Get Qualio IQ speakers - www.qualioaudio.com Watch Steve Huff Review of the Qualio IQ Ultra speakers - th-cam.com/video/KzcTJlbPslI/w-d-xo.html Great Polish Hi Fi Store - www.koris.pl
Can we please do a sound test between the EPOS es14n and the Qualio Quantum, with a special discussion on the "naturalness" of the sound, the soundstage and imaging between them
I've heard the Source Pointe 10 in person and they're ok, but not great. In this particular group listening through TH-cam I like the Epos. If I I had the space and cash I would buy your speakers the Qualio IQ. Yours have the fantastic imaging, detail and transparency that I love. Thanks for your great contribution to our passion.
Mofi sounds best on my system. I would definitely pick them. No boxiness to the sound. Overall best balance in tonality of the three, for my ears. Thanks for the video.
These comments perfectly capture our hobby: there’s something for everyone to love (and hate). Thanks for these demos, I think they’re a great way to get introduced to a speaker from afar. I’m a really big fan of the Epos.
Sat through this excellent video 4 or 5 times now, still like the Epos most, the Falcons also appealed for different reasons and the Dynaudios also appealed. Thank you guys for the hard work. Cheers.
In general I liked the Epos the most here. Spendor is a bit of a hit or miss for me, (depending on the track). Mofi is prob. the most spirited one, but I prefer a more laidback presentation.
Great recording as always. The MoFi was the most versatile with all types of music. Everything sounded nice. The MoFi sounded a tiny little bit forward in upper-mids or lower treble in comparison to the other two. At first, the Spendor sounded the richest, most colorful and musical. But it did not do well with the hard rock and heavy metal music. It’s definitely not an all-rounder like the MoFi. Vocals sounded most natural on the Spendor however. I found the Epos a bit odd, but with some of the jazzier stuff, they sounded good.
After listening twice, I found my preference finally settled down to the MoFi SourcePoint 10. To me, they sounded the best overall with all the variety of music. The Epos sounded very detailed, which I like, but the balance is unnaturally yang (up-tilted, bright). Eq-able? The Spendor sounded like someone threw a bedsheet over them and balanced a bit yin (a bit dark).
These are three very good sounding spkrs. Their presentations are quite different . Overall , my preference order is as follows.....1. Mofi 10.....2. Eposls14n...3. Spendor 2/3 . By far the clear winner is the Mofi 10 for the best " balanced sound ". (The audio quality of your demos are unmatched over youtube ...great work !)
My opinion of which sounded best to me changed with different tracks. The sound of the Spendors was not consistent with what I've heard previously from these speakers. Thanks for doing this.
I prefer the Epos especially because of the relatively smallest size and having such a fundament + open sound but I also like the Mofi...I think they are great with rock music...Spendor warm and good for long time listening..
Mofi SP10 is quite nice, but the treble is elevated to the point of drawing attention to itself and that is annoying. I believe this was addressed in the SP8 variant.
My presumption is that the Epos seem less forgiving when it comes to polishing the sound from compressed audio sources-- without seeing measurements I expect that they would be the most tonally accurate and transparent of the three. I'd love to hear the ES14N's in person where I can play some tracks that I am more familiar with. Great comparison video!
I like all three pairs. Don't think one could go wrong with either of them. However, if I had to chose based on these sound clips and price then it would in this order. 1. Spendor 2. Epos 3. MoFi.
I am quite sensitive to timbre, which largely depends on spectral phase coherency within the audio spectrum: the Epos speakers sound the most like live music to me.
Through Audio Technica M50x and a PreSonus Audiobox 1, the Epos is the one I preferred, by a mile. Laid back but transparent, great mids, the deepest bass of the three. The Mofi highs were too piercing but overall has a more live sound, while the Spendor are too midrange-forward and sound a tad too bell-shaped. The Epos also felt more open and with a wider soundstage, as much as it's possible to tell through headphones. Great comparison video!!
Decided to revise my comment and make it shorter and clearer (I also heard these speakers in real life): - a) Spendor is the worst sounding here, closed-in and tubey - wooden due its box enclosure. b) Mofi sounds right away more impressive, more open and alive, in part due to its point-source coherence. It also sounds a bit loose and a little grainy and fuzzy (but not sibilant as some stated in the comments, because that would mean it pumps more high frequencies than it does). c) Epos is the best speaker here, just beautiful midrange and overall clarity and coherence, BUT I suspect that the mic set up in this vid is too low for them and does not catch the whole sound they emit due to their inclined baffle. So, at first it sounded as if they had “cupped” sound which they do not have in real life. Epos sound is more robust and fulsome, but is also more controlled and less loose than Mofi Point source 10... For lont-term enjoyment I'd choose Epos for sure.
