Official Epik Subwoofer Thread - Page 159

Oh yeah . That too.

If all goes as planned, I may have to order an A7-350 on the 15th.

Well, the Auralex Great Gramma sound pad came today, and I got the Conquest up on it with no problems.

It actually made a world of difference. The bass is definitely tighter now, and there is less vibration and rattle in the room now. If you have a sub on a subfloor, I highly recommend one.

stepyourgameup,
I am telling you to wait. You do NOT want to go elsewhere. A month is worth the wait.
Really do you need to get your sub now? Because if you do get a different sub you will be very upset when the Tower is ready to go. Trust me.

Why would you suggest that as fact? Have you heard both subwoofers side by side? If you look at Craigsub's ranking data it would suggest that dollar for dollar the ED offerings are right in line with what Epik offers. Epik has been out of stock for a long time now, and they said it would be at least a month, not "in one month we will have some". I wouldn't suggest your hearsay as factual. Previous data available suggests that the ED should be on par with the Tower.

I certainly wouldn't be as presumptious as to advise another what to do, but I'd wait. Even if the subs are somewhat comparable from a performance perspective (I haven't heard either, so I have no comment), it'd be worth waiting just so they were matched.

The general consensus I've heard here, from people who know far more than I, is that getting 2 subs to play together nicely is MUCH more difficult when they're not identical.


$0.02

I'll just add to that then. It's not. As with anything worth having, 2 subs whether the same or not will require some setup, level calibration, placement, room treatments, etc to sound their best.

Interesting.

Do they need, in your estimation, to even be similar then?

Integrating an old, cheap KLH in with your Conquest, would you consider that feasible/possible/less than very difficult?

If not, then where does one draw the line?

Not trying to be argumentative at all here, just curious since what you say seems to run perpendicular to most of what I've read.

Trying to integrate a $200 subwoofer with a $1500 one would be more difficult because you'd have to do one of two things:

* Lower the output threshold of the $1500 subwoofer effectively taking away from its total output capabilities in order to come down to the level of the $200 one. In this scenario the $200 sub might actually be detrimental rather than helpful.
* Use some sort of equalization management so that the $200 subwoofer would handle higher frequencies (say from 60hz on up to whatever ceiling it can effectively handle) and the $1500 sub to handle 60hz on down. This scenario would be ideal and in this case yes it would require some more work to "make it right".

As far as where does one draw the line? I guess you'd need to be at least in the same ballpark. Integrating an MFW-15 with a Conquest probably wouldn't be so hard because the MFW should be "close" to capable with what the Conquest can do in certain frequency bands, and should add to the total SPL output of the entire system.

Mainly just use some common sense would be a good rule of thumb One certainly couldn't expect a Yugo to hang performance wise with a Lamborghini, but maybe a Subaru STI could compete on a road course and at least be close!

It's not hard at all, just turn the bigger, badder sub up enough so that it drowns out the little guy.

For my own peace of mind I would wait until you could get matching subs. I may have a slight case of OCD though.

My Castle replaced a 10" Polk sub that I got for free with my mains. Just for fun I left the Polk unplugged sitting in plain view next to the mains while the Castle hid in the corner behind the couch. The look on the faces of my friends was priceless when they heard the bass kick in.

You can't wait for another sub?????? WAIT, since you already have a Tower, just get another Tower! I have ONE, and it's plenty o power/bass for my setup. It might be different for you, but wait and get another tower. Just my .002

I am on the fence with the ed a350 and the epik knight. So it wont be a month before theyll even be available to order and it could be another month on top of that before they arrive?

Considering the size of both the Tower and A7 350, it would be aestheticlly pleasing I think, to have matching subs in the theatre. I am tho curious about the performance of the a7 350 casue it's hard pressed to find a review on the boards. Selling close to original cost (particularly the Tower) should not be a problem either.

Irk322. Epik's time for resuming subwoofer sales was an estimate. Plus, considering that the later half of 2008 customers had to wait 4-5 weeks for their sub from placement of order to delivery, it could be a over two months to wait.

