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Upgrade from 30yr old Epos ES14s

You want floorstanders? And want something really good?

I'd add ESL63s to your shortlist.
 
I've been using es-14s on the end of Lp12/52/250/Fraim for seven or eight years now. Recently, I added a Rel S3 sub which really improved the sound in every way. Maybe worth a try in your setup.
 
Thanks for the replies. I've looked at all the suggested brands websites and am certainly more aware of possible alternatives, I hope to have a shortlist soon. BTW I am open to used as well as new options, but demos obviously not so easy. My past retail experience means I've heard and demonstrated and sold all the usual suspects often paired with Naim, i.e Rega ELA, Kan, Sara, Isobarik, SBL's etc, at the time I got the ES14s, not sure I want to revisit old relationships! Now, the main reason for considering small floorstanders was that, say being approx 75x 20x25cm in size, they have a smaller footprint, it gets rid of the to be honest, ugly black open frame stands, and makes use of the otherwise wasted volume of air therin. How about going the route of compact standmounts on single post unobtrusive high quality stands, almost near field monitor type arrangement with subwoofer. Except where to put the subwoofer! REL's literature also warns of "problems" connecting to monoblocks, but surely the 110's 0v ground is tied at the HiCap and common?
Oh Naimnut, I wish I had the space. Always loved the thinking behind electrostatics, many years since I heard some. Very special.
I wonder if Les W is selling Qudos boards yet...............
 
PS.... even if I do buy some more speakers, the ES14's will not be sold, they owe me nothing, they've given me lots and lots of pleasure over the years, and every now and then they can come down from the loft and have a boogie!
 
Good luck - I think it will be *very* hard to find a "better" speaker. That's not to say that it's the best speaker ever made, but it's one of the very few that can really communicate the essence of the music - a true classic.
 
if you are after a small footprint floor stander then pmc do some really nice ones I replaced my ES 14's first with Guru QM10's (which blew up) and then I bought some Dynaudio x32's for about 500 pounds as a fill in when the Gurus blew that was a year ago, Dynaudio have more expensive models and I would probably have gone for one of these at the time if I wasn't after a relatively cheap temporary speaker but as I said I haven't felt the need to rush out and buy another pair yet. One thing with the Dynaudios they are mostly only 4ohm and so don't know how that will be with your 110's.
 
@Pine Martin, I use a Rel Stadium sub with Naim Nap135's and have had no connection issues at all (for many years it was used with ES14's too).
 
I used to love my Epos ES14's but found them ever so dull and bass light.

In the end I bought Focal Electra 1028 Be loudspeakers which are significantly larger floor standers, have tonnes of bass but also have at least as good if not better vocal, which is what I felt the Epos excelled at.

My only suggestion is to try and then try some more, it took me about 10 years to find a suitable speaker to replace the Epos.
 
Having spent a fair bit of time with Epos 11 and 14s, i'd say that the midrange on both is particularly good, and you'll struggle to find something as good which doesn't have a dedicated midrange driver. I'd also say that the tweeters in the Epos speakers is the weak spot, and more modern designs definitely can improve on this aspect of the Epos speakers.

So, I think you are looking for a small floor standing speaker of 3 way design, with a modern expensive tweeter, all for £1500... Hmm...

If I were you, i'd probably investigate what PMC/ATC offer even if it's above your budget, and by comparison decide whether you are going to get something that seriously out-performs your current setup. It wouldn't surprise me if you find something better, but decide that it's much more than you want to spend.
 
If you find the ES14's dull then something was wrong.

It's common to blame the tweeter and it's true that it's easily excited by ragged sounding sources. However, I would say the real weakness is the way the mid/bass transfers to the tweeter; as the mid/bass is run completely open it relies entirely on the mechanical properties of the cone. I think a lot of the rough quality the tweeter is often blamed for is actually the sound of the mid/bass driver breaking up at the top of its frequency range (this occurs well into the range that is usually considered to be the treble domain). This issue is pretty much endemic to all speakers that use very minimalist, or no, crossover.
 
Yomanze said:
IMHO floorstanders just don't have the same coherency, lack of box colouration and timing as standmounts. It would be a real minefield switching, especially due to the initial impressiveness that 'bass weight' can impart - in the mids though it isn't the same, standmounts rule here.
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Unless they are Naim SBLs, if they count as floorstanders?

Tim
 
Hmm... the SBL is an interesting speaker, it's really quite a small two way that is aperiodic ported, but not into the room, into a secondary sealed enclosure. Ultimately I still preferred my ES14's, particularly in the mid range.
 
ES14 are quite possibly the worst speaker to ever pass through my room. After all the hype on pfm i was genuinely expecting something special.
 
Cesare said:
Having spent a fair bit of time with Epos 11 and 14s, i'd say that the midrange on both is particularly good, and you'll struggle to find something as good which doesn't have a dedicated midrange driver. I'd also say that the tweeters in the Epos speakers is the weak spot, and more modern designs definitely can improve on this aspect of the Epos speakers.

So, I think you are looking for a small floor standing speaker of 3 way design, with a modern expensive tweeter, all for £1500... Hmm...

If I were you, i'd probably investigate what PMC/ATC offer even if it's above your budget, and by comparison decide whether you are going to get something that seriously out-performs your current setup. It wouldn't surprise me if you find something better, but decide that it's much more than you want to spend.
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I'd suggest avoiding the latest 20* models as they don't do vocal very well.

ATC on the other hand would be worth a listen.
 
YNWOAN said:
If you find the ES14's dull then something was wrong.

It's common to blame the tweeter and it's true that it's easily excited by ragged sounding sources. However, I would say the real weakness is the way the mid/bass transfers to the tweeter; as the mid/bass is run completely open it relies entirely on the mechanical properties of the cone. I think a lot of the rough quality the tweeter is often blamed for is actually the sound of the mid/bass driver breaking up at the top of its frequency range (this occurs well into the range that is usually considered to be the treble domain). This issue is pretty much endemic to all speakers that use very minimalist, or no, crossover.
Click to expand...

Dull maybe was a little oversell, maybe a little unbright, the high end was a little lacking.
 
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