Thank you for the video comparison. The choice of amplifier and type of music greatly 'colours' the opinion. The Mofi will sound harsh/bright with a 'bright' amp (best bass due to largest woofer). It was noticeable on the rock track. With jazz and pop they were 'there', but without much feeling. At a loud volume, they have the potential to create ear whine. The Epos are a very good all-rounder with limitations due to the size of the woofer. They couldn't keep up with the Mofi's with rock and drum tracks, but delivered very good bass for jazz type recordings. The Slendors sounded great with jazz and pop vocals with a room filling sound (the mids and highs sounded open and not bright). They didn't have the 'pronounced' highs of the Mofi's. The bass on the rock tracks was not their strong point. For my musical taste, I would love to listen to the Splendors and the Epos side by side.
Really enjoyed this demo, thanks for doing it. It’s a tough call you know, they are all good speakers and do things differently and present differently. I will prob say epos, but I am a loyal epos fan of old, tbh those new ones are not much better than the old es14s, but of course they are a much newer speaker. I just like that epos type presentation, nice airy sound with a seductive midrange. Yet the Mofi’s which I have never heard before sound incredible as well, very open, direct and almost in the room live quality, but maybe not as seductive as the epos, but big sounding and very dynamic. The Spendors were the odd one out, but not in a bad way. More laid back to my ear, but still a big sound. I could see where those would work as well and perhaps need slightly different partnering or if that’s the sound you're looking for then win, win. Would like to have been in the room and listened to those Mofi more though, they were the most exciting sounding, perhaps. Great demo!
@@eddiebaby22 But the advantage for you is that you still alive, and didn't die of prostata cancer like me, so that your'e able to learn like hell, to be in the end even a better guitarist as I was! 😂👍🌹
Of the 3, through my low-fi speakers: Mofi has the most balanced FR, Epos has the midrange-low treble scooped out, Spendor has the most accentuated midrange and recessed treble.
I clearly preferred the Mofi. I felt the Epos just sounded “wrong” or unnatural, like I was listening through a tunnel-I think the soundstage was just wrong. The Spendors-which I’ve always liked as a company historically, just felt rolled off or muffled to me… So reading the comment section - I’m pretty impressed with the lack of consensus here. And the very clear differences in the sounds of the speakers only accentuate my conclusions I’ve come to over 20-30 years paying attention to audio although I was not paying attention for about 15 years in the middle… which is that when I hear a speaker comparison, the sound differences are incredibly obvious. But if I’m hearing an amplifier or source comparison - I usually barely tell the differences at all and sometimes not at all. Which solidifies my longstanding belief that you should be spending at least 60% of your system budget on the loudspeakers…
This is why sound quality is subjective. You prefer the Mofi. It sounds very clear, especially in the midrange. I can hear that also. But you say the Epos is wrong,unnatural. What's natural? If natural is how a person sounds like,right in front of you singing,with out any amplification,then I'd a agree. But that's not how recordings are usually made. Not for voices. Reverb is added for a reason. It gives depth to the soundstage. Voices are eq'd to enhance the singers "sweet spot" ,while toning down the rougher,less harsher aspects,of their voices. The Epos is doing that. And audiophiles like me,like that. The Mofi sounds flatter,it probably measures better than the Epos. But if you want flat and accurate. Then studio monitor speakers are designed for that. They're designed to make and judge recordings. And JBl made speakers like this from the beginning. That's why they were the industry standard for decades. Revel speakers,owned by Harmon,also own JBL. Clarity and true frequency response accuracy is what their philosophy is all about. For me,and for many, flat,accurate, and clearly detailed speakers,sound analytical. Cold,dull,emotionless, boring,etc. Studio monitors are worse. Oh,they sound good on good recordings! But on average,or lesser than average recordings, they sound horrible. I don't want that. For home listening,I prefer the way the Epos sounds. The Spendor is more in the middle. The Mofi's sound accurate,but "thin". I don't like that. And though I'm not there listening,the soundstage sounds thin on my computer. The Epos sounds deep. What you're calling unnatural. Hey,adding a touch of reverb,or chorus, is standard for mixing a recording. It's not natural. It's supposed to sound a bit better than natural. Unless you're into judging the recordings as opposed to just enjoying the music. I've been in hifi stores before hearing guys comment and criticize speakers before. And they made similar comments. You know what the problem with many,probably most,audiophiles, is? They're not musicicans. And they've never been in a recording studio. One