HIGH END MUNICH 2022 EPOS ES14N LOUDSPEAKER LAUNCH WITH KARL HEINZ FINK

One of the most anticipated launches of High End Munich 2022 had to be the new EPOS ES14N stand mount loudspeaker, the first speaker from the newly resurrected EPOS under the leadership of Karl Heinz Fink.

Karl Heinz has a long history in HiFi having been involved with many great brands, most recently launching his FinkTeam speakers Borg and Kim, both to rave reviews…you can read our thoughts on them here for Borg and here for Kim.

Meet the family!

The press conference, which was shared with Vertere and Soulnote, was completely packed, HiFi Pig’s Stuart managed to brave the scrum but I couldn’t face the crush or the heat so suitably rehydrated by the fantastic Fink/EPOS team I popped back later on to have a listen to the new speakers.

At the press conference, Karl Heinz Fink, Touraj from Vertere and Mr Kato from Soulnote

Karl Heinz introduces his latest creation

Soulnote electronics

EPOS ES14N LOUDSPEAKERS

The first thing I noticed upon return to the room was just how chilled out it felt, the system was Vertere taking care of vinyl and the electronics were Soulnote. They were playing Michael Jackson and the new EPOS ES14N sounded cool and funky and fun, which is a big win in my book where speakers are concerned.

In a lovely finish of petrol blue, they are anything but stuck in the past; They have Karl Heinz’s design signature all over them, he has a real skill for loudspeaker design with his speakers looking different enough to have the edge over more conventional boxes but without looking outlandish.

Vertere taking care of vinyl duties

“From a sales point of view, the relaunch of the Epos loudspeaker brand couldn’t have gone better. We’ve returned after many, many distributor meetings. All positive. Now we have to make the choice of which is the best distributor for Epos in nearly every main market. A very nice problem to have!”

David Jefferys, International Business Director FinkTeam and Epos

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Karl Heinz really does put the fun back into HiFi, his speakers are proper characters, each with their own personality. The EPOS ‘Back to the Future’ branding with more than a nod to Marty McFly and his time travelling DeLorean was really clever, drawing from the past but looking ahead, as they said ‘your kids are gonna love it’.

And following his own advice, Karl Heinz took the original EPOS ES-14 which was a 2-way speaker in a fairly big and classic looking cabinet, on a dedicated stand, and gave things a shakeup, always looking to what had worked before but also how that could be brought up to date. The result is a modern classic speaker, it’s not a lifestyle product and it is very much a form follows function design.

The cabinet, woofer, tweeter, front plate and crossover all got the Karl Heinz treatment giving the speaker a new lease of life and making it fit for the future.

Read more about the design and construction of the EPOS ES14N speaker here.

EPOS ES14N LOUDSPEAKERS SPECIFICATIONS

Frequency Response: 40Hz – 23kHz (-6dB) 33Hz – 25kHz (-10dB)

Average Impedance: > 6 Ohm

Minimum Impedance: 4.3 Ohm @ 160Hz

Sensitivity: 87dB @oe2.823V / 1m

Distortion: 0.2% THD @ 1W

Crossover Frequency: 2700 Hz

Bass Unit: High Power 7“, 35 mm voice coil diameter, Hybrid Ferrite and Neodymium magnet, injection moulded cone with variable thickness and Mica filling. Low hysteresis rubber surround.

HF Unit: 28 mm tweeter with Aluminium/Ceramic compound dome and no Ferrofluid

Dimensions: 491 x 250 x 385 mm (HWD)

Stand: recommended height 515 mm

Weight: 16 kg without stand

Finish: Walnut, White semi-matte, Black semi-matte

Cabinet: Reflex loaded, damped Sandwich panels, one-dimensional braces, Low Noise Port, Duo Front panel

Terminal: German-made Low Metal Mass 4 mm Banana terminal

EPOS ES14N LOUDSPEAKERS PRICE

Expected retail price in Europe is 4.500€ including tax

Linette Smith

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