Glad I bought my Tower in Sep and got it in Oct. It was just over 4 weeks from order to my door....it was worth the wait! My advise is that there are many other ID choices out there that are worth your wild....However, If you want to add a second Epik sub, the wait IS worth it, even if it takes two months! I believe in matching subs, although I have an HSU MBM-12; a mid-bass module which does great things for my system

I've got a Castle and it is easily the best sub I have owned but this delay in shipping or even taking orders at Epik has me very worried about the company. I'd like another Castle for my theater but having to wait 2 months ain't sitting well with me. It's not just the wait. These are not esoteric parts. In fact, other manufacturers are using similar and sometimes the same parts. Why aren't they all hurting? It is giving me pause about doing further business with Epik. Am I alone in this thinking?

Epik is pretty new (2007) and small. All they do is HT subwoofers. Nothing else. I for one understand the frustration with communication via emails, phone calls, and to some extent having to wait 4-5 weeks for a sub. But having spoken to Chad (the owner/founder) about my Tower order and experiencing the performance if this sub, it all trickles away the first day you set it up. It's a great performing product.
I do find the manufacturing of parts this second time around is much longer than expected. Close to two months I believe. The first time sub ordering was suspended was in March and it took only three weeks. But EPIK has gain popularity since then so orders have sky rocketed. Hopefully thats all it is.
Chad should hire more ppl in the customer service department. Karen has been working non stop .

If all they are selling right now are Conquests I have a hard time believing they are working their tails off. As of this moment and for the last 5-6 weeks all they have sold is 1 product. Seriously not that hard.

I love my Tower as much as the next guy but I agree 100% with Kevinsh. I have quite a bit of pause regarding this situation not only right now, but with doing further business with them going forward. I will seriously consider other options the next time around I'm ready to upgrade or add a second subwoofer. I would hate to sell my Tower, but if I upgrade I may have to at some point.

Regardless though the performance IS amazing and I love my Tower.

+1. I might end up waiting until Feb. to see what Epik does. Come March though it will be hard to wait any longer.

Depends on how may Conquest they are selling in a month? If your overbook it may as well be your most expensive product. But I agree get help. But they might want to stay a small CO.?

Just wanted to share my joy that I snagged an Epik Valor Bstock for $500 plus $70 shipping. It only has a few smudges on top and will ship tommorow according to the site! I will post my feed back when I get it. I am pairing it with the Polk Rti A9, Csi A6, and FXi A6 (also on the way)

. I think Ill be much happier with the Valor than the original Polk DSW600 I was going to get!

You have your Epik subwoofer in the wall? How did you get an opening that large?

My Epik Castle fits nicely under the stairs:

That's so cool....I wish I could put my Tower in the wall, but that would put the sub in my bedroom. Anyway, nice job, and clean that thing up! (not that it matters at ALL )

It's clean now........got dirty installing it. The Great Gamma pad works very well isolating the floor in the void space.

Yeah, I bought a Great Gramma also, but sold it on ebay; I thought the sound was actually better without it (believe it or not) and plus I can slide it around where the rug bunches up around it. The Tower is is in the front of the room and it actually looks a lot smaller without the Gramma. Don't get me wrong, the Gramma works, but this time it wasn't that "Great"..........

I have not been available for a few days but will explain why I would wait to get another Tower versus going elswhere.

My first reason was stepyourgameups previous post have been so positive about his Tower and how much he loves the way it sounds and performs that, I personally, can't see the need to rush into getting a different sub without waiting to see if the Tower will be available when we've been told it will be. If he was going to order another sub @ 1/15 why not wait the extra couple of weeks and see if the Tower will be available, especially since he said he would rather order another Tower. Again just my thought process.

My second reason is that even though you can match a different sub to work with the Tower, from what I have read here and on other forums and Magazines, it is much more difficult to do so and you also risk them not matching up in terms of sound, response, frequency. etc. I know that it is alot easier to put a second Tower in his system and, again form his previous posts, would probably be his first choice and, in my opinion, best choice. But the want for another sub in the system is getting to strong to wait and I was trying to be the voice of reason. I almost bought the ED A7-900 to go with my Conquest because I wanted another sub and didn't want to wait for the turn around time to get another Conquest. Thank god a friend of mine spoke up and stopped me from "settling" on something diffferent just because of the time frame when I really wanted another Conquest. So that is what my intentions are.

