Epik Subs Time To Say Goodbye

Polkie2009

Unfortunately, Chad's having to shut it down after having a very disappointing year of dealing with numerous premature amp failures in his Empire and Legend subs. Most likely due to inferior and cheap Chinese components used in the plate amps. I'm sure there are other internet direct electronics companies who have to deal with the same type of failures, guess that's the downside of buying cheaper products. I've been fortunate, my 2 Empires I've had since they came out years ago(3-4?) are running strong. One possible reason for this is I always__ unplug my total system after I've used my HT and I don't push my subs AVR sub level past 0 db. I have to wonder if many of the Epik amp failures are due to owners always leaving the sub plugged into the wall outlet ,sleep mode, or pushing the sub's amp way too hard.(Being it is a sealed design and not able to produce the BOOM of a ported sub. Just my 2 cents.

tonyb

Could be a combination of those thoughts. Again, even though not always the case.....you get what you pay for in most circumstances.

Conradicles

Passive subs are the way to go for me. Sad to see Epik leave the market.

Erik Tracy

Epik Valor (sealed) sub owner here.

Overall I'm happy with my sub and sad to see Chad leaving the market.

I did have the plate amp go bad on mine after about 6 months of use - Chad sent me a replacement and it has been fine ever since.

My amp is dialed in with a very low volume and low xover for my tastes so it is not being pushed hard at all - even when I crank up the volume. I leave the sub on all the time and in 'standby' - when it detects a signal it 'kicks' in :cheesygrin:

I'll use mine for quite some time - don't see a need to upgrade at this point and would only dump it if it failed.

cnh

Too bad, those were "good" subs, especially for the money. But quality control in an era of having to constantly "source" from others has even dug deep into monster companies like Toyota whose "recalls" have reached new highs in recent times.

You can't have an endless chain of suppliers who you have NO control over without the chain breaking at some point. It's a WONDER that MORE things don't explode or fall apart well before their due date!

cnh

HHStuart

Hate to see them go. I wanted one of their subs for a long time. I really like my Epik Legend. Tempted to buy a back up but I don't know where I would put it.

WLDock

HHStuart wrote: »

Hate to see them go. I wanted one of their subs for a long time. I really like my Epik Legend. Tempted to buy a back up but I don't know where I would put it.

When i first heard about it I contacted them to see if they would offer a discount if I picked it up as I am close. When they contacted me the next day they were sold out on all the complete subs. I was hoping to pick up a Legend B-Stock for about $250 to try out. Oh well, sad anytime a passionate small audio company goes under.

Now back to my plan of supporting the other small guy Stereo Integrity...going to build a 15" or 18" sealed.

leftwinger57

Not an owner of an Epik and not happy that people you know go out of buisness but there is one thing that bothers me about somethng Polkie said. He was of the people who believe shuting down an amp saves them.I clearly remeber having an entire multi page thread on the merits and who leaves amps on and off. I believe the overwhelming majority said they left their amps on which did surprise me at the time andI still shut mine off after use. That being said I turn and look at my Klipsch sub which is powered and I have never shut that thing down unless I had a power failure or threatening lightening storm. I guess I'm a hypocrit but what happened to that therory of amps on all the time.

northernwind

When ever I turn on and off my sub,the amp makes a poping sound.That is much more bothersome then me leaving it on all the time.I feel like it does the amp more bad then good if you keep turning it on/off,so I just leave mine on standby at all time.

Polkie2009

I'm just afraid to leave any_ of my AV equipment plugged in to the wall all the time. I may not be at home to unplug the HT when the mother of all thunderstorms comes through town,lol. Apparently, my power in my area goes off a number of times throughout the year, going by how many times I have come home and noticed the clock flashing 12:00 on the microwave. I read about some EPIK Legend owners who leave their sub plugged in all the time (in standby mode) would hear it make a rumble sometimes even if they didn't have a signal running to the sub. Like the sub's amp would wake up and make a sporadic noise or something. I just can't help to think a number of electronics being made today are using chintzy electronic caps,resistors,transistors,power supplies from China and the work ok for a while , but fail prematurely. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

northernwind

Ah that's right,usa has some humungous thunderstorm.Down here in toronto CA,there is rarely any thunder storm,maybe once a year.So I can certainly see your concern about leaving your av on if the place your from has the occasional bad storm.

