New Epos els 3 mini monitor

I have been using the new EPOS for about a month in my bedroom system. It is paired with a vintage Marantz 2240 receiver ; a Music Hall CD 25 CD player; AV Cable speaker cable and an Acoustic Research interconnect. I purchased the speakers mail order from Northern Audio (Pittsburgh; highly recommended dealer). List price is $300, although that is not what I paid for them.

The speakers will require some break in time, my experience was about a week. Once broken in ... the sound is full and balanced. Strings and guitars sound detailed. Voices have depth and clarity to them. The overall sound is very pleasing and very musical. I don't really notice where the sound is coming from ... which is usually a problem in this set-up, as the speakers are fairly close together on top of a bookcase. Comparing the EPOS to other small speakers that I have used, I definitely like them better than the B&W 302 and the Optimus Pro 5LX . I think that I will like the EPOS better than the Wharfedale Diamond 8.1 (more of a bass feel) and the Acoustic Research 15 (not as dark sounding) ... but that will require more listening. I am also forming the impression that these speakers like well recorded material and are not too forgiving of badly recorded material ... still not sure yet. My tastes in music run the gamut ... I like acoustic music and vocals; jazz and the blues; folk rock and americana; some classical and opera.

I think that these speakers are going to be keepers.

I listen to bass-intense music (acidjazz, nujazz) and wonder if the ELS-3 on a creek 4330 can handle the music?

What do you think?

stephan.

Stephan:

I will use classical music as an example in answering your question. The EPOS ELS3 absolutely shine with piano and voice. The sound is very smooth ... very hi-fi. When you introduce the whole orchestra, the sound can become lean sounding because you will hit the realistic bass limit of the speaker. My guess is that nujazz would be similar.

If you want a small monitor type with more bass extension, why not try the Monitor Audio Bronze 2 or Quad 11L or NHT SB2 (I would imagine the Pardigm Mini Monitor ... but I have no experience with them; also the B&W 600 series ... though I am no fan of B&W's in general).

Regards, Rich

Thank you for your response, Rich!

You opened my eyes. I need everything but lean sound with deep woover-hungry tunes. Of course i don't intend to hear at party like or hearing hostile volumes but nor do i want a narrow soundstage or sharp highs, in a word a "cheap system".

I will go and listen the Monitor Bronze Audios (seeming to have a very good sensitivity,tnx again!) and if that won't be satisfying enough for my needs i'm going to listen to some stands. Some suggestions up to $500? Ever heard of Audiovector?

Thanks a lot!
stephan.

I have heard good things about the Wharfedale's floor stander ... the Diamond 8.3 (new, $350 http://www.audioadvisor.com). The 8.3's seemed to be a favorite of the Brit press ... especially with bass intensive electronica like Chemical Brothers, et al. I owned the monitors ... the Diamond 8.1's which were really impressive sounding speakers (think midrange) ... just bass shy.

Regards, Rich