one particular occasion,something got into me as I heard these guys making comments. So I asked. Would you know the difference between a $150.00 pawn shop acoustic guitar,vs. a solid wood Taylor,or Martin,costing thousands? How about the difference between electric guitars,and the pickups in them? Is that a Gibson Les Paul , a PRS, or a an ESP we're hearing? What about the particular amp they're playing through? Are you listening to a Fender Reverb, A Marshall stack,or a Peavey? If you're a guitar player,like me, the differences are obvious. And that goes for piano's and piano players. Steinways,Baldwins,Yamaha's,and others,have certain characteristics. Musicians know these things,most audiophiles don't. I told these guys, you don't know what you're talking about. We were listening to rock music,on electric,with electric guitars being played loudly. I said,if you don't know the differences between guitars, amps,and tonal quality, how can you know what speaker is more accurate? Or natural sounding? Needless to say,they didn't like my questions and comments. Hey,I have no problem with people saying "I like these speakers better than those". Thats fine. Speakers are like singers. Some are on key and more accurate than others. If perfect pitch was the end all of judging the best vocalist,your favorite vocalist may not even be considered. But that's not the way most people would judge vocalist. Many other considerations are taken into account as well. Among great vocalist,all of us will have our different preferences,for whatever reason.
The Epos was just reviewed and measured in a local hifi magazine, and it does have a somehatw uneven dispersion with a BBC dip followed by a wide lower treble bump at higher angles. This means it will be more sensitive to how well your room acoustic setup deals with side reflections from the walls. Otherwise the measurements look good, with low distortion. I believe the difference in sound signature we hear in this video comes down to this uneven off-axis response of the Epos. But as usual, listen for yourself in your own room.
@@deydrm while your points are well considered- you’re presuming that everyone here is what you picture an “audiophile” to be… while you know something about the production of rock music. I’m willing to bet that some people who comment here are involved in producing music as well. I happen to have classical training in singing, and I also used to play the trombone. So I know how things sound to me in person. And I am particularly sensitive to reproduction of the human voice- which doesn’t really have anything to do with guitar amps in rock ‘n’ roll… Anyway - all of this is very subjective, point that you make and that I support. I didn’t like the way the Epos sounded- I didn’t want to nor do I have measurements to back up my argument because I understand it’s subjective. TO ME- it sounded ‘unnatural”, which I didn’t mean some sort of particular “inaccuracy”, I just felt that the soundstage produced was unpleasant and didn’t really reflect what I perceive to be “realistic”.
@@chefren77 so I’ve been paying a lot of attention to TH-cam videos discussing speaker set-up- I’m coming around to the idea that the interaction between the speakers and your particular room is of tremendous importance, and I found the concepts that you don’t pick a listening spot in your room arbitrarily and then set up the speakers somewhere relative to that- but instead have to do tests to figure out where the few possibilities are in your room, given the shape and the materials on the walls and floor and ceiling, for all potential reasonable listening spots, and only then do you choose one of those potential spots and try to optimize that with speaker placement. Of course, sometimes these spots don’t align with how you intended to set the room up- which is a problem when you are not dealing with a dedicated sound room, but a multiuse room like a living room… which also leads us to the fact that some speakers are just more sensitive to placement than others because of the off-axis characteristics and other elements of speaker design you discuss…
MoFi 1st track …..Epos 2nd track …. MoFi / Epos 3rd track …..MoFi…..has the voicing …..Epos has the focus, but almost sounds tunnel like sometimes…..Spendor sounded muffled for some reason. Would be great if you would post the tracks you’re using. Great choices.
Hi Grzegorz (right? But in the beginning it sounded more like Greginy and the transcript calls you GRE!) - through TH-cam and my desktop gaming speakers I like the MoFi best - they are airiest and have the most energy in the top end. In my mind the Spendor have more midrage energy but also some coloration and the Epos sound to me quite balanced but a bit more shut in. I found I could identify which speaker was playing with my eyes closed. By the way at 0:18 the moving banner mentions Elac instead of Epos. The common link between Elac and Sourcepoint would be Andrew Jones, the designer of the Sourcepoint 10's and 8's. All the best, Rob in Switzerland
Mofi is by far the best speaker in this test. Spendor is second and Epos is third due to bad stereo image (vocals and instruments drown to the left channel, a problem that i hear often.)
