epimodels.htm#te

 

[efrance45]

You are correct. These are Epicure 10's with original Burhoe design tweeters - Woofer that has "black" cone is a original EPI unit that appears to have replaced the original blue cone unit at some point in its life ( After EPI ran out of blue cones they substituted the newer woofer with charcoal black cones- performance is the same just a different color.) The Blue coned woofers were used in the early Epicure series ( The tweeter was later replaced with a 5" cast aluminum face plate with Epicure logo and utilized a phenolic one piece diaphragm.) Only concern I see from photo is to check that the black cone/VC is still attached (glued) to the voice coil and is not lose before you reform. If the spider is sagging severely it should be replaced so that the voice coil / cone do not bottom out hitting the back plate as you can damage the voice coil. If I can help out further let us know. Enjoy - Very nice speakers when up and running and "sing" very well.

Thank you so much for the information! What would be the best way to figure out if the voice coil is still attached? I can take some more pictures later today of the suspension too.

Also, where is a good source to purchase new foams from?

 

[pdxtim]

Thank you so much for the information! What would be the best way to figure out if the voice coil is still attached? I can take some more pictures later today of the suspension too.

Also, where is a good source to purchase new foams from?

I've ordered foam kits from Simply Speakers (https://www.simplyspeakers.com/epi-foam-edge-repair-kit-fsk-8.html) and also from Speaker Works (https://www.speakerworks.com/8-inch-speaker-repair-kit-p/swk8a.htm). I think those links for your speakers are correct but you should double check to be sure.

I've used the rubber cement type glue from Simply Speakers and the latex glue from Speaker Works and both worked well. One consideration though is the latex glue is easier to soften and remove if you don't align the surround correctly and you end up with some rubbing.

You may also want to replace the speaker capacitor if it's the original black/red cap. I'm currently working on some EPI 90s and just ordered a pair of 10 uF Clarity PX caps. From looking at the Human Speakers schematic I think your speakers have the same caps.