And Third is just a professional gut instinct that we may want to see what is coming out when these are "available again". No I don't have any inside info or rumors but I have been in Sales and Sales Management long enough that I think they may be up to something. Again I don't know but when basically ALL of your subs are not available and they are all supposed to be available at the end of the month and at the same time, this is when companies have a tendency to introduce new or updated product. So again based on his previous post I don't see how waiting a couple of weeks to order his second sub will be the end of the world.
I admit that I am very Pro Epik as I have heard alot of different subs like the rest of you and have been fortunate enough to go to HSU's factory and listen to all of the subs they have to offer and in my opinion there is no comparison for the $$$$. And if you add Chad and Karen in to the final factor to me it's a no brainer. I have talked with quite a few different sub companies customer service people and repair people and Chad's service has been nothing but AA++. I do not know of a single instance that if someone had a problem with their sub they had to wait to hear from them or wait to get the issue resolved. Plus the number of issues I've seen on this entire forum are equal to the number of issues you can find in a competitors forum usually in just a few pages. Plus if there is an issue, like the MFW 15 amps, Chad will send you a new amp ASAP and if it seems to be an ongoing issue he will fix the problem with amps, unlike the MFW 15 amps. They will send you replacement amps but do not seem interested in fixing the actuall problem but will continue to send out amps until you get one that works properly, and that has been a couple of months on more than one occasion for them and the ED LT-550 and 1300. Again, just my opinion on what I have seen and read.

So that is the reason that I made the statement I did. Not that I need to defend my opinion, because that is what it is , MY OPINION.
I know that thirdeye11 has major issues with the slow response time's with customer sevice and this makes him unsure of the company, along with others out there , but again in this forum that is really the only complaint. I'll take that versus all the other issues that the competitors have with their products. Sure you can reach someone quicker but that is because they need them to answer all the calls about the defective units and finding away to fix them. If I can't get someone on the phone right away to talk about some tech stuff I don't mind because I know that I will hear from them but I also know if I have a problem with my Epik sub I will hear from them right away. But that is a call I'll probably never have to make.


Thanks for listening and now back to your regular programming.....

hmmm. new subs? or even the vener option.

1000 watts dual 15"?!?! 18"!?!?!?!

Lord help us.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...=885079&page=5

post # 135

You are what we call a "fanboy". Someone who is willing to deal with all the shortcomings in the world and still call something the best there is.

I have no complaints with the product itself. As you stated for me that I have "major issues" with their customer service that's close to the truth, but mostly it's what I call "unacceptable". People make excuses for them that they are a "small company" but what people don't realize is that as companies get LARGER customer service gets more difficult to deliver. It is not the other way around. There are very few large organizations in the world that offer customer service second to none. Almost all of the time it is the little guy that gives the great service, and that's what keeps him in business. With Epik the ONLY reason they do well is because they have an amazing value proposition. Meaning their product is one of the absolutely best pre-buitl performers for the dollar in the world, bar none. I don't think anyone will argue that if Epik offered better customer service that SVS, HSU, and ED would be in a world of trouble.

Can you even imagine how much those other company's sales would go down if Epik started actually answering the phone, responding to emails, building products in a reasonable amount of time, or even simply giving a ****? I'm not going so far as to say they really don't care, but given my experiences and those of others I certainly lean that direction. I imagine that every night before they go to sleep those company's top executives just hope and pray that Epik can't start delivering customer service because it would really shake things up.

Would I buy another Tower? Maybe. Would I buy a sub from SVS or ED without even thinking twice about the decision? Absolutely. Some people want only the best product, and those people will continue to buy Epik. Some others want the best product with the best service, and those people will go to SVS and others.

Either way I don't have much bad to say about Epik except..... well I'm beating a dead horse.

ON IN II you might as well have just said "I recommended it because I am an Epik fanboy" and that would have been explanation enough

-Chad

I fall in the middle of thirdeye and ON IN II. My Tower was shutting down and immediately called and emailed Epik. Got Chad to talk with me about the problem and he seems to know his product very well. YEAH, Customer support is kinda hit and miss with them, but Chad stepped up to the plate and sent me a new amp. It turned out that it wasn't the amp at all; I just had the sub too "hot" and also it could have been that particular power outlet on the wall I was using. What was cool is that it didn't cost me ANYTHING to get the amp and ship out the old one. That was cool in my book. I am very happy with my Tower and would wait 4 months to get another one (if I actually needed another one, which I don't) AM I A FANBOY? NO, just a satisfied customer