Jnkns Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 Anybody have a set of EPI 180's? What do you think of them? I might be picking up a set in pretty good condition for $125. All the woofers have been refoamed on them. Still kind of on the fence about it, but I think I might just get them. The only other speakers I currently have is a set of AR-4x's that are pulled apart on my workbench for refurb. I could use another set of speakers and these EPI's look interesting...and equally important, inexpensive. Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 20, 2021 Report Share Posted February 20, 2021 EPI speakers are well regarded and similar to AR and other New England speakers. I have not heard the model 180 but they are kind of odd with two woofers, two tweeters and that awful wood grain vinyl. If you can listen to them before buying that would be my recommendation. They have been described as having a boomy, one note bass, but I really don’t know. Let your ears and wallet be the judge. OTOH the 4 woofers and 4 tweeters alone are probably worth more than the asking price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Nicolai Posted February 21, 2021 Report Share Posted February 21, 2021 The 180’s are part of the 2nd generation of EPI speakers which are all vinyl veneer. Anything made with real walnut was usually badged as Epicure for those 2nd generation speakers. The tweeters for the 180’s are also almost certainly 2nd generation. By that time EPI had also switched to foam surrounds, the first generation speaker surrounds being all rubber. I’m with JKent on this. Use your ears to judge. It sounds like a good price, although I was able to get a set of EPI 100’s in real walnut veneer for $100 a little over a rear ago. But don’t let that sway you, as I think I was really lucky to purchase them at that price. I guess my point is that if you don’t need speakers right away, you might be able to score some EPI’s in real walnut veneer if you are patient, and if that is important to you. If you do like them and purchase them, they probably need to be recapped if that wasn’t done when they were reformed, the original caps being over 40 years old. It’s a pretty simple process on EPI speakers. Here is a link to more info about that speaker, along with the schematic for the recap. The Human Speakers site is just about the authority on all things relating to EPI: https://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epi180.htm Good luck, and happy hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnkns Posted February 21, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2021 Thanks for the input and information, guys. I ended up just going for it. They're in great condition and so far I'm very happy with how they sound in my room with my HH Scott Stereomaster 388-B. They fill the whole house nicely. I can be in the kitchen or the main living room and it still sounds good. I'm not an overly obsessive audiophile...yet...so I'm just happy to have something that sounds better than a crappy all in one boombox thing. 😅 I think for $125 they were well worth it. Especially since my only other speakers are torn apart on my workbench waiting to have their pots replaced. Oh! Good point on doing a recap. I think I'll wait until my AR-4x's are back together and then pull the woofers out of the EPI's to take a look at the caps and everything. Someone over on the AudioKarma forum just recommended reworking the caps as well. He said the 180's use a single 16uf cap is used for both tweeters but he rewired his to have a 10uf cap for each tweeter and it was an improvement. I may give that a try too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Nicolai Posted February 22, 2021 Report Share Posted February 22, 2021 As far as the caps go, according to the Human Speakers schematic it’s a single 10.0 uF cap for both tweeters. However, Huw Powell, the individual who runs the Human Speakers site, has a blurb on one of the pages about replacing whatever is in your speaker with the same component. EPI crossovers varied sometimes, including different versions of the M180 crossover. His schematics are based on the majority of what he seen. Please be aware of that before you consider swapping the caps. Congrats on your purchase and I hope you have many hours of listening enjoyment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jnkns Posted February 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2021 On 2/21/2021 at 11:30 PM, Norman Nicolai said: As far as the caps go, according to the Human Speakers schematic it’s a single 10.0 uF cap for both tweeters. EPI crossovers varied sometimes, including different versions of the M180 crossover. His schematics are based on the majority of what he seen. Please be aware of that before you consider swapping the caps. Yeah, I have one of those odd variations. My 180's have the 3-way toggle switch mentioned on the Human Speakers page right above the 180 schematic. And the schematic they link to for it shows a 16uf cap between the switch and the tweeters. I'm curious to see what the guts of mine actually look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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