Official Epik Subwoofer Thread - Page 564

I finally got around to hooking up my B&W ASW610 with my Empire. I put it right next to my center speaker, because that is the only place it could have gone. It is facing the side of the empire about 8 feet away (it faces the Epik sticker opposite side of the amp). It still is on a 5m cable, and the empire on an 8m cable. I am not sure how much that affects output but it must be some.

I was blown away though. Wow! One Empire is great, but one Empire plus the little B&W is just awesome! Haven't even Audyssey'd it yet, and it just completes the bass in my listening area, makes it throaty, chest pounding and awesome. It really takes the bass in my room to a whole new level. I guess I got lucky because all I had to do was adjust the phase and the volume a bit and it sounded great. I only had time to test Percy Jackson hydra and opening scene, SW Episode II chapter 3 and Ratatouille lightning strike + shotgun scene. I tested these scenes with both subs, just B&W and just Epik. No comparison, together they just rock. When I did the B&W alone, the footsteps of Poseidon coming out of the water were barely audible, the little guy just can't go that deep, the Empire just picks up the deep stuff and together they pound out the middle.

I then tried just the Empire and it sounded great, but after hearing duals, it just sounded lacking, because the sealed 10"er really adds a lot of mid-bass impact and fills the listening area in nicely.

I tried just the B&W and it sounded good, but lacked the deep stuff and the extra slam, which is why I got the Empire in the first place. They really seem to complement each other well. Not too surprising I guess given both are sealed, but the B&W is tiny.

Anyway, can't wait to test this some more.

Glad it all worked out for you, I don't know why it's not as hot as the old one. Did you have them both on a while, to fully test this?

Well last night I had turned them both on at the same time,so neither had been running any longer than the other.The thing is I've had them playing now for about an hour and don't really notice a difference in heat between the two,weird,It sure seemed like a BIG difference last night.

^^^^^ They should be pretty close to the same temp. I would think.

Seems like quite a few guys bashing the Empire over on Ricci's test thread. I don't understand why to be honest. I think the numbers look good. Am I missing something? oO
Ricci's Empire Test Results

I think for the most part they thought the Empire was going to dig much deeper (below 20hz). I listened to alot of subs before buying the Empire, many costing $6000 that would dig deeper. Yes they did dig deeper, also in your pocket. For the price of the Empire you have a very good sub. I have had the Empire for about 15 months now and am still very satisfied.

Well, for one thing, the build in ~22Hz eq limits how loud (without compression and distortion) a single Empire can get. A regular guy looking for a single sub, with in a price range, and who dosent really listen to all that loud (hopefully in at max- a medium to medium plus sized room) a Empire will do nicely.

Some want response in the lower teens. Some want higher clean spl. The fact is you can't satisfy everyone. And that should not bother you so much .

What I feel is that the Empire is suffering from some repercussions of it's "hype". I think that if Epik posted FRs of the Empire (like they used to for their previous lines)...allot of poeple (myself included) would not have purchased one due to the early roll off. But hey, it was designed that way (amp, woofers, SIZE, price).

I think it's a combination of a number of things.

First, the focus of the subwoofer thread has changed over the years, in my opinion, from "music and HT" to "HT," and even inside HT from sub-30Hz performance to sub-25Hz performance to sub-20Hz performance (and it is moving to sub-15Hz performance). It seems pretty clear that a single Empire is not designed to play that game. But I suspect that it will be increasingly difficult to get a one-size-fits-all-octaves subwoofer if people want to keep adding octaves to the requirements for low frequency performance.

Second, the Empire apparently has a rather unique set of numbers, even for sealed subs (although even Ricci admits that the opposing driver design led to an ad-hoc approach to some of the calculations).

Finally, the Empire has had quite a bit of hype/success, and a lot of people love to tear down the "golden boy."

Having said all that, my quads are better than anything else I've had in my 12.5x17x8 sealed room.

Agree completely with the last three posts. I guess the hype did it in to an extent. I love the sub though, and have heard nary a one who doesn't. No regrets here whatsoever.

I would buy it all over again, and I just may end up getting a second one in a year or two, but for a guy who has a baby in the house and rarely listens to HT at more than -20 (except when the wife and baby are out), it is just a sweet sub.

Gee Simon, four subs in that size room probably kicks some major azz,lol! Agree with the rest of you guys, for the money, Chad has built a damn good sub that performs great for HT and awesome for music in a mid sized sealed room. The cu. ft. of the listening area and if it's sealable, is a huge factor in how well a sub will sound,especially a sealed sub. If you are one who has a large(over 3200) cu.ft. LR, be prepared to dish out $1500 and up to get that chest pounding bass. There's lots of great subs out there , decide which works best for your room.

I have dual Empires in a 11X20X8 sealed room and I can't imagine needing more, but you know how that goes never say never.

I care more about the music on a movie soundtrack than the explosions. In any case, I don't play stuff at "reference levels." I was offered a deal on four used subs that I couldn't pass up. The music is tighter and cleaner than what I had before--I could go into specifics. For HT stuff, the main thing I notice with the four subs is greater overall room pressurization and more even FR over the seating area.

Legend owners, I would really appreciate your take on this.

