John reviews the Epos ES-14N loudspeakers

John from The Real Music Company Auckland spends some happy hours with the outstanding Epos ES-14N loudspeakers!

We have now had 2 months living with the new ES-14Ns, so let’s give you our impressions….

After a fortnight of general running in, we started in earnest to check out what these new babies could do. We started using the small Heed Elixir integrated amplifier ($2,795), hardly a powerhouse at 50 Watts. Honestly, we were shocked at how good it sounded; no, you wouldn’t in reality use such a diminutive (and by the speaker’s standards, entry level amp), but what got us excited was the untapped potential.

We moved things up to the Heed Lagrange integrated ($8,295) with its 60 Watts and much higher current. As expected, the Epos relished the extra headroom and the improvement in fidelity was massive.

Over the course of the next 3 to 4 weeks, we dabbled with improved sources both analog and streams. We had a demonstration booked with a client who was very keen on hearing the Epos speakers, so we pushed the sensible boat out and set things up with the Chord Electronics Prima pre-amp ($8,995) and matching Chord Etude power amp ($9,495 -150 watts from that bad-boy). Also used was the fabulous Rega Saturn CD player at $4,300 and Auralic Altair G2.1 streamer ($9,795.) The client bought in his favorite music on CD and also used Quobuz to dig deeper for music he didn’t have on CD.

Frankly, neither Palmer nor I have heard this level of sound quality from sensibly priced speakers before. Yes, obviously at $10,295 including stands, we are not saying these speakers are entry level! I guess my point is that neither of us has had the sheer scale, detail and finesse from speakers at this price point. Moreover, we had very satisfying results from very affordable equipment like the baby Heed amplifier and Rega Saturn CD player, neither of these are ridiculously priced by any stretch. When we next have the Rega Elicit MK5 in stock ($4,300), we will report back on the combination of that with the ES-14Ns.

Ultimately, the point I am trying to make is that the ES-14N covers those looking for serious hi-fi performance from sensible ancillary equipment, but are capable of being taken up to true audiophile levels of sound quality.

This is by far the best speaker I have heard at this level. It’s nothing like as fussy as its illustrious forbear the ES14, but certainly as groundbreaking.

We have the ES-14N on demonstration in-store so do yourself a favour…

Addendum: The client bought the Epos ES-14N speakers on the spot. It wasn’t a hard decision!

Find Epos ES-14N here. 

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About Epos

Epos, once a classic British loudspeaker brand, originally founded in the early Eighties. Considered an engineering maverick, Epos refused to follow many of the speaker design conventions of the day. The range was originally just two stand-mounted speakers - the ES14 and the ES11. Both models delivered exceptional sound quality thanks to a raft of clever engineering solutions, including ultra-simple crossover networks (that used just one capacitor), highly developed mid/bass drivers designed to roll-off smoothly at the top of their operating range, and cleverly constructed cabinets.

Now, under the new ownership of Karl-Heinz Fink – the founder of FinkTeam and in his spare time, an audio consultant to many of biggest hi-fi brands in the industry – Epos is back, and it's only fitting that the first product of this revitalised brand carries the ES14 name.