Iiked the laid back presentation and soundstage of the Epos best. The source points sound too forward and compressed. The Spendors don't sound balanced. Mid bass too present and distorted. For the metal song the source points were OK.
Ok can't comment on all tracks, let just focus on vocal listening start from 10:53, I think Spendor is mid range focus, warmer and more forgiving to even old school recording, but still it really depend how transparent your gears put into the chain, Epos seem sounded neutral but if you sensitive to especially cymbal, sax, sharper background hence might lead to earlier listening fatique I believe. Mofi I think the most crisp/bassy sound in this comparison, maybe even loudness level too? Between I'm collecting the song tested here Wildson feat. LaKesha Nugent - I Am Better Off, thought this song is perfect for testing
Great comparison! For me: 1st - EPOS - most dynamic, very transparent and neutral, best soundstage 2nd - Spendor - nice vintage style, bit slow and boomy, but some character 3rd - MoFi - not bad, but never really my taste
@@kineahora8736 u dont have to. Mofi and spendor are made to play with tubeamps if you like this noisy mismatch playing better than the best bookshelf made by Karl heinz fink ure a funny men.
All three speakers are placed in the same position. The key is that coaxial (and full range) have to be less focused on the listener, hence what you mention. Placing them parallel to the side wall will improve. Look for the measurements. As usual, I have done the test with my modified KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial (they sound much better than the originals) and not with headphones. Near field. With my modified Magnat MA 900 (again, much better sound than new)
@@borisbobowski628 🤷🏻♂️ it’s fine, as I said in another post-what struck me most about the comments section was the lack of consensus among listeners. It just means to me that this is similar to the shoe and bike saddle market: everyone’s ears and audio neural networks are different and need personal fit, just as everyone’s feet and ass are different for shoes and bike seats. What one person’s review of a bike saddle says doesn’t matter at all to my ass. I finally realized this 2 years ago and had a 1-hour blind saddle fitting done by a bike shop (they INSISTED it be blind, bless them) and i’ e been happy with my new bike saddles ever since! And my other takeaway for this nice video is: Loudspeakers sound *WAY* more obviously different from each other than any other piece of gear in a system-so I think 2/3 of your $$ should go into the loudspeaker choice-unless you just happen to *LOVE* a really cheap speaker🤣
Baring in mind that youtube compress this audio files the Mofi would possibly be a little bright for me in person. I reckon the EPOS are best balanced here. Spendor are typical UK sound, forward mids, slushy bottom end and kinda veiled imo. Anyway I have Qualio Ultras which really are world class.
I am planning to buy the Qualios- but I am pretty dubious about spending up for the ultra version… I wish I could hear both of those versions in person… how did you decide to buy them without being able to hear them in person?
@@kineahora8736 Reviews, talking to Qualio and I know the importance of speaker wiring and components. Plus to be able to bi amp in the future gives an upgrade path. It is kinda taking a risk but I am extremely pleased with the results, if not you can return them. The standards are great also, I guess it depends on the level of equipment you plan to use and how far you wish to upgrade,
@@torus186 yeah I’m planning to try the leap- but I think for the standard version… because I’m not going for super expensive additional components, and I might be saddled with using some pretty generic speaker wire…
All very good. I think I could live with any of them. I have spendor d9.2 but here perhapd mofi would be my choice if ai was forced even thiugh bass is a little loose. Epos don’t have enough bass extension for me. Spendor classic is too laid back for my taste ultimately.
Why do Spendor have grills and others don't? Actualy I don't care mutch for artificial sounding speakers (Mofi). Epos are nice but for music listening my preference goes to Spendor.
1) Epos (best on everything except the harder rock, and still second best there - particularly great on jazz), 2) MoFi (best on the harder rock), 3) Spendor (not even close to the other 2 on any of the tracks). But, then again, TH-cam is not the greatest place to test speakers.
Strange.. how the Spendors sound here. I listened to them in Real life comparison (and the Epos). I would definetly choose the Spendors.... but in this video they sound horrible.
