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EPI Model 100 Thrift Store Find


Van_Isle

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Last weekend I picked up a pair of EPI Model 100's + pair of stands. Woofers need refoam (of course) but the enclosures are 99% mint and the grils and emblems are all there. The stands are 22-inch tall MDF with spikes and are hollow, so I figure I can weight them.

As far as I can tell, these are the later version model 100's - 1981/82, according to humanspeakers.com.

$30 (CAN) for speakers and stands at a local thrift shop. Seemed reasonable to me - what do others think?

Assuming the tweeters are ok, and after I redo the foam surrounds I have several options on what to run them with.

Any comments on what would be best?:

Sansui AU-4400 24 wpc integrated amp.

Harman Kardon HK-430 25wpc twin-powered receiver.

Sansui AU-7700 50 wpc integrated amp.

Yamaha CR-820 55 wpc receiver.

Thanks

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I've posted this over at Audiokarma, but I thought I might get more responses from a EPI forum.

Anyway, the Model 100 saga continues ... I walked back into the same thrift store today and the fellow that does the electronics testing is there (must be in his mid-80's at least). And sitting next to him in his little office is ANOTHER set of EPI 100's! Same vintage. So I mention to him that I had bought the pair they had last week and he says .... how do they sound? I say not so good right now because the foam surrounds need to be replaced. He says ... oh I'm terribly sorry about that .... they were priced accordingly because the grills don't come off and we couldn't check them. I said, they sure do come off and proceeded to show him with the set he had. Of course the foams fell onto the floor as soon as I pulled the grill. I explained that they could be replaced relatively easilly. This nice old gent then proceeds to say ... well, if you want those ones then take them because otherwise they are going to the dump !!!! :P

Well, turns out they fire all speakers that have rotten foams straight into the dumpster. I can see their point, in that they do offer refunds on non-working electronics and otherwise not everyone that buys a pair of speakers is expecting to have to redo the foams .... but can you just imagine the numbers of old classic speakers that these folks have turfed for want of a few bucks (and some time) in foam replacement? I have wild visions of somehow saving all these old speakers from a misrable fate! Keep in mind that this store is located in a fairly well-to-do small suburb that is a senior's mecca! This is the shop that I got my $30 Advent/1's from. Not a lot of great speakers appear on the shelves and I think I know why now - because the cheap Sony / Sanyo / Lloyds / etc. stuff don't come with removable grills and they put these out "priced accordingly" while they are heaving the Advents / EPI's / AR's / Polks / Paradigms (heh - I'm Canadian, eh!) and who knows what out the back door!

Same goes for most of the old receivers, amps, turntables, etc. This fellow has quite a collection back there backlogged for checking out ... mostly bpc (no, I'm not going to save that .... except maybe that interesting Akai receiver he has .... going to have to check back on that one.) Acutally I felt a bit relieved when he said they don't get too much classic gear anymore (the example we were discussing was mid-70's Sansui).

So now I have 4 EPI Model 100's + 1 set of stands for $30. I think maybe one set once it gets fixed up will get donated back to them. The set I picked up today is not in the same league in terms of condition of the cabinet. Multiple scratches and looks like one has been dropped (not severely) on a corner.

So, another question - if I am choosing 2 best tweeters out of the 4, is there anything in particular I should be checking for? Is there any way to determine which is in the best shape? I did notice a small "bubble" on one of the concave dome tweeters in the original pair. Is this an issue?

Thanks

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  • 8 months later...

So, another question - if I am choosing 2 best tweeters out of the 4, is there anything in particular I should be checking for? Is there any way to determine which is in the best shape? I did notice a small "bubble" on one of the concave dome tweeters in the original pair. Is this an issue?

I hope not because it's on the tweeters in my A70's that I just picked up off Craigslist. They played fine when I did the testing at low volume due to the dust surrounds.

I'm sure you've completed the restoration by now, and am curious about which pair you kept or if you stuck with all of them. Also, did you change the capacitors on the crossovers, and if so what did you use?

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So, another question - if I am choosing 2 best tweeters out of the 4, is there anything in particular I should be checking for? Is there any way to determine which is in the best shape? I did notice a small "bubble" on one of the concave dome tweeters in the original pair. Is this an issue?

I hope not because it's on the tweeters in my A70's that I just picked up off Craigslist. They played fine when I did the testing at low volume due to the dust surrounds.

I'm sure you've completed the restoration by now, and am curious about which pair you kept or if you stuck with all of them. Also, did you change the capacitors on the crossovers, and if so what did you use?

Well I ended up doing the foam surrounds on both sets of speakers and due to a house move this summer I sold both pairs. I posted them up on a local site separately with the option of (1st come, 1st served) if you bought the near mint set you could get the tweeter from the 2nd set as a spare. Turned out a fellow came along and bought both pairs, along with another set of speakers I had for sale.

No I did not replace the capacitors (which = the 'crossover'). All tested pretty close to spec. Plus, decent capacitors for speaker applications are not available locally. Had I replaced I probably would have gone with something from Solen, which are available in Canada.

Since then I picked up a pair of Model 100V's. I think these were $20. Again new foams are required, which I haven't done yet.

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  • 8 months later...

More on the EPI's

The 100V's have been refoamed and sounding great. I also picked up a pair of 120's for very little, as the enclosures were really trashed and one grill missing. But all the drivers work. So I have a spare set of tweeters I shall hold onto. The woofers are being sold to a fellow who has replacement woofers in his 120's (If I can ever get around to refoaming them!) so in essence my spare tweeters are free. The 100V's just might get a wood veneer treatment. We shall see.

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