Phasewolf

Plate amps for the most part are crap. The caps they use on them are of the cheapest construction and it is a Wonder they work at all. China makes tons of fake parts and I am not surprised they did not have more amps die then what unfolded.

There are better plate amps they could of sourced and not all of them would of even been that much more cost wise then the ones they used.

Sad to see them go they had a nice sub line.

Geoff4rfc

Yes, I'm very sad to see Epik go. I'm an owner of two Empires.

My first amp went after about 6mo. The second amp went in the first 5 minutes of use. Never the less, the customer service Chad exercised was first rate, getting replacement amps out pronto and even including tools to replace it as well as return postage for the bad amp.

My subs have been perfect ever since. I was hoping to get two more Empires with total confidence. Very sad to see this one go.

So far, the next closest sub performance and price-wise IMO would be the XS30 from Power Sound Audio.

northernwind

Now imagine how someone who own something like the submersive or captivator might feel.....This has worried me a little,considering how much one pays for one of those sub.

rtart

Polkie2009 wrote: »

I'm just afraid to leave any_ of my AV equipment plugged in to the wall all the time. I may not be at home to unplug the HT when the mother of all thunderstorms comes through town,lol. Apparently, my power in my area goes off a number of times throughout the year, going by how many times I have come home and noticed the clock flashing 12:00 on the microwave. I read about some EPIK Legend owners who leave their sub plugged in all the time (in standby mode) would hear it make a rumble sometimes even if they didn't have a signal running to the sub. Like the sub's amp would wake up and make a sporadic noise or something. I just can't help to think a number of electronics being made today are using chintzy electronic caps,resistors,transistors,power supplies from China and the work ok for a while , but fail prematurely. They just don't make 'em like they used to.

I run all my HT power through a few Monster power centers that only power on when the system comes up. All my power amps, pre/pro, scaler, projector, subs, RT3000p and CS1000p sub amps, etc. run through the system and never see power unless they are in use. I've never had an amp failure.....which could just be luck, of course. Just seems to me that letting gear sit under power for hours and days and weeks and months just isn't a good idea. Even on standby, the devices have powered components

mufsoman

I'm second owner of my two Legends. No amp problems with previous owner (at least that he admitted to), and none so far for me. They are very good subs. Good clean bass. I am thinking of replacing them just to go bigger for more room pressurization. Always sad to see another small company close up. Too much of that these days. Makes me wonder how some of the other smaller internet only sub/speaker companies are doing....?

beaglehead12

I just lost an empire a few weeks ago to hear this has been an epidemic around here. Can anyone send some advice. Thanks..

Polkie2009

Beaglehead, You may also check out the AVS forum in the subwoofers section for Epik subs. There's a man named Dave there who repairs a lot__ of plate amps and he might be able to fix your Empire's depending on how fried the amp looks. You'll have to take the plate amp out of your cabinet, inspect it , maybe take a few pics and let us know what you have. I'm thinking that most of those Empire and Legend amps that failed were those that had been plugged in and left on stand by. I always__ unplug my Empires from the wall outlets after running them and they are still fine. One thing different about these Epik Empire subs is that they are designed to run with a slight rise of frequency something around 22 hz. and rolls off not really dig deeper than 18-20 hz. If you end up going with a pro audio amp(which will work quite fine), you might have to figure out how to bring up that 1-2 hz crossover bump to bring out the most for the Empire's speakers. To get the real scoop on all of this, check with the AVS site, and good luck, these are decent subs worth fixing.

gwh

I picked up a pair of used Empires recently and I've been looking for an online user guide without much success...anybody have a link?
Thanks,
G