Mofi is almost perfect Epos has very different frequency response and MAYBE is canceling and needs a complete new crossover. Spender design is Wrong and it's a classic design but can't be compared with new era hifi speakers. it is misplaced is this test.
I could listen to all of them also each shows up the music different than the others. Anyway, the spendor sounds most relaxed, the Epos makes not realy something wrong and the Mofi to discribe is making a hughe lot very good and a little not very bad. I know, sounds stupid but the hole hifi hobby is crazy😂😂😂.
Mofi10 sounds a bit ragged in high frequencies, Epos kind of neuralish, flattish, unvolving sound, and Spendor clearly rolled off on top and bottom with roundest/warmest midrange. If I could choose different amps for each speaker, I could probably come up with combinations much better sounding than here..
The Epos sounded awful - big suck-out in the midrange. Drums sounded totally unnatural. Spendor better, but not as good as the Mofi. Clear win for the Mofi.
Mofi: typical modern sounding speaker, big soundstage, precise lots of Details and not for old'school audiophiles Epos: sorry, poor and sound behind a curtain, but good for your Jazz title, overall: no go for me Spendor: british sound at its best, good for overall genres, not big soundstage, overall: okay, but missing soundstage/blackness MY choice? having two listening rooms and two different speaker, I' go for Spendor and Mofi .... thanks for your great efforts of amazing high quality sound demos!!!
Mofi - by a big margin. Epos are good on some things (drumming!) but sound "pinched" tonally. Mofi are more open and coherent and richer tonality on guitars and sax. Spendor is balanced but lacking dynamics.
Get Qualio IQ speakers - www.qualioaudio.com
Watch Steve Huff Review of the Qualio IQ Ultra speakers - th-cam.com/video/KzcTJlbPslI/w-d-xo.html
Great Polish Hi Fi Store - www.koris.pl
Can we please do a sound test between the EPOS es14n and the Qualio Quantum, with a special discussion on the "naturalness" of the sound, the soundstage and imaging between them
Only listening through the phone for fun,but the Epos comes across as the cleanest .Thanks.
I've heard the Source Pointe 10 in person and they're ok, but not great. In this particular group listening through TH-cam I like the Epos. If I I had the space and cash I would buy your speakers the Qualio IQ. Yours have the fantastic imaging, detail and transparency that I love. Thanks for your great contribution to our passion.
Mofi sounds best on my system. I would definitely pick them. No boxiness to the sound. Overall best balance in tonality of the three, for my ears. Thanks for the video.
These comments perfectly capture our hobby: there’s something for everyone to love (and hate). Thanks for these demos, I think they’re a great way to get introduced to a speaker from afar.
I’m a really big fan of the Epos.
Sat through this excellent video 4 or 5 times now, still like the Epos most, the Falcons also appealed for different reasons and the Dynaudios also appealed. Thank you guys for the hard work. Cheers.
In general I liked the Epos the most here. Spendor is a bit of a hit or miss for me, (depending on the track). Mofi is prob. the most spirited one, but I prefer a more laidback presentation.
Great recording as always. The MoFi was the most versatile with all types of music. Everything sounded nice. The MoFi sounded a tiny little bit forward in upper-mids or lower treble in comparison to the other two. At first, the Spendor sounded the richest, most colorful and musical. But it did not do well with the hard rock and heavy metal music. It’s definitely not an all-rounder like the MoFi. Vocals sounded most natural on the Spendor however. I found the Epos a bit odd, but with some of the jazzier stuff, they sounded good.
After listening twice, I found my preference finally settled down to the MoFi SourcePoint 10. To me, they sounded the best overall with all the variety of music. The Epos sounded very detailed, which I like, but the balance is unnaturally yang (up-tilted, bright). Eq-able? The Spendor sounded like someone threw a bedsheet over them and balanced a bit yin (a bit dark).
Easy to tell how wide the soundstage is on the sourcepoint, those others sound heavily compressed in comparison
These are three very good sounding spkrs. Their presentations are quite different . Overall , my preference order is as follows.....1. Mofi 10.....2. Eposls14n...3. Spendor 2/3 . By far the clear winner is the Mofi 10 for the best " balanced sound ". (The audio quality of your demos are unmatched over youtube ...great work !)
My opinion of which sounded best to me changed with different tracks. The sound of the Spendors was not consistent with what I've heard previously from these speakers. Thanks for doing this.
