Speaker designer Karl-Heinz Fink’s Fink Team recently bought British loudspeaker brand Epos. “We have changed the Epos designs considerably,” Fink told me about the company’s three speaker models. “Epos loudspeakers are less expensive than Fink Team’s, but the engineering is nearly the same as the Fink Team’s.”
The Epos ES-28N (projected US price $8000/pair or less) is the company’s first three-way loudspeaker. “I’m not convinced by 2 ½ way designs because they can beam,” Fink said. The speaker’s walls utilize constrained layer damping, and the front baffle is nearly 50mm thick. The bass port is downfiring and extends upward to the middle of the bass enclosure.
Also in the system, a Canor Virtus I2 integrated tube amplifier ($7999), DAC 2.1 ($3999), and Asterion V2 phono stage ($6999), all from Slovakia, joined a Matrix Element S streamer ($1499) and Luphonic R3 turntable (no US distribution) with Goldring Ethos SE cartridge.
On John Williams and Anne-Sophie Mutter’s recording of Rey’s Theme from Star Wars: The Force Awakening, highs and midrange were quite nice. Bass was less than fully controlled; the exhibit was in one of the difficult-to-control central Atrium rooms, which in this case was partitioned to avoid interaction with the glass back wall. The front of the room was reserved for talking, the rear for listening.