great transparency

sometimes less and diffuse bass,depends on sources and positioning

Great speakers with enormous transparency. I bought them second hand and i was surprized they sound great.its very important to have them on stands and it makes a difference if using spikes or silicone pads under the stands.with last one they sound much deeper and warmer.great for classical and jazzmusic.

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Build quality, honest reproduction, capable of high sound levels, cheap second-hand, cures upgrade-itis.

Need a fair size room to do them justice

I have bi-wired Epos ES14s powered by an Exposure Super XX and a Naim CD3 is the source.

This combo is the best I have ever heard and is sufficiently musically satisfying that I have given up obsessing over stereo equipment and am looking for another hobby.

The only limiting factors on this stereo are room size (mine's a little small at 4M * 3.5 M) and the quality of the source (a slightly higher standard of CD player could still be handled, I feel).

The speakers are built to last a lifetime and are good enough to cure the upgrade-itis of most audio enthusiasts, if they're willing to be cured.

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All sorts : Mordaunt-Short, B&O, KEF etc

incredibly revealing, transparent and musical.

none really, apart from requiring high quality amplifier,

over the years, I tried so many different speakers and never could get the sound I was looking for. I wanted transparency, accuracy and true musicality. The Quads were very good, but the 'thump' of the bass quality put me off, also, I use a 40watt Valve amplifier, which is full range and high in dynamics, yet with that valve 'something' that makes any transistor amp sound 'electronic' by comparison. After hearing the ES14s I was amazed at the sound quality of them. I think that they are probably the most rewarding speaker in and beyond its price range. I like my hi fi to be as natural and revealing as possible, with taut bass, no overhanging frequencies and stunning clarity. There is something in the Epos's sound that I have not heard apart from the Quads. For me they are as close as what you can get to a Electrostatic, but still have low end bass weight. Ive heard people critisce the bass for being weak, but its not. The bass is there, its just not for heavy techno bass freaks, its refinement as opposed to brawn. Quality over quantity as it were. I was so interested in these speakers that I researched them in magazines etc, and noted that they were designed by a guy called Robin Marshall, who designed the 14s for his own personal satisfaction and people were so overwhelmed that he started the Epos company. He was/is a great designer, as Ive heard some Mordaunt Shorts (Marshall designed) which were excellent too. The Epos's drive units are specially made and do not need a crossover, this gives no break up of the frequency range. Overall verdict is that they are far far superior to most other speakers at ANY price. Sounds unbelievable I know, but it just goes to show, there is no substitution for a truly great design. EPOS were never a commercial success, which was a shame. I suppose like any great product driven by its designer, commerciality and quality never go hand in hand. Last word: Forget mass produced amplifiers for good sound. Choose Class 'A' transistors or valves for purity. email with your thoughts if you agree !

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BMW CD1, Harbeth HL-7, Audio Note Js, Quad ESL-63s, etc

Very musical, very slightly warm, very revealing.

Need an amp with decent power - they sound awful with a low-powered one.

When I first heard them in (1990) I was auditioning new amplifiers and had taken my old one in to the dealer for comparison listening. The ES14s were the nearest approximation he had to the Dittons so we used those for the audition. The variety of amps made much less difference to the sound than the speakers, so I bought the speakers.

Two of my colleagues also have these speakers, none of us would dream of changing them. If you partner them with a Sondek and Naim amplification they sound pretty good playing heavy metal! (In answer to an earlier reviewer, who claimed they weren't so good for it.)

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Celestion Ditton 200

Epos' traditional strngths of a fantastically transparent midrange and a sweet treble make this ideal for small group acoustic music of all types.

Bottom end appears to roll off leaving a lack of slam. However, system tweaking over an extended period revealed more and more. Eventual use of a Musical Fidelity X-Tone used at 120Hz revealed the bottom end was there all right, just a little reticent.

A very fine speaker that may need a litle careful matching if you are to get the best from it. In england, at 500 pounds plus stands it is to be highly reccomended.
After full tweaking, a friend came round and spent 5 minutes walking round the room as first he thought there must be a sub somewhere and then because he said the music was everywhere and yet the imaging remained, he was dumbfounded, I was smirking!