Superb. Well done. A channel with real music samples and useful content ( less of blah blah ) subscribed !!
Amazing comparison! For me it's MoFi SP10. Please continue if possible with Mofi SP10 vs Mofi SP888
I prefer the Epos especially because of the relatively smallest size and having such a fundament + open sound but I also like the Mofi...I think they are great with rock music...Spendor warm and good for long time listening..
The mofi sound too bright for my taste.
Mofi SP10 is quite nice, but the treble is elevated to the point of drawing attention to itself and that is annoying. I believe this was addressed in the SP8 variant.
Very true! The treble of the Epos is too sharp as well.
The treble on the Spendor is sharp as well
My presumption is that the Epos seem less forgiving when it comes to polishing the sound from compressed audio sources-- without seeing measurements I expect that they would be the most tonally accurate and transparent of the three. I'd love to hear the ES14N's in person where I can play some tracks that I am more familiar with. Great comparison video!
I like all three pairs. Don't think one could go wrong with either of them. However, if I had to chose based on these sound clips and price then it would in this order. 1. Spendor 2. Epos 3. MoFi.
I am quite sensitive to timbre, which largely depends on spectral phase coherency within the audio spectrum: the Epos speakers sound the most like live music to me.
Mofi has more air , Epos is balanced and Spendor is smooth/ dark. Whatever that means :)
Mofi for the win in my humble opinion
The Spendors need their own custom, open-bottomed stands to sound their best due to their thin-wall design.
And the grills removed.
Through Audio Technica M50x and a PreSonus Audiobox 1, the Epos is the one I preferred, by a mile. Laid back but transparent, great mids, the deepest bass of the three. The Mofi highs were too piercing but overall has a more live sound, while the Spendor are too midrange-forward and sound a tad too bell-shaped. The Epos also felt more open and with a wider soundstage, as much as it's possible to tell through headphones. Great comparison video!!
Thanks for sharing!
Decided to revise my comment and make it shorter and clearer (I also heard these speakers in real life): -
a) Spendor is the worst sounding here, closed-in and tubey - wooden due its box enclosure.
b) Mofi sounds right away more impressive, more open and alive, in part due to its point-source coherence. It also sounds a bit loose and a little grainy and fuzzy (but not sibilant as some stated in the comments, because that would mean it pumps more high frequencies than it does).
c) Epos is the best speaker here, just beautiful midrange and overall clarity and coherence, BUT I suspect that the mic set up in this vid is too low for them and does not catch the whole sound they emit due to their inclined baffle. So, at first it sounded as if they had “cupped” sound which they do not have in real life. Epos sound is more robust and fulsome, but is also more controlled and less loose than Mofi Point source 10... For lont-term enjoyment I'd choose Epos for sure.
Spendor Classic 2/3, the Source 10 is too bright ( sibilent ). At least in that set up and acoustics.
Great comparison! Thank you very much!
Spendor Classic 2/3!!!
Thank you for the video comparison. The choice of amplifier and type of music greatly 'colours' the opinion. The Mofi will sound harsh/bright with a 'bright' amp (best bass due to largest woofer). It was noticeable on the rock track. With jazz and pop they were 'there', but without much feeling. At a loud volume, they have the potential to create ear whine. The Epos are a very good all-rounder with limitations due to the size of the woofer. They couldn't keep up with the Mofi's with rock and drum tracks, but delivered very good bass for jazz type recordings. The Slendors sounded great with jazz and pop vocals with a room filling sound (the mids and highs sounded open and not bright). They didn't have the 'pronounced' highs of the Mofi's. The bass on the rock tracks was not their strong point. For my musical taste, I would love to listen to the Splendors and the Epos side by side.
Really enjoyed this demo, thanks for doing it. It’s a tough call you know, they are all good speakers and do things differently and present differently. I will prob say epos, but I am a loyal epos fan of old, tbh those new ones are not much better than the old es14s, but of course they are a much newer speaker. I just like that epos type presentation, nice airy sound with a seductive midrange. Yet the Mofi’s which I have never heard before sound incredible as well, very open, direct and almost in the room live quality, but maybe not as seductive as the epos, but big sounding and very dynamic. The Spendors were the odd one out, but not in a bad way. More laid back to my ear, but still a big sound. I could see where those would work as well and perhaps need slightly different partnering or if that’s the sound you're looking for then win, win. Would like to have been in the room and listened to those Mofi more though, they were the most exciting sounding, perhaps. Great demo!
