Are they worth going original

leftwinger57

If you guys remember I picked up a pair of filthy EPI M-110s at my favorite thrift store. They both worked got them cleaned off and showed them I think here and over on AK. After viewing some pics they said yes the tweeters were original but the drivers were replacements more than likely Radio Shack 8" drivers. So here's the rub. Most or all of you guys know by now I have very little mad money to play with so what do I do ? There are options.
1. Do nothing, both tweeter adjusters do work

they play great even when pushed hard and I'm not sure I will hear a difference.
2. A forum member says he has 2 drivers needs re foaming but also has foams for a what I think is a decent price.
3. Order 2 new ones from Human Speakers who seem to be the suppliers if OEM east coast speaker brands for $60 a piece plus shipping. (Not happening)

So does it pay to bring them back to original spec and they will be used, or leave well enough alone and just be happy w/ the way they sound now.

http://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epimodels.htm#more

K_M

How do they sound compared to the 100's (I think) you have sitting on top) of them?

The radio shack woofers, may be close enough sound wise, that unless you absolutely have to have them be original, may not pay to bother getting 2 new woofers.

You did comment that you are not even sure you will hear a difference, so that may be your answer, hard to say..

mhardy6647

The EPI woofers were carefully designed to have well-behaved high(er) frequency performance (i.e., no nasty breakup modes in the 'passband') to allow the use of a simple (cheap!) 1st order crossover to the concave "airspring" tweeter and still maintain very good midrange performance. In other words, EPI (Epicure) did something very rare for a cheap loudspeaker -- they spent a lot of time (and resources) upfront to allow them to build a good, cheap speaker. Hey, sounds like Polk Audio in the 1970s!

This is a long-winded way of making a point -- the EPI woofer is not a generic acoustic suspension driver. Consequently, replacement of the EPI driver with a generic woofer (i.e., the Radio Shack drivers in question) will alter/compromise the performance (and, I would posit, the sound quality) of these loudspeakers.

I (ahem) actually told you all this about a month ago

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2254483#Comment_2254483

To summarize yeah, it is worth re-equipping these with proper EPI woofers if you want to keep/use them. It's probably even worth doing it if you want to "flip" them... they're worth more with the right woofers than they are with Radio Shack woofers.

Not sure if it would be cost-effective, but I'd be happy to refoam the drivers for you if you buy them and have 'em sent to me. I could ship 'em back to you when finished. I do reckon you have local "talent" who could do 'em for you, though

Oh, and finally, this feels like a good time to put in a plug for Rick Cobb & his excellent replacement foam surrounds. Generic surrounds'll work, but the EPI woofers deserve good quality surrounds -- Rick's got excellent ones for them, he knows his stuff, his prices are reasonable (you get what you pay for!) and his service is absolutely outstanding.

I refoamed my 100Vs with a pair of Rick's surrounds for the 8" EPI foam-surround woofers -- and they are excellent.

102 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

leftwinger57

Mark, you sure did. I must be getting old and forgetful 64 next month by the way. So in fact to end this all right now the original woofers are the way to go any way I can afford them to make them sound as they should. I fully got the concept now....

mhardy6647

whoa, you're old!

westmassguy

mhardy6647 wrote: »

The EPI woofers were carefully designed to have well-behaved high(er) frequency performance (i.e., no nasty breakup modes in the 'passband') to allow the use of a simple (cheap!) 1st order crossover to the concave "airspring" tweeter and still maintain very good midrange performance. In other words, EPI (Epicure) did something very rare for a cheap loudspeaker -- they spent a lot of time (and resources) upfront to allow them to build a good, cheap speaker. Hey, sounds like Polk Audio in the 1970s!

This is a long-winded way of making a point -- the EPI woofer is not a generic acoustic suspension driver. Consequently, replacement of the EPI driver with a generic woofer (i.e., the Radio Shack drivers in question) will alter/compromise the performance (and, I would posit, the sound quality) of these loudspeakers.

I (ahem) actually told you all this about a month ago

http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/comment/2254483#Comment_2254483

To summarize yeah, it is worth re-equipping these with proper EPI woofers if you want to keep/use them. It's probably even worth doing it if you want to "flip" them... they're worth more with the right woofers than they are with Radio Shack woofers.

Not sure if it would be cost-effective, but I'd be happy to refoam the drivers for you if you buy them and have 'em sent to me. I could ship 'em back to you when finished. I do reckon you have local "talent" who could do 'em for you, though

Oh, and finally, this feels like a good time to put in a plug for Rick Cobb & his excellent replacement foam surrounds. Generic surrounds'll work, but the EPI woofers deserve good quality surrounds -- Rick's got excellent ones for them, he knows his stuff, his prices are reasonable (you get what you pay for!) and his service is absolutely outstanding.

I refoamed my 100Vs with a pair of Rick's surrounds for the 8" EPI foam-surround woofers -- and they are excellent.

102 by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

Those are "filleted" surrounds. Boston Acoustics used them also.

TNHNDYMAN

@leftwinger57 sent you a pm concerning the epi drivers I offered you.