Epos M12.2

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Epos M12.2

Postby stereophile » Thu Jul 19, 2007 7:06 pm

Been meaning to write this, but work got in the way. A few weeks back, I had an opportunity to try out a pair of the Epos M12.2 bookshelf speakers in my set-up. They were loaned to me by the distributor for personal evaluation. They were carefully packed in their original boxes. Heavy 24 in Lovan stands were provided also. I paired these beautifully finished speakers with my CJ PV10AL/MV55 combo using my waterhose sized MF speaker cables. Front-end consisted of my Michell Orbe/SME V/Skala combo. Phono stage was a Black Cube SE. I wanted to see how these would compare to my favorite bookshelf spkr: ProAc Reference 8 Signature Tablettes.

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The usual suspects I play when evaluating gears are (of course vinyl): TBM Misty, Speaker's Corner Re-issue of Ella & Lois, M&K For Duke, Speakers Corner Re-issue of Coltrane/Hartmann, Jacintha's Bossa Album to name a few.

At once I noticed that these speakers were very easy to drive (8ohms/87db). The volume knob was at 11 o'clock position when I played most of the music. It was easy for the 45wpc of my amp to open up the speakers to a volume level w/c was enticing and involving. They sounded neutral, meaning not colored, which is the way I like my speakers to be. The piano keys struck on 'Misty' had that crisp character and yet had that haunting soft decay after. Imaging was stable and tight.

When I put Ella & Louis on the platter, the mono recording produced a very stable central image with realistic weight. Only my Reference 8 Signature Proacs bettered this by a slight margin yet at almost 3x the cost. The image was laid-back(which I like), had weight-meaning that Ella wasn't presented like an ephemeral waif floating in front of me. She was well-defined in space and you could discern that Louis was standing just beside her.

When it came to spatial orientation on a sonic stage, I slapped on For Duke. The band was nicely laid out in front and in the rear. The trumpet blare coming from the right of the stage on the A-Train cut had that brassiness I look for. This is a hard sound to reproduce. These had them. When it comes to big bands, the other instrument I watch for is the shimmer of cimbals. It is important to me that the cimbals brittle decay
were reproduced. These M12.2s were no slouch they were impressing me with what they could do. I was smiling.

Onto the sweet side of the scale. On Jacintha's Wave, I was enveloped by her velvety smooth voice...luscious and inviting like a peach. Then again, that's the sound of the EL34s on my CJ amp working their magic. The neutral color of these speakers simply relayed the amp's tone. For male vocals I tried Willie Nelson's Stardust. On the signature track, I particularly looked for the raspiness in Willie's voice. These speakers did not disappoint. The edge my ProAcs have over these is a shade more of bite. Another way of saying it, is that my ProAcs revealed the weight of the years in his voice. Despite that, both speakers conveyed the gracefulness and sincerity a matured voice can only relay.

Lastly, when it came to Coltrane/Hartmann, I expectantly waited for the chestiness of Johnny Hartman's voice in contrast to the soothingly smooth warmth of Coltrane's tenor sax. Happily, these were present and accounted for. On this well recorded LP, I couldn't fault anything on the 12.2s. I could find just a hair more accuracy in tonal weight/balance with the ProAcs. Counterpoint to this is that the ProAcs can be unforgiving of poor recordings where the 12.2s could be bearable.

After listening to my favorite and very familiar recordings, I can honestly say that the Epos 12.2s perform beyond their pricepoint. Sure you can get more elsewhere, but you'd have to spend far more also. These are easy to drive as evidenced by the 45wpc my tube amp dishes out. This ease of amp matching will help many starting out into audio assemble a very honest and decent playback system. I like their neutrality in tonal balance coupled with tight imaging and a decent laid-back soundstage. It is critical to get the proper stand height so that the tweeters are at your ear-level for their magic to work.

Their main limitation, as is with other bookshelf speakers, is the lack of bass. That's a given. But as far as monitor bookshelves go, bang for the buck, this will dice it out and pay out more than you forked out.

I could definitely live with these well-made British speakers. I look forward to the time I need to buy another pair of bookshelf speakers. I'm a believer in 'less is more'. I know what I'm going to get. :D
Last edited by stereophile on Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:18 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Postby bruno » Fri Jul 20, 2007 2:06 am

I'm glad you discovered these very excellent performing speakers. I've had mine for more than two years now and still singing sweet music. Very neutral and void of coloration indeed. But only on the bass/mid section. The tweeter can get bright on some systems. The EL34s warmth and Lehmann's dark character might have provided the perfect synergy. I also use an EL34 push pull and a Lehmann Black Cube SE.

Here are some simple tweaks I've done with it: (posts under the name ran)

http://www.eposandcreek.com/showthread.php?t=36&page=2

http://www.eposandcreek.com/showthread.php?t=170

Simplest one you can do is removing the metal tweeter grille.
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Postby stereophile » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:02 am

bruno wrote:I'm glad you discovered these very excellent performing speakers. I've had mine for more than two years now and still singing sweet music. Very neutral and void of coloration indeed. But only on the bass/mid section. The tweeter can get bright on some systems. The EL34s warmth and Lehmann's dark character might have provided the perfect synergy. I also use an EL34 push pull and a Lehmann Black Cube SE.



You should hear my ProAc Ref 8 Sign Tablettes. They are so revealing of system mismatch and won't be shy telling you about it. They require careful thought when matching with gears. The M12.2s would seem to be more forgiving with other gears.

