We shared a system at the time. I owned the 42.5/HC/110 and we each had a 50% in an LP12. Those were the days!
Wow. What an amazing story.
That really is a great friend.
So it was LP12 - 42.5/HC/110 - ES14’s
I’m thinking maybe mid 80’s.
Cant resist asking. How did you deal with the LP12 when it came to go different ways?
I had my ES14s for over 20 years. The turntable went from Trio KD1033B - Roksan Xerxes RB300 K9 - Xerxes Artemiz Shiraz Artaxerxes - Roksan TMS with same arm/cart/phono stage. Amp went from Nait - 62/140 - 72/140 - 72/Hicap/135s - 82/Hicap/135s. CD player was a Micromega Trio.
I tried various other speakers with the final system, but none of them got me closer to the music than the ES14s, which had cost me £250 in around 1985. Sadly in 2007 I came back from a business trip to find a mains problem had taken out a 135 (pretty much all fuses blown in board and a lot of device fuses), when Naim sent it back I realised the paired ES14 had no woofer. That’s when I got my B&Ws.
If that hadn’t happened I’m pretty sure they’d still be there with the ND555/52/135s, I loved listening to music on them. (As I’m sure did the neighbours of my old London flat.)
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Yes, the mid to late 80’s. He’s an okay friend I guess (he reads the forum from time to time) of c. 100 years. We sold the lp12 for a xerxes rb300. The ittok was out of reach and this was the time when many preferred the xerxes rb300 combination. He moved out and I bought him out of the xerxes. Ofcourse he and his then girlfriend bought a new xerxes, artimiz, shiraz - flash git!!
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These self-same units could possibly be the pair currently sitting (boxed up) in my loft. I bought mine as ex-dem units from Derek Jenkins at the Sound Org Southwark in '88 or '89 (if memory serves me right). They’ve been sitting up there since the mid-2000’s when I changed to Naim Arivas.
After reading through this thread maybe I should refresh my memory and dig them out for a spin again.
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It’s rather surprising that anyone could prefer the worst speakers Naim ever made to the rather fine ES14s. Give them a go!
That’s where I heard them. I also ended up with Kans, and then their ex demo Briks.
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Really HH?? You’re still peddling that old pony?
In my experience, for anyone who hasn’t been able to get good sound out of Arivas, it says more about their inability or unwillingness to set them up correctly. They need a good signal and are fussy with location but I’ve lived with them very happily for over 15 years now, and haven’t heard any speakers, short of Kudos T808’s that I would consider changing them for (and that includes the ES14’s…which is why they’ve stayed in their boxes).
A number of my friends are “hifi buffs” and/or musicians, and none of them have ever been less than impressed with the sound I get from the Arivas.
Just love your system. I had a 1989 Sondek with olive 62/hicap/140 and Epos 14 speakers and loved it. I have a recapped CB Nait 2. I hope eventually to get a good record player and speakers for it. Currently it is mothballed. Would a Nait 2 drive the ES 14s?
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I would love to hear your impressions. If I’d known then that they could be made work close to the wall by stuffing the ports with straws, my hi-fi odyssey might have been very different.
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Sounds like a fun weekend project.
Do you have the matching steel frame stands?
Please do let us know how you get on?
Just curious- What other system pieces would you use those ES14’s with?
Thanks for your compliment. That’s great you had a very similar system. Yes, they all somehow look right with other, don’t they. (Same period). Which, was our idea and intention, when we decided to set-up this vinyl only based system.
We already had the Epos ES14’s. And our 1986 LP12. So we went looking for the Olive shoe boxes to go in between. I guess it’s also a homage to a that period - late 80’s or early 90’s.
I have no experience of our ES14’s with a CB Nait 2, so can’t offer an help with that question. The ES14’s are a very easy speaker load to drive. In theory it could work. But no idea what that combo’ might sound like. Another vintage option is the Linn Kan. I’ve seen other users pair their Nait with Kan’s.
I think LP12 - CB Nait2 - speakers (of your choice), would be all the music anyone might need.
Lots of other done this and it looks fab’ too.
Sounds like a nice project?
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Hi @ratrat , yes it would be a second system. I stupidly sold my ES14s 18 yr ago. I thought they were starting to look dated, but your system looks classily retro. It is very inspirational.
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Thank you so much. That was exactly our intention with this project. Glad that comes across.
All planned for this room - in our new house - over a period of about a year (or so).
Funny thing about design, everything comes around back into focus, in cycles. Good design can stand the test of time.
We just love the Olive shoe boxes. Most importantly, they are a lot of music in such small boxes.
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One system I sometimes miss in the office is Valhalla/Ittok/VM95 LP12 with Nait 1 and Keilidhs. That had the best rhythm and fun factor of any system I’ve had. Obviously not without flaws but the Keilidhs gave it just enough bass and the lean Nait / VM95 helped cut through the warm blanket that hung over their midrange.
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It’s one of those old myths that ES14s need a NAP250 to work properly. It’s true that Robin Marshall used a 250 when working on the design of them but the two shouldn’t be conflated. A 110 or 140 will drive them perfectly well and may even be preferable in difficult rooms as the bass rolloff is set higher on the the 110 / 140 than the bigger amps.
My own pair are still on duty out in the workshop and sound pretty good with just a NAIT 3 behind them. Just beware of not pushing them too hard anyway as the mid-bass driver tends to come apart internally due to a failing voice coil / cone joint.
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Indeed (yet a tuner/streamer would also be nice) but perhaps not with ES14 then (which are brilliant elsewhere).
From memory to my ears the ES14 are somewhat outside the optimal enveloppe of the Nait 2. Especially for bass control I found the ES11 a better match at the time, although it did work of course. So I would second pairing the ES14 with shoebox separates or newer/higher, where they can shine.
Lots of info on the forum about speakers that pair well with the Nait 2, there are several options.
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As I said above I had the ES14s on the end of Xerxes/Nait 1 and they sang. Yep the extra oomph from the 140 improved them a lot, and the 135s really showed what they could do, but I loved the Nait with them.
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A close friend ran Epos ES11’s with a Nait. I always thought that was a great match. (Maybe better suited to smaller rooms).
In recent years, I’ve been following / looking at pre-loved ES11’s and noticed they have also become quite desirable. I also see they are maybe more regularly available, than ES14’s. Perhaps a larger number were made and sold by Epos. After all, it was a popular speaker and at a reasonable price point. In fact there are several (some with matching stands) right now on a certain marketplace.
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Demonstrating the Epos ES14’s versatility - here are ours - with more recent Naim electronics…
(Note : Photo taken very soon after moving in, maybe few days, hence state of unreadiness, etc).
Pictured here with CD5XS - nDAC - Nait XS2 - HiCap2.
I can honestly testify these magnicficant speakers have coped with so many systems over their 30+ years. They have never let us down. On every occasion we have changed something or upgraded, they have found more music to give.
They just keep giving.
Please do share your own photos and stories about ES14’s.
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