While working in a mid-fi shop back in '77, I purchased a used set of Epicure 400s from one of our reps. (They replaced my Epicure 100s.) I had them for a year or so, until I sold them and purchased a new set of Allison Two's. In the right room, 400's provided a big soundstage with remarkably flat power response (I measured it!). But it was sensitive to placement (distance from nearby walls) and orientation (parallel to walls vs. canting at 45 degrees), and the sound character could vary wildly.

But though smaller than the 1000 towers, these were still rather large. The smaller Allison Two was both a superior and a more forgiving design. They *demanded* to be placed against the wall, so took up less space, and sounded more natural. (Sadly, they were stolen in transit to my new home. I replaced them with a used set of Allison One's, which I still have.)

Epicure 400+
$400 direct from EPI in 1978 through their dealer incentive program.
Used continuously since.
Replaced the foam surrounds twice, about 1992, and again in 2007.
These are solid performing speakers, with clear uncolored response from close to the bottom to as high as I can currently hear. Used now in a spare 5.1 system.
Last year I moved these to the bonus room and replaced them with Klipsh RF83s.
Why? The 83's rock. But I should have saved the money. The 31 year old 400's sound smoother than the RF83's and the base is tighter, more solid in the 400s.

Bass foam is rotting

Picked up a pair of Model 3s at the Goodwill for only 40 dollars! What a steal! These speakers are getting better and better as I listen to them. The highs are really nice but what really blew me away was the mid and bass response... Theres so much sound from these speakers! Listening to all kinds of music and still have yet to find a genre where they are lacking... Rock, rap, electroclash you name it, these speakers kick ass! The only issue I can see right now is the foams on bass elements... Why aren't companies switching to butyl or other rubber yet?

Similar Products Used:

Genesis, Cerwin-Vega, Pioneer, ESS, Technics, Sansui

model 3 nearly full range, room filling involving sound, attractive cabinets.

No new exact replacement drivers, tweeter loses control at high spl's

My first Epicure purchase was in '88, they were the model 1's and they replaced a pair of polk 2b's. I loved em, However I was in a trade up phase and swapped themfor some ADS speakers which i then traded for KEF 105/3's, bear with me. While I had the epicure's a friend came over listened, fell in love, (with the speakers) and went out and bought the model 3's new. He called me last week and offered me those speakers if I would help him move, warning me the foam surrounds were rotted. I moved him, ordered replacement surrounds from speakerworks.com and now sit in stunned disbelief! These things listed for$700.00 in '88, They have no right sounding this good.
My electronics are considerably better than they were when I had the model 1's so that must be how I missed the majic. The soundstage is precise extending beyond the cabinets and there is excellent seperation between vocals and instruments. Deep bass is missing, but you don't miss it,It's fun & involving. I listen to male & female vocals to get a flavour of the midrange, Once again these speakers have no right sounding this good, My KEF 105s have greater resolution and go louder at almost 5 times the price, but not anything like you'd expect. The tweeter is the only obvious flaw in this speaker, and then only when I'm really crankin em. I can live with the siblance that comes with their detail because these are sweet sounding speakers overall, some will be bothered though.
Steve at
scwlw@comcast.net

Similar Products Used:

bose 901, epi model1, polk 2b, KEF Q5, 105/3, Dynaudio audience80, vienna beethovan.

Walking down the memory lane

Let's say the speakers look odd no matter what. And the parts did not age well like McIntosh or Altec, and that affects the sound badly.

I purchased my pair of Model 3 from a super irresponsible eBay seller who just didn't care less about packing. Those speakers are nightmarish to ship. I would strongly discourage anybody buying a pair unless you could pick them up locally.

The speakers were state of the art back then, but considerably aged like many vintage Infinity speakers. What I meant is the Epicure speakers don't age as well as, say, Altec 604 series. The drivers are just prone to rotting and cracks etc. The most notable issue is the "eyeball" tweeters in which the paper cone tend to crack. What's even worst is that there is a site called HUMAN SPEAKERS which would happily charge you $60, make you wait 3 months, only to have some homebrew tweeter replacement that looks nothing like the original, nor blend in with the rest. What a ripoff. I said so because I am a victim of this, so if you get a pair with damaged tweeters (like mine's), don't buy the speakers!

