Standmount speakers £3750
The Epos brand, founded in the early Eighties, was a bit of an engineering maverick, refusing to follow many of the speaker design conventions of the day. In those early years, the range consisted of just two standmounters: the mid-priced ES14 and its smaller, cheaper brother the ES11.
Both models delivered exceptional sound quality thanks to a raft of clever engineering solutions. These included 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.
Over time, Epos went through a number of ownership changes, and both models were eventually superseded by newer, more conventional designs that never quite hit the same heights. Eventually, the brand faded from view. That could be about to change given Epos is now owned by Karl-Heinz Fink – winner of our Outstanding Contribution Award in 2022 and audio consultant to the likes of Naim, Tannoy, Wharfedale and Mission.
MODERN ENGINEERING
The ES14N is a largish two-way standmounter, just like the original. The two generations have other things in common, in that both have metal-dome tweeters, polypropylene mid/bass cones and are rear ported. But Fink wasn’t interested in just bringing back a rehashed version of the original. He felt that it would be a waste to ignore the progress made in speaker design over the past four decades or so. The result is that in all aspects of engineering, the ES14N are as modern as any rival.
Both driver units are fresh designs made specifically for this speaker. The 18cm size of the injection-moulded polypropylene mid/bass unit still echoes that of the original, because it was felt that this size gives a good balance between bass extension and midrange ability compared with the more conventional 20cm and 16.5cm choices that most rivals use.
As a cone material, polypropylene has fallen out of fashion in recent years. But, Epos found that with careful shaping and varying thickness in specific areas, the results can still be good, particularly when partnered with a low-damping rubber surround. Adding mica into the polypropylene mix increases stiffness and makes things even better, giving the drive unit the desired combination of midrange expression, dynamics and bass punch.
The original ES14 mid/bass never had a dust cap and neither has this new one. It has a solid-metal phase plug instead, which is claimed to help off-axis performance and the way the unit behaves at the top of its operating frequency range. Its 36mm copper v