I don't have room for the Empire...which is apparently a common problem because Chad started building Legend's for a reason.

How much am I giving up to drop down to a Legend?

I'm a big fan of dual drivers b/c I only have one place in my room I can put a sub. Perfect world i could put two subs in opposite corners and call it a day. I can't. I also have a convexed ceiling, so the more headroom the better.

A compliment to Epik, budget is not really my issue. It's space. I want the most sub I can get with 21" cubed.

Everyone falls all over themselves talking about the Empire. Very little has been written about the Legend.

Would love thoughts from owners. Thanks

anyone still have their Towers? I still, and always will, have my Tower until it blows up, which I highly doubt I LOVE IT!

My Tower still kicks azz. I'm tempted to see the structure of the driver Epik used. Mabye use it in a DIY build .

As a satisfied owner of an Epik Valor subwoofer, I can vouch for the quality of the Epik product. That being said, this kit is hard to beat for the size/price/performance and meets your size requirement.

Comparing the SPL chart (in .pdf) to Ricci's measurements for the Empire gives the advantage to the Quartet12B kit, especially down low as it is a passive radiator design.

Steve

As I mentioned a few pages back, I'm planning a DIY build around the Valor driver and amp. I've had some correspondence with Chad regarding my plans and he essentially blessed the design and said have fun. The new cabinet would basically look as shown below.

I would also be interested in seeing the Tower driver just to see the difference between it and the Valor. Any Tower owners brave enough to remove the driver and snap some pics?

Steve

Mabye my arm is long enough to reach through the 6" flared port and snap some pics.

Did Chad give you the T/S parameters for that driver? Or did he guide you on a box size and port area to shoot for?

No T/S parameters, as I expected. But I told him my plans for the box ,including internal volume, port dimensions, and tuning frequency. He did mention the amp used in the Valor/Knight/Caliber has a High-Pass filter (HPF) at 20 Hz as well as a boost @ 20 Hz. I mentioned an assumption of 3dB boost and he never corrected me.

Knowing this much allows one to simulate the enclosure and amp with other popular 15" drivers on the market using programs like WinISD Pro, which I've done.

I purchased an Epik Subwoofer approximately a year ago, and today it no longer works. The sub will not power on. The light on the amp will not come on either. I noticed this when the power switch was in the on position, but I did not smell any burnt smell nor did I hear any popping sound or detect any other indication that anything is wrong other than the sub not coming on. The volume was at about 12 o'clock when I noticed. I've immensely enjoyed this sub for the time I've had it. Contacted Empire and waiting to hear back. Really hoping I don't have to ship the whole thing back on my dime. How do you ship something this massive and heavy?? Any thoughts? Thanks.

Most likely a failed amp. Wouldn't need to ship entire subwoofer, only a replacement amp that you could install yourself. If within your warranty, should be covered by Epik, if out of warranty, perhaps Epik will offer you a discounted price on replacement amp since relatively new.

what's the current warranty for Epik? When I bought my Tower, Chad said it was 7 years! I guess I'm covered for another 4 years

Looks like currently 3 years on driver and amp (http://store.epiksubwoofers.com/terms.asp). Looks like crimsonwrath should be due a replacement amp.

Is this a common issue on the Epik Empire?

If you've followed this thread lately, there have been a few instances of Empire amp failures, but to call it a "common issue" is probably a stretch.

Don't even sweat it,the same thing happened to one of mine last sunday.I called Chad monday and he sent a replacement amp that day and I got it on thursday.All you'll need is a phillips screwdriver and about 10 minutes and you'll be back in business.

how does Legend compare with Valor? I couldn't find detailed reviews of the Legend, guess it is relatively new. The Valor, on the other hand, is listed in craigsub ranking. if someone could help me compare these two, that will give me an idea how does the Legend compare to other brands. Thanks.

I bought a Legend for exactly the same reason. The sub needed to go under a table with a max clearance of 21.5". I am quite happy with its performance.

I have a question about an Epik Tower sub, any help or answers would be greatly appreciated.

I purchased a used Epik Tower that was well cared for from a gentleman a few days ago. I did a quick calibration with an SPL meter and my Onkyo 807 receiver, it hovers around 75 db with my other speakers with my receiver test tone. It is connected with the low level inputs, on the LFE setting, and the volume nob is about 1.5 notches above the bottom.

When watching certain movies, once it reaches a certain output level, ie at 1:45:28 in the Battle of Los Angeles when some ships fly by, the sub will shut off and need to be reset with the main switch. I reset the sub, rewind slightly, and it will shut off at the same time point in the movie. The amp is barely warm to the touch. This occurs at -12db relative or at 70db absolute. I have tried switching the power switch from Auto to On, and from LFE to Crossover, but it still occurs.

My question is, is this a normal safety feature of the amp (I am admittedly pushing the sub quite hard), or is this a sign of a faulty sub? My understanding is that you can push these subs to the limits and the only consequence would be a volume limit that you would eventually reach, versus the amp shutting down suddenly unless the amp is hot (which this one isn't).

The gentleman that sold it to me has been very kind and has offered me a refund if I am not satisfied, but I just wanted to clarify if this was normal or not first?

8 posts --- joined today --- all the same exact post? nice...