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Back with ES14s again!

david ellwood said:
Sara’s and ES14’s are similar in as much as they both have incredible strengths in one area, but weaknesses in another. They are the antithesis of each other , I can’t imagine someone liking both.
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I like both David .. what would you consider to be the weakness in the 14's ?
 
w00fer said:
Am I right in thinking that ES14s are a bit of a marmite speaker? Seem to recall hearing some disobliging things about them, as well as the opposite. (As a fan of Naim speakers I am not unfamiliar...)
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Well, I guess they are. If you like what they do, which is an incredible midband and imaging, I can't think of anything better for anywhere near the money.
Depends what you listen to I would imagine. Listened to Exile tonight and found myself jigging about the room, very odd.
Exile is always rubbish on any hi-fi and it was but jig I did.
 
MVV said:
Well, I guess they are. If you like what they do, which is an incredible midband and imaging, I can't think of anything better for anywhere near the money.
Depends what you listen to I would imagine. Listened to Exile tonight and found myself jigging about the room, very odd.
Exile is always rubbish on any hi-fi and it was but jig I did.
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I can certainly see the appeal of great midband and imaging. (The former also a Rega Ela thing? Not sure about the latter.) I guess folk wouldn't say my Naim Intros do amazing imaging, but right now I've got a very plausible orchestra spread out in front of me...

I don't know Exile - Google says an American band formed 1963, a Japanese boy band, or a Taylor Swift track. Crikey, what a choice!
 
w00fer said:
Am I right in thinking that ES14s are a bit of a marmite speaker? Seem to recall hearing some disobliging things about them, as well as the opposite. (As a fan of Naim speakers I am not unfamiliar...)
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Possibly but I think more down to room and maybe system.

I tried ES14’s in one house and thought them pretty dreadful. In my current house/room, they sound superb.
 
w00fer said:
I can certainly see the appeal of great midband and imaging. (The former also a Rega Ela thing? Not sure about the latter.) I guess folk wouldn't say my Naim Intros do amazing imaging, but right now I've got a very plausible orchestra spread out in front of me...

I don't know Exile - Google says an American band formed 1963, a Japanese boy band, or a Taylor Swift track. Crikey, what a choice!
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Exile On Main Street, not a favourite with audiophiles.
 
david ellwood said:
ES11 is a more rounded design with less obvious foibles. Not as good as the ES14 at the stuff the 14 does well, but better in every other area.
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Hmmm; I've yet to find anything that, overall, I prefer to the ES11s - some that better them in various ways, certainly, but I keep coming back to the ES11s, for their well-timed, upbeat, rhythmically accomplished, and above all, expressive, engaging 'music making' (to my ears; YMMV).
(FTR, couldn't care less about soundstage, imaging etc.)

I've never tried the ES14s (never been able to find a suitably decent pair to take a chance on), but always wondered if they might be the ones to finally better the 11s?

BTW, am I correct in thinking that you (much?) prefer Linn electronics to (Vereker era) Naim?

(apologies to the OP for the thread hijack)
 
I like both sara's and es14's. I had the epos and my mate had the saras,both driven by naim amps 250 in my case and 140 in my mates system.both systems sounded good for their respective rooms to me.
Rgds
Stuart
 
w00fer said:
True that. You mentioning ears prompts thought of how different things sound if I use my fingers to change the shape of my ears even just very slightly. Then look at how ears vary in shape and size between individuals and it seems unsurprising that different people like different speakers, and different kit in general.
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...although many of us have adjusted to the sound of our own ears, presumably.
 
david ellwood said:
With bungs out , one note bass, hard treble.

With bungs in , three note bass , shut in sound , poor imaging, hard treble.
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I must have had several very anomalous pairs then.

It is certainly true that you need to tune the backwards-firing port - I find a pair of socks often works - depending on placement, but most speakers need careful placement.

It's also suggested that any hardness in treble is cured by replacing the now-quite-old capacitor on the tweeter. I've done that with a couple of pairs and liked the result.
 
I wonder what the reason was to stop producing these. I’ve had mine for years.
Any other reason than what I guess maybe production and material costs would have hiked the price if they were made today.
 
david ellwood said:
With bungs out , one note bass, hard treble.

With bungs in , three note bass , shut in sound , poor imaging, hard treble.
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Well that doesn’t accord with my experience.

Bungs out - meh. Bloated bass.

Bungs in - truly fantastic imaging, hollographic midrange, no harshness, excellent and tight bass. Gloriously musical. mk1’s with original capacitor.

Maybe the room you listened to them in didn’t work or your amp wasn’t a good match.
 
sonddek said:
...although many of us have adjusted to the sound of our own ears, presumably.
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Yes I was wondering about that. Does everybody normalize the sound their ears deliver, such that everyone's inner experience of sound is the same, or does what we individually experience - and get used to - reflect the quirks of our ears, so we all experience a different presentation w.r.t. brightness etc?

I guess people with bright hearing (whether or not normalization occurs) would want a less bright sound from their system, and those with less bright hearing would want a brighter system.

Is that a reasonable way of thinking about it?
 
samz said:
I wonder what the reason was to stop producing these
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I believe they were quite expensive or special in hand-build manufacture or he soon after sold on the company.
My favorite were the little ES12, also 11, the 14 never really worked in my room.

Would love getting my hands on the new 14n, silly price but great sound.
 
Not much of the original ES14 left with the new design if it needs such a complex crossover.

Plus, as you say, at these prices, HiFi is dead. It's all Bluetooth Boomboxes and phones/streaming for the kids.
We're a dying breed.
 
topa said:
Not much of the original ES14 left with the new design if it needs such a complex crossover.

Plus, as you say, at these prices, HiFi is dead. It's all Bluetooth Boomboxes and phones/streaming for the kids.
We're a dying breed.
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Dying breed but a few of my 30 years old nephews are going back to vinyls with small integrated such as the Rega IO so I see some hope !
Don’t know yet if they are true audiophiles or hipsters though.
 
topa said:
Not much of the original ES14 left
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Absolutely nothing but the name

I do however believe the designer is a talented chap
ES14n sounded great when I demoed them

I criticized price level but TBH there are many silly++ priced loudspeakers I wouldn't give room for, I would for these, even the aparte looks.
 
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