Epos epic 2 vs PMC DB1i. Anyone heard both?

[CnoEvil]

Yes it does, somehow.

My "problem" is, choose for the Epos-sound (maybe new Epic-2 or Elan-15) combined with an extremely good (new) valve-amp which makes the disappear-effect, or buy a speaker which does that (like the Dynaudio's or LS50's) and use a transistoramp, which they need imo.

I heard the Dynaudio's but i think they need a strong, bright, ss-amp, otherwise they sound a bit polite, i think. A valve-amp would be no good partner. The LS50 sounded a bit bright on vocals (not on violins) but loose in the bass, so needs a warm powerful ss-amp.

Advice will be appreciated!

What is your budget?

 

[ABM78]

Hey Jaxwired - I have just bought a Quad 909 poweramp second hand, searching on forum looks like you may have had one in the past, what were your impressions? AND...if I were to upgrade my speakers to other Dyn's would you suggest or have you had any experience with the new Focus 160's or a second hand pair of contours 1.4s? Thanks Mate.

The 909 is superb. Lots of power, small box, runs cool, loved it. The 909 has fabulous midrange and extended highs. It's only flaw is the bass is not as powerful as some other amps but with Dyn speakers, they don't really need more help with the bass. What preamp are you using with it? In my experience, the preamp impacts the sound quality more than the amp. I owned the Contour S1.4s for a good 2 years before changing. I thought they were outstanding. The one caveat is that they have prodigious bass output, more than even the other Dynaudios. If you do not have a big enough room or at least the ability to keep them well clear of all walls, they will sound too boomy. The Focus 160 is the speaker that led me to my current Focus 340s. I bought the 160s after reading all the positive reviews and like them so much I traded them in for the 340s. The 160s do not suffer from the same bass issues that the S1.4s do. They are more balanced. They have delicate open treble and mids with just the perfect amount of deep bass. For a small to medium size room, I'd be going for the 160s over the S1.4s. Hope that helps. Good luck. Keep us posted.

Hi Jaxwired,

I was hoping to use my Leema Pulse MkII as the pre-amp but you are the second person who has said the pre-amp can make a big difference to the 909 (although I'm sure this is true with most amps), I guess I will see how it all works out when the Quad gets here and re-asses from there whether I need to look at a dedicated pre-amp. Thanks for your reply.

 

[Rethep]

Well, the new valve-amp would cost 4.500 euro's which is 3.500 GBP. New Epos Elan would be 1.000 euro's + 300 for the stands.

But i think it's more the question of which way to go. Tonight i extremely enjoyed my valvesound again, but the bass sounds too loose which just means less rythmic feel.