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.
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.