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Is the EPI 70 any good? collectible?

lordfoo

lordfoo

Active Member
Tis Friday so i passed by a thrift shop i didn't visit the previous Friday and saw a pair of small new england speakers. (Yes i visit them shops in rotation and last week i picked up a JBl in the other thrift shop.)

This pair of EPI 70 bookshelves were sitting on the selves waiting for repair. The store was having the surrounds replaced but I can probably get a shot at them when these have been repaired.

Are these good speakers? Anyone with experience with these model?
I checked the net saw this picture:

epi70.htm


thanks and best regards,
Foo
 
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thanks.

in the same store, there is another EPI, an EPI 100v but they had no woofer drivers. The sales person i talked to didnt know where the woofers went. He said their store usually buys speakers with damaged but complete drivers. I thought somebody may have the drivers repaired but not dice...its been months and the 100v is still sitting on the shelves without woofer drivers.

Now i was thinking... would the 100v and the 70 have the same tweeters?
Maybe i can talk the sales guy to sell me the both 70 and the 100v and i'd have a spare pair of EPI tweeters.
 
The 70 and the 100 have the same tweeter.

I'm not sure I'd call these "collectible", but they are a VERY nice sounding small bookshelf speaker. It all depends on how much they want.

As always, Human Speakers will have all poop on 'em.
 
The Model 70 is a FANTASTIC speaker, and is seriously under-rated in most audio circles. It actually has better mids than its big brother, the 100.

And with the vented cabinet, it doesn't give up a whole lot of bass output compared to the 100, either. Nice, satisfying punch and reach...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I agree, the 70s are good sounding speakers. They do have better midrange than the 100s because of the smaller woofer. The tweeters are identical and excellent sounding. Thats one of the major strengths of these (to me). The woofers are great sounding too. I have 2 pair of 100s (V & W) and 1 pair of the 70s. I try to get every pair of each model that I can find... Collectible? I wouldn't say they were worth a bunch of money but they sound so good; why sell them?
 
And with the vented cabinet, it doesn't give up a whole lot of bass output compared to the 100, either. Nice, satisfying punch and reach...
Click to expand...

I've never seen an EPI 70 with a vented cabinet. The pair I had (and gave to my daughter) certainly weren't.

lordfoo, are the ones you found vented?
 
pmsummer said:
I've never seen an EPI 70 with a vented cabinet. The pair I had (and gave to my daughter) certainly weren't.

lordfoo, are the ones you found vented?
Click to expand...

Mine are... they're the later model 70V. At least the 70W and 70V were ported. Mine have the expanded-foam grilles and the brass trim around the grilles. Woofers with blue/gray cones.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
Back in the early 1980's I used a pair of early version EPI 70's as car speakers in the back of my VW GTI as car speakers typically didn't sound very good back then. My previous car speakers were a pair of Tandberg Fassetts that got stolen, so I purchased the EPI's as replacements. When I sold the GTI in 1984 I took the drivers out of the 70's cabinets and mounted them on the rear package tray shelf of my new 1985 Honda Civic 4 door sedan after a bit of hacksaw modification to the rear package tray. The flimsy stamped steel of the package tray backing wasn't a very solid mounting surface for the woofers, but along with my Concord head unit it sounded better than most low dollar car stereos at the time. When I finally sold the Civic a few years later the speakers went with it.......
 
GordonW said:
Mine are... they're the later model 70V. At least the 70W and 70V were ported. Mine have the expanded-foam grilles and the brass trim around the grilles. Woofers with blue/gray cones.

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...

Gordon, you sure you haven't been "improving" those old EPI 70s? ;)
 
Definitely a good speaker. I've had a pair for over a year and find them an easy listen, non fatiguing speaker. Mine are not vented though, news to me. Terrible speaker terminals.
 
If there are vented EPIs I would be surprised- the classic models were all acoustic suspension.

I have a pair of M60s and there would be no reason to port those puppies, they have wonderfully deep bass. Amazing highs to boot.
 
GordonW said:
Mine are... they're the later model 70V. At least the 70W and 70V were ported. Mine have the expanded-foam grilles and the brass trim around the grilles. Woofers with blue/gray cones.

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...

Which tweeter design are on yours, Gordon? Innie or outie?

These sound like something from the Harman/Kardon era of EPI.

Got pics?
 
pmsummer said:
Which tweeter design are on yours, Gordon? Innie or outie?

These sound like something from the Harman/Kardon era of EPI.

Got pics?
Click to expand...

Nope... black-face inverted dome with gold trim. Same as the 200Bs and such. 1978, or thereabouts.

Believe me, these ARE from the classic era. Same grille style (open-cell expanded foam) as the pair of 200Bs I had for sale a while back. Harman never used the expanded foam grilles... it was all cloth grilles, once they bought the company...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
I had not seen ported EPI's with the inverted tweet ether until recently and now i have seen several. They do exist.
 
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