For the ProAcs and the M12.2s, I agree with you that the el34 amp/BC SE combo works so well. Actually, I find the BCSE to be another bang for the buck gear...but that is another story... :wink:
Last edited by stereophile on Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby bruno » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:19 am

I've heard ProAc's at Toys for the Audio Boyz playing percussion music (I think it was the last track on DJ Rhaul's aka Mr. Moolard's compilation cd). And my eyes won't believe what I'm hearing. Full dynamics in shoe box sized speakers!
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Postby stereophile » Fri Jul 20, 2007 5:38 am

bruno wrote:I've heard ProAc's at Toys for the Audio Boyz playing percussion music (I think it was the last track on DJ Rhaul's aka Mr. Moolard's compilation cd). And my eyes won't believe what I'm hearing. Full dynamics in shoe box sized speakers!


In a small room, a properly set-up pair of ProAcs will shine and dish out those dynamics you mentioned. In my room, guests scratch their heads in disbelief when they realize it's the ProAcs playing and not my Martin Logans :!: :wink:

Btw, I checked out your mods to the 12.2s Wow! Looks so impressive. Nice job. I wonder how your speakers sound vs the stock one I heard. :D
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Postby bruno » Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:09 am

My goal was to add refinement to the top end.

Goal was achieved. :)
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Postby edwin » Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:21 am

I just got an Epos ES11 in near mint condition. I cannot beleive at the price it is currently selling used, that it could sound this good. It just sound so magical in my system speciallt after the tweak I had done.

As the crossover only consist of a capacitor and resistor, I had replaced the caps with Hovland and the internal cablings. Tweeter cables to Mundorf silver cables and the mid-drivers to Neotech PCOCC and had shorted the internal connection so no need to bi-wire. My next plan is to change the Hovland to Mundorf Silver in Oil :D.

You have to be careful though, as these speakers could sound bright in some system. Warm to neutral system should be OK :wink: .

Anybody had compared the 12.2 with the ES11?
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Postby desmo » Fri Jul 20, 2007 10:02 am

While looking for HT speakers many months ago, I chanced upon a pair of M12.2 on demo driven by NAD SS electronics and playing a familiar female vocals CD. I was attracted by the sweetness of the sound and ended up glued to the listening chair, not wanting to leave.

If I am on the market for bookshelf speakers, these would be in my short list. :)
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Postby spare_2_win » Sat Jul 28, 2007 1:53 am

Heard this speakers at Watt hi-fi early this afternoon bein powered by mc kintosh 275 power amp and an audible illusion modulus 30. And i can say--WOW Asteeeeg!!!! Superb musicality and neutrality for a speaker at this price point, now that's hard to beat..... :D
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Postby stereophile » Sat Jul 28, 2007 5:07 am

spare_2_win wrote:Heard this speakers at Watt hi-fi early this afternoon bein powered by mc kintosh 275 power amp and an audible illusion modulus 30. And i can say--WOW Asteeeeg!!!! Superb musicality and neutrality for a speaker at this price point, now that's hard to beat..... :D


Told you so :!: :D You are correct. It's gonna be tough finding another Bnew spkr at this pricepoint which will beat it.
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Postby docsialu » Mon Aug 27, 2007 5:15 pm

Hi guys, how about the epos ES 14, what are your opinions regarding this speaker? somebody is selling me a 2nd hand unit kasi :D
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Postby stereophile » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:10 pm

docsialu wrote:Hi guys, how about the epos ES 14, what are your opinions regarding this speaker? somebody is selling me a 2nd hand unit kasi :D

I haven't heard the 14s. I'd listen to the 12.2s on display at Watt Hi-Fi, then compare to the 14s you are considering.
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Postby docsialu » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:34 pm

hi doc,

actually ive got the chance to listen to the 12.2 last saturday in a shop in makati cinema square, and it was really good.

The es 14 ive mentioned is an old model 1989 pa ata, but the owner is not yet in town so i can not audition it yet. I searched the web and it looks like this.

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I was just wondering that perhaps you guys were able to listen to this speaker in the past,

cheers :D
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Postby stereophile » Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:39 pm

I may have heard them in the past, but can't honestly recall its sonics. What I do remember, was that they were(compared to the 12.2) a bit harder to drive...Best that you audition them w/ the same cds you heard the 12.2s with.
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Postby Le_Stat » Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:07 pm

when I was beggining to buy my first set of speakers, on bookshelf category with price/sound quality category this speaker was my #1 choice.

I prefer the maroon like color, somewhat like dark red type. Nice.
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Postby RHYTHM SECTION » Sat Apr 05, 2008 5:51 am

thank you doc lito for this precisely correct review,nuetrality this one thing i like about this speakers,been using this for my reference to evaluate some of my gear at the shop,so far nothing beats this epos12.2 for the performance at this price level. :D
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Postby bruno » Sat Apr 05, 2008 8:24 am

The new Epos M12i

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Postby spare_2_win » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:02 am

bruno wrote:The new Epos M12i

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First review will be out soon. Watch out!!! :D
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Postby godspell » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:13 am

My apology for asking this question. However, please do answer it with sincerity. Here is the question.

Is it true that Epos crossover is a 1st order network? Because, I cannot believe that these speakers produce deep bass without any Low Frequency crossover at all. Maybe the LF driver has an embed small crossover at the back of its magnet. Any idea? Thanks in advance. :)
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Postby jpeg » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:14 am

Will be waiting for the review. :D
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