Anyway, due to the age of this, sound is muddy and rough, nothing like what you'd read from the reviews here. The placement of the binding posts are very awkward (at the bottom) too. In retrospect, this is the kind of speakers that you wished to sound well but it sounds badly and you could only comfort yourself by saying you got a pair that is not maintained well (this is how I got my sleep after doping out $500 plus $200 shipping cross-country, what an idiot)

Similar Products Used:

Jensen, Altec 604 series, McIntosh ML2, plus other sorry vintage speakers that I unluckily invested heavily in but luckily forgot.

Size, build, finish, amazing low end for such a small speaker.

Weight, ancient push spring wire clips, foam surrounds must be replaced.

This review is for the Epicure Model 5's I recently purchased. Amazingly smooth sound for such a small speaker. Epicure built their speakers like tanks, sealed enclosure and mad amounts of damping. These speakers with their small 6-inch woofer and inverted dome tweet are the perfect bookshelf speaker. Full, rich, surprising bass and they actually FIT in book shelf. Only the Klipsch KG .5 through 2 can rival these babies for compact low end punch. If you can find em on ebay, get em.

Similar Products Used:

Epicure 14, Klipsch KG-1, Allison 4 etc...

Full amazingly satisfiing sound with a wide scope of different music.

Tendency to play them loud, if that is a weakness. but sounds right at all sound levels.

I recently redid a pair of Epicure 400+ which are from the late 1970s. They have 4 6 1/2 woofers and 4 inverted tweeters per cabinet. I run them through a macintosh amp at 250 watts per channel and they can take everything watt the amp is capable of putting out with no strain at all. These babies can really rock. I have played the Who live at the Ilse of Wight cd and the sound is just incredible, so rich and full, just an awesome sound. I have owned many speakers over the years and the 400+ are simply the best, hands down. I honestly never thought i would find that sound from a pair of speakers especially from the 1970s with such a simple design that sounds this good. i am now acquiring the raw drivers from ebay to build a pair of 1000s from scratch which to my knowledge are the flagship speakers from Epicure. They went for $2000 back in the 1970s. Check them out at WWW.humanspeakers.com.

Similar Products Used:

ads 910, avid 105, mcintosh xr16, theil, allison 1s, jbl jubals, infinity quantum reference.

Great overall sound. Highs sound wonderful from the tweeters, but somewhat muffled by the mids at times, most likely a factory defect though. Rich bass, superb sound in general

The Epicure Model 2's that my father has are spectacular, they have a smooth sound, very flowing, and from a wide range of music from Classical to Jazz to Rock and Roll, no matter what you put through them, they capture every single instrument. My father says he bought these fresh out of the market aroun 1986, no year on it. Unfortunately, my brother doesn't appreciate fine craftsmanship the same way my father and I do. He turned the bass all the way up and blew both of the woofers on each one of the speakers. I'd like to find an authentic replacement if at all possible, but it's highly unlikely unfortunately.

Full rich overall sound

Narrow high frequency dispersion pattern.

I bought my Model 3's in '89 brand new and my only disapointment is that the company went out of business. (I actually wanted the Model 4's but couldn't afford them at the time). They've been well used over the last 13 years and still sound great, but the high frequency (tweeter) dispersion could be better. If you're not right in front of them, the high frequency sounds get muffled. Overall they sound great, but sound even better when matched with a good set of speakers that have a wide dispersion pattern for the high frequencies - like my ESS model 10's :) If you find any Epicure model 3 or 4 in good condition, buy them.

My first impression was pretty good. These are the model 3. I don't know anything about them. If anyone can help me out on year made, price, and if it different then the 3.0 I would appreciate it. Thanks, Bob