I have never tried to review any hifi gear before, so apologies if my novice effort causes any angst amongst those who are rather more experienced.
I have a Naim 62/150X system, driven by a Beresford Bushmaster II DAC and either an iPod or Arcam CD 73T source. I have a selection of speakers, but that is another story and peripheral to this post. Let us just say that my favourites are a pair of Epos ES14s from the early 90s. I love them, but one has a minor fault and I suspect that they might survive a while longer if I have them for occasional use. So, I have been looking around, and my eyes settled on the new Epos K2. Yesterday my local dealer dropped off a pair for a week's home demo. This demo set has a few months under its belt, so what I am hearing should be the full effect post run-in.
I had already decided that I wanted them in black, but the demo set are white and are actually quite stylish. They do have quite a striking appearance with the white case contrasting with the black drive units. My walls are white and they blend in and I am already rethinking whether black is better as it might look a bit blocky.
I originally positioned them, using the supplied spikes and floor protectors (my landlord loves me), 20cm from the rear wall as per the Epos manual. However, they did boom a little and so I have them around 25cm out. It is surprising how much difference a small movement made and clearly the front port design has not removed the need for a little space around them. I have toed them in slightly, Epos says it is not quite so important, but the treble seems clearer that way.
The initial impressions are very positive. The most striking point is that these have a much more bass orientated set-up than the ES14s, where the bass was well controlled but dealt out a little meanly on occasions. The K2 has smaller cones, but they work hard, and there is a nice weight that adds gravitas to the music. The treble is very detailed and not at all harsh, and the tonal balance seems about right for me. There is good staging and in some respects the clarity and transparency betters the ES14s (there has been a lot of speaker swapping today). I know that some people will not agree, but I sometimes thought that the ES14s had quite a laid back sound and could be very analytical in some ways. The K2 shares some of that character, but are clearly set up differently. I have fed them a diet of 80s and 90s electronic, through to modern popular ditties, and the K2 has done them justice. The music has very natural flow, individual instruments stand out clearly, and I am picking out details that I had not noticed before. In particular, that extra bass has texture and detail to it, rather than just being a lump of low down welly.
Are they keepers? Ask me in a week. I think that my problem is that my ears are tuned in to the ES14s and, as anybody who has owned them will testify, they are a difficult act to follow. I had a brief try at some Dynaudio Excite X12s, but they proved to be a bit brash for my liking. The extra bass was nice, but the treble got a bit shouty at times. I suspect that the K2s might well prove to be the solution, the treble is more refined and the bass is still there. I will keep feeding them CDs and try to be more decisive.
I have a Naim 62/150X system, driven by a Beresford Bushmaster II DAC and either an iPod or Arcam CD 73T source. I have a selection of speakers, but that is another story and peripheral to this post. Let us just say that my favourites are a pair of Epos ES14s from the early 90s. I love them, but one has a minor fault and I suspect that they might survive a while longer if I have them for occasional use. So, I have been looking around, and my eyes settled on the new Epos K2. Yesterday my local dealer dropped off a pair for a week's home demo. This demo set has a few months under its belt, so what I am hearing should be the full effect post run-in.
I had already decided that I wanted them in black, but the demo set are white and are actually quite stylish. They do have quite a striking appearance with the white case contrasting with the black drive units. My walls are white and they blend in and I am already rethinking whether black is better as it might look a bit blocky.
I originally positioned them, using the supplied spikes and floor protectors (my landlord loves me), 20cm from the rear wall as per the Epos manual. However, they did boom a little and so I have them around 25cm out. It is surprising how much difference a small movement made and clearly the front port design has not removed the need for a little space around them. I have toed them in slightly, Epos says it is not quite so important, but the treble seems clearer that way.
The initial impressions are very positive. The most striking point is that these have a much more bass orientated set-up than the ES14s, where the bass was well controlled but dealt out a little meanly on occasions. The K2 has smaller cones, but they work hard, and there is a nice weight that adds gravitas to the music. The treble is very detailed and not at all harsh, and the tonal balance seems about right for me. There is good staging and in some respects the clarity and transparency betters the ES14s (there has been a lot of speaker swapping today). I know that some people will not agree, but I sometimes thought that the ES14s had quite a laid back sound and could be very analytical in some ways. The K2 shares some of that character, but are clearly set up differently. I have fed them a diet of 80s and 90s electronic, through to modern popular ditties, and the K2 has done them justice. The music has very natural flow, individual instruments stand out clearly, and I am picking out details that I had not noticed before. In particular, that extra bass has texture and detail to it, rather than just being a lump of low down welly.
Are they keepers? Ask me in a week. I think that my problem is that my ears are tuned in to the ES14s and, as anybody who has owned them will testify, they are a difficult act to follow. I had a brief try at some Dynaudio Excite X12s, but they proved to be a bit brash for my liking. The extra bass was nice, but the treble got a bit shouty at times. I suspect that the K2s might well prove to be the solution, the treble is more refined and the bass is still there. I will keep feeding them CDs and try to be more decisive.
