Old receiver new speakers

czakky said:
.. My main shortcomings with my EPI 120s are the highs seem to break up, just aren’t very clear. Maybe a bit more volume would be cool at times too.
Will check out for sure though!
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Sliphorn said:
Perhaps your epi’s are not up to snuff. They are not known to have poor highs, highs that break up. Nope. Why buy used when you can rebuild yours, easily by the way, and then you’ll have a great sounding pair of speakers with fresh parts?
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czakky said:
Does a guy start by replacing the tweeter? Is there a guide/tutorial on speaker repair?
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One of the cool things about EPI, is the dedicated service/help/assistance not to mention parts availability that HUMAN Speakers offer.

For the 3 to 4 hundred your considering spending you could put less then half of that into getting new parts.

Let's say the tweeters are the issue, replacing them is as simple as unscrewing them, then unclipping the internal wires.

Another thought is refreshing the the crossover with a recap however if it's not something you can do you'd be better served having sent off to HUMAN
 
I’m capable of soldering, etc. I am able to work a multi-meter but have no access to anything more technical than that, I.e. oscilloscope.
I wasn’t sure if that HUMAN website was still active. Maybe I can try that route.
 
czakky said:
I’m capable of soldering, etc. I am able to work a multi-meter but have no access to anything more technical than that, I.e. oscilloscope.
I wasn’t sure if that HUMAN website was still active. Maybe I can try that route.
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Test the drivers of your EPIs using your multimeter. If good - and they likely will be - then recap them and make sure they are well sealed. This will make them as good as they are going to get.

Do this before any considerations of buying "upgraded" drivers for them.
 
EPI speakers are in general beloved here on AK and rightly so.

I believe the gentleman name who runs the site & service is named Hew? Hugh? and from what I've read he's easy to work with.

Before contacting do what @spark1 suggests
 
Save up some more money. You'll have more and better options (old and new) if you do. Spending $400 on speakers won't get much better than what you already have.
 
I love ADS as well. The 810's are very nice, but if I recall they really want alotta power to get em going.. I have an HK 330c in my shop running an old 1960's pair of Khorns.. I like it a lot. The speakers that the HK 330c came with the HK are Bozak B199s , 12" woofer, 2- 3"tweeters in beautiful mahogany cabinets that I built matching floor risers for.. I have never seen another pair. My guess is from early 1960's.

I am not using the speakers.. If your local I bet we could work something out. I am in Maine
 
spark1 said:
Test the drivers of your EPIs using your multimeter. If good - and they likely will be - then recap them and make sure they are well sealed. This will make them as good as they are going to get.

Do this before any considerations of buying "upgraded" drivers for them.
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If you decide to go a different direction, seek speakers with higher sensitivity....at least 90-92dB. Your HK amp is nice, but 20 watts is probably not enough for the relatively low sensitivity of your EPIs if you want to be able to listen loud on occasion...especially if you have the bass boosted or the loudness switch turned on. The Klipsch you are considering would check this box (the previous poster is flat wrong about them).
 
Well the difference between the two is about 16 wpc, and yes, it did make a difference.

As much as I like the Klipsch rp600m’s, they’re nowhere near 96db efficient
 
Hello, my experience tells me that for high efficiency low wattage combos, drivers using edge wound aluminum voicecoils are best. That is just my opinion. My moniker is an Altec/JBL design that were used with a Sansui 221 for many years when I was a teenager, and the tiny 8 watt
amplifier was more than enough to power these speakers, which were originally designed to be used with small tube amplifiers of maybe 5 watts. Later, I used them with the monster Kenwood KR9600, and of course they sounded much better, but I never really had to go over 15 watts On the meters.
 
tonyk said:
Well the difference between the two is about 16 wpc, and yes, it did make a difference.

As much as I like the Klipsch rp600m’s, they’re nowhere near 96db efficient
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You said at least 30. Thirty less 23 = 7W.

But even at 16W, the difference is only +1.9dBSPL. Perceived loudness increase of only 10%, and of course this is at full output.
 
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czakky said:
@Sliphorn, I might have some homework to do…..
Does a guy start by replacing the tweeter? Is there a guide/tutorial on speaker repair?

This’ll be fun!
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There is alot of info at the human speakers website. Additionally you can call Huw, he is very helpful. If I can do it you can do it. It was easy and fun.
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I personally prefer to use speakers in a two speaker stack. My bedroom is a pair of DCM TimeFrame TF400s on top of JBL L36s. My living room system has DCM TF600s over a pair of Klipsch Chorus's. My work room has a set of DCM CX-17s over top of TimeWindow 1s. Some people do not approve of this but the majority of professional systems utilize speaker stacks and nobody disapprove them for doing so. My stacks seem to create a situation where the one speaker fill the gap of missing frequencies from the other speaker making a superb sounding system; so buy a new pair of speakers and put them on top of your old speakers and see if you like that combination that melds with them together. If you don't like that, then go with your new speakers. It is worth a try. I like all my combos. Have fun!!!!
 
I really appreciate all the feedback!

I think the plan now will be to re-cap the EPIs and save/look for some cool high sensitivity speakers used.

@Pup, I’d take you up on that except I’m way over in SW Wisconsin

@KingBubba, if my wife would let me go full wall of sound I would! Sounds awesome!
 
rickb119 said:
I'll cast another vote for ADS. Rubber surrounds, quality crossover components, high sensitivity (92-94db), many/most have real wood veneer and all have the sound you're looking for.

Here's a little 'light' ;) reading on the lineup. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/a-d-s-line-pecking-order.44406/
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I have L520s and L420s, love them both. Got lucky here in Des Moines when these came up from a flipper about 8 years ago - haven't seen any since.

My sense is that the brand is fairly uncommon in the Midwest - or that people that have them, hang onto them - tightly - aka "my precious" kind of tightly...

They are worth a drive to get. They pop up along the east coast and in the Carolinas much more frequently than here...

I keep my eye out for three-way ones, but I'll be more likely to spot a four-leaf clover first...
 
Good luck with the EPI recap, I've not owned any of those but I hear good things and the work will no doubt help them sound a bit better...
 
Another great sounding and efficient speakers are the Snell KII. I just reformed mine, they sound great with my Bottlehead SEX amplifier producing two watts of power.
 
I found some AR4x and am having a blast! The upgrade over my EPIs may be negligible if any. I could find faults/highs with both.
I’m curious though if there’s a worthwhile upgrade for my “Auris blueme” Bluetooth receiver? Am I playing my self upgrading to a DAC? I’m mostly confused…
 
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