Epos ES11: Production dates
Posted by: Muzza on 04 August 2002
Hi,
Can anyone tell me what years these were produced ? Also what to look for in a second hand pair ?
thanks Muz
Can anyone tell me what years these were produced ? Also what to look for in a second hand pair ?
thanks Muz
Posted on: 04 August 2002 by Rico
Ensure they're well looked after, and on the original Epos Stands.
Rico - SM/Mullet Audio
PS - black ones sound better too.
PPS - the ES12 came out toward the end of 1996, superseding the ES11. Lost a little of the magic of the ES11's, and (perhaps most importantly) didn't come in Black! I bought mine in feb or march 1995, and later upgraded to the MKII x-over which IIRC was mid-1995.
[This message was edited by Rico on MONDAY 05 August 2002 at 07:13.]
Rico - SM/Mullet Audio
PS - black ones sound better too.
PPS - the ES12 came out toward the end of 1996, superseding the ES11. Lost a little of the magic of the ES11's, and (perhaps most importantly) didn't come in Black! I bought mine in feb or march 1995, and later upgraded to the MKII x-over which IIRC was mid-1995.
[This message was edited by Rico on MONDAY 05 August 2002 at 07:13.]
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by John Channing
I believe production began in early 1991 or late 1990. I bought the pair I still use in the summer of 1991. Be careful with buying this speaker, it's age and the failure of Epos a couple of years ago means that there are very few spare parts available. The bass driver, for example, was supplied as a unit mounted in the plastic front baffle. This is a slightly different size to the one used in the ES12 so you can't use the one from the later speaker and you are dependent on a dealer finding a reconditioned unit. Always check the rubber surround on the bass unit, which should be tightly glued to the driver. If it isn't the speaker will sound slightly course with some strange rattling sounds in the mid range. It is fairly easy to repair with a tube of super glue and my speaker needed this a couple of years ago. You will also find that the tweeters and the bass units work loose over time. The tweeter has a rubber surround which you can pop off revealing the screws holding it in place. The bass unit is bolted to the back plate of the cabinet and the nuts are under the rubber plugs that the plastic speaker covers fit into. If you take these out you can tighten them with a socket set. Doing so will significantly speed up the the bass response of the speaker, but be careful not to over tighten.
John
John
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by Mike Sae
John's description of the Epos makes it a spitting image of mid 90's Mordaunt Shorts. Who borrowed from who? A cool way to build a cabinet, to be sure. How did the sound compare?
I've heard some the Es12 and MS30i- they seem to have a family sound.
That Epos left MS (or whatever), explains why the current MS range is so dire, no?
I've heard some the Es12 and MS30i- they seem to have a family sound.
That Epos left MS (or whatever), explains why the current MS range is so dire, no?
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by Rico
quote:
The bass unit is bolted to the back plate of the cabinet and the nuts are under the rubber plugs that the plastic speaker covers fit into. If you take these out you can tighten them with a socket set. Doing so will significantly speed up the the bass response of the speaker, but be careful not to over tighten.
Arrrrrggghhhh! Careful John, I beleive this man has a pair of ES11's (very likely mine) in his possession!
The factory spec for these fasteners is between 3.5 & 4.5Nm - I still have the e-mail from Gary Mardell (formerly Marketing Manager of Epos) in my posession. it continues "Be careful though otherwise you run the risk of breaking the boss out of the front baffle". It seems that from the e-mail I performed the x-over upgrade in Sept 1996.
Superglue would do in a lash-up, although its a little brittle. PVA actually works well. My pair never gave any trouble re cone adhesion. While new drivers are no longer available, repairs are still possible in NZ.
Muzza if you have any questions do ask.
They're a cracking speaker, truely good fun to listen to, and capable of still playing music up to CDSI levels of performance!
Rico - SM/Mullet Audio
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by Simon B
Guys,
I was looking at my ES11's the other day and noticed that the area near the phase plug doesn't look very well finished. The ring around the pole extension is not exactly the same on each speaker and is also not uniformly black. Are they like this or is mine a sub standard set?
Simon
I was looking at my ES11's the other day and noticed that the area near the phase plug doesn't look very well finished. The ring around the pole extension is not exactly the same on each speaker and is also not uniformly black. Are they like this or is mine a sub standard set?
Simon
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by John Channing
quote:
John's description of the Epos makes it a spitting image of mid 90's Mordaunt Shorts.
I believe Robin Marshall was the speaker designer at both MS and Epos hence the same philosophy.
John
Posted on: 05 August 2002 by Simon B
The parent group that owned Mordant short bought Epos. This info was taken from a May '91 copy of Hi-choice that contained a reivew for said beastie and they gave it a Best buy!
Posted on: 06 August 2002 by Gunnar Jansson
Muzza
Rico, Paul D and John C sums it up nicely.
Superbly musical speaker for the money IMO. Eventhough a nait 3 drives them quite nicely they really start to bloom when you hook them up to something more proverful like a 180. They just keep improving as you get better sources. Enjoy!
Gunnar
Rico, Paul D and John C sums it up nicely.
Superbly musical speaker for the money IMO. Eventhough a nait 3 drives them quite nicely they really start to bloom when you hook them up to something more proverful like a 180. They just keep improving as you get better sources. Enjoy!
Gunnar