These speakers are extremely involving. The woofer gives you the sense that it’s lighter than air for an effortless sound and the tweeter extends way beyond human hearing. It’s like listening to a crossoverless full range speaker with bass and high frequency extension without that midrange hardness.

Involvement level, PRaT (pace, rhythm and timing), soundstage, looks, dynamics.

None for the money.

I was forced to change from my beloved ES11's due to a robbery but I haven't missed them for a moment. The M15's retain the transparent, involving, musical and rhythmic skills of the 11's, add a few htz at the bottom, and open up a whole new world of soundstage depth. With regards to the bottom end, there's plenty of weight and great pitch until it runs out of extension, but it doesn't fall into the trap that so many smaller speakers do - trying to get too much bass. What is there is of very good quality. The mids are smooth, rich and full with a wonderful clarity in vocals. The tops are smoother than the old 11's which may take away a tiny bit of excitement, but the overall sonic package is extremely hard to poke holes in. I listen in the near field following the audiophysic instructions and the results are simply breath-taking. The speakers disappear, detail recovery is superb, the soundstage depth is limited only by your electronics and the apparent width is amazing. Don't take the positioning guides in the manual too seriously - be prepared to experiment and you will be rewarded with a seamless musical presentation that will take a lot of money to significantly better. The rest of my system is: Meridian 508.24 Musical Fidelity A3CR Pre/Power combo Slinklylink Interconnect and Speaker Cable

Similar Products Used:

Epos ES11

Natural sound, smooth, good price, handle 100Watts RMS.

Maybe, not enough bottom end for watching movie. Wouldn''t that be a Subwoofer job?

A well made speaker with high quality components. It looks and feels high class with attractive wood finished. M15 is very open, smooth, flat and musical sounding. It reminded me of more expensive speakers like Mirage Loudspeakers MRM-1 and Thiel CS 1.5, which are too bright for my test. Don’t let the size fool you. M15 could handle 100Watts RMS per side. During the judgment day, M15 was up against NHT VT 1.4: a fair fight. Both have similar price and build quality. We listened to “I’m an errand girl for rhythm” by Diana Krall on both speakers with the same tobe amp. M15 was more natural sounding; on the other hand NHT VT 1.4 had more bottom end and a tad bright on high frequency, which would be good for home theater system. M15 portrayed piano sounds like life like grand piano sound. All the keystrokes sound was there. Well, NHT VT 1.4 piano sounds was a tad too much on bottom end. It sounded more like Roland digital piano sound rather than the grand piano sound, which isn’t bad for music now and day. OK, when I got home and hooked up my stereo. I listened to Erykah Badu Live CD on M15. Woo, it is much better than my old speaker, which is Vendersteen B1. The midrange was much better. Because of that, I have no doubt that M15 would do well for all kind of music. Get it if you can. I am using Yamaha natural sound amp M35(has volume control in the front) with American DJ Pro 400 CD player and M15 Epos speaker. I did have Adcom preamp, Adcom amp, Vendersteen B1 speaker, Nakamichi CD player, Technic mk1200 turntable, Sony minidisc player and Harman/Kardon tape player.

Similar Products Used:

Vendersteen B1

musicality, openess, pace

top end air, deep bass

I have had the M15s since mid-April and likely have enough breaking in to yield a reasonably accurate review.

Let me just say that my speaker searches have proven that I am sonically biased to the Robin Marshall type of sound. I have owned the Epos ES14 for ten years. They are an excellent speaker with a very open and engaging sound but can have a bloated, wayward bass. They also require lots of power to sound best.

I have tried a variety of speakers in my listening room, which actually has some poor sonic qualities. Some of these were: Royd Minstrel SE and Doublet, Rogers LS3/5a, Naim Intro, AE Aegis 1, Tannoy System 800, Silverline Sonata, JM Lab Electra 905, Reference 3A De Capo, etc. I was looking for a speaker that would work in a free space setting with a large bay window behind. In audio shops, I also auditioned a large number of speakers including: Acoustic Energy AE1, Monitor Audio Bronze, Living Voice Auditorium, Meadowlark Kestrel, a number of ProAcs, Neats, etc. It wasn’t until I heard the M15s that I heard something that was both familiar in presentation and had a better bass (faster and deeper) that the ES14s. The Shahinian Arcs were the major serious competition for the sound that I was after, but at substantially higher cost.

I bought the “light” cherry finished M15 that are actually quite a rich color. They come with substantial spikes and coin-like disks to use on wood floors. The bass was quite good as the speakers were broken in, but seriously improved with adding several kilos of dry sand to the bottom compartment designed for mass loading. They sound clearer and cleaner when isolated from my wood floor, a finding common to the ES14s. They are modest in size and very well voiced. Good WAF compared to the ES14s on their stands. I prefer them raised up so that the tweeter is at ear level. This might be different if the listener was further away than my listening chair (10 feet). They are easier to drive than the ES14s.

The speakers are configured for biwiring, although as previously with Epos, the woofer is direct wired without a crossover and the tweeter has capacitor protection and a resistor for loudness matching. I was surprised to see an inductor on the internal connections of the midbass unit. The factory assured me that it is not wired in, and the sound verifies that.

How about the sound? Well, these speakers are very open, engaging and clear sounding. I’m sure there is the midband drop where the midbass peters out with mechanical dampening and the tweeter takes over. The tweeter is aluminum, as on the ES14s, as I read that Marshall believes the first cone break up is at a higher frequency with the metal dome. Perhaps that could make these speakers a bit bright with the wrong partnering electronics. Although I use Naim CDX/72/hi/160, I also have heard the M15s sound very fine with a Merdian 24 bit cd player and Talk amp, and with an Exposure XXV integrated. The single order crossover gives a very open and spacious sound. With the mass loading, the bass is tight and deep enough, perhaps to 40 Hz. The bass doesn’t thump your chest, but certainly can rattle the windows. Although I own neither a pipe nor slippers, I could be classified in the “pipe and slippers” brigade as I listen to mostly classical, opera and jazz. I have no idea if the M15s would stand up to head banging music. These speakers give up some presence and air to the ES14s in exchange for a substantially better bottom end. In this price range, I suppose speakers have to compromise somewhere. However, the speaker is great with operatic voices, although not as good as the LS3/5a.

Although apparently shielded for home theater use, I only use them as part of a stereo system.

I think these are excellent speakers and a have openness and clarity which I prefer. The sonic presentation is similar to the older Epos sound. They are solid four-star performers that could easily anchor a midpriced system.

Similar Products Used:

Epos Es14