Very good comment , could be mine, nothing to ad to it.
@@FrankZappa1959 Thanks 👍 Kindred spirits :) And I play guitar, but I could never play guitar as good as you Frank Zappa :D
@@eddiebaby22 But the advantage for you is that you still alive, and didn't die of prostata cancer like me, so that your'e able to learn like hell, to be in the end even a better guitarist as I was! 😂👍🌹
@@FrankZappa1959 Theres only one Frank Zappa! I could play till eternity if I had that long and still not get there :)
Of the 3, through my low-fi speakers: Mofi has the most balanced FR, Epos has the midrange-low treble scooped out, Spendor has the most accentuated midrange and recessed treble.
The Spendors have a more balanced sound, easier to listen to.
I clearly preferred the Mofi. I felt the Epos just sounded “wrong” or unnatural, like I was listening through a tunnel-I think the soundstage was just wrong. The Spendors-which I’ve always liked as a company historically, just felt rolled off or muffled to me…
So reading the comment section - I’m pretty impressed with the lack of consensus here. And the very clear differences in the sounds of the speakers only accentuate my conclusions I’ve come to over 20-30 years paying attention to audio although I was not paying attention for about 15 years in the middle… which is that when I hear a speaker comparison, the sound differences are incredibly obvious. But if I’m hearing an amplifier or source comparison - I usually barely tell the differences at all and sometimes not at all.
Which solidifies my longstanding belief that you should be spending at least 60% of your system budget on the loudspeakers…
At least on poor sound system I'm listening at the moment, I would agree with your describtion.
This is why sound quality is subjective. You prefer the Mofi. It sounds very clear, especially in the midrange. I can hear that also. But you say the Epos is wrong,unnatural. What's natural? If natural is how a person sounds like,right in front of you singing,with out any amplification,then I'd a agree. But that's not how recordings are usually made. Not for voices. Reverb is added for a reason. It gives depth to the soundstage. Voices are eq'd to enhance the singers "sweet spot" ,while toning down the rougher,less harsher aspects,of their voices. The Epos is doing that. And audiophiles like me,like that. The Mofi sounds flatter,it probably measures better than the Epos.
But if you want flat and accurate. Then studio monitor speakers are designed for that. They're designed to make and judge recordings. And JBl made speakers like this from the beginning. That's why they were the industry standard for decades. Revel speakers,owned by Harmon,also own JBL. Clarity and true frequency response accuracy is what their philosophy is all about. For me,and for many, flat,accurate, and clearly detailed speakers,sound analytical. Cold,dull,emotionless, boring,etc. Studio monitors are worse. Oh,they sound good on good recordings! But on average,or lesser than average recordings, they sound horrible. I don't want that. For home listening,I prefer the way the Epos sounds. The Spendor is more in the middle. The Mofi's sound accurate,but "thin". I don't like that. And though I'm not there listening,the soundstage sounds thin on my computer. The Epos sounds deep. What you're calling unnatural. Hey,adding a touch of reverb,or chorus, is standard for mixing a recording. It's not natural. It's supposed to sound a bit better than natural. Unless you're into judging the recordings as opposed to just enjoying the music.
I've been in hifi stores before hearing guys comment and criticize speakers before. And they made similar comments. You know what the problem with many,probably most,audiophiles, is? They're not musicicans. And they've never been in a recording studio. One one particular occasion,something got into me as I heard these guys making comments. So I asked. Would you know the difference between a $150.00 pawn shop acoustic guitar,vs. a solid wood Taylor,or Martin,costing thousands? How about the difference between electric guitars,and the pickups in them? Is that a Gibson Les Paul , a PRS, or a an ESP we're hearing? What about the particular amp they're playing through? Are you listening to a Fender Reverb, A Marshall stack,or a Peavey? If you're a guitar player,like me, the differences are obvious. And that goes for piano's and piano players. Steinways,Baldwins,Yamaha's,and others,have certain characteristics. Musicians know these things,most audiophiles don't.
I told these guys, you don't know what you're talking about. We were listening to rock music,on electric,with electric guitars being played loudly. I said,if you don't know the differences between guitars, amps,and tonal quality, how can you know what speaker is more accurate? Or natural sounding? Needless to say,they didn't like my questions and comments. Hey,I have no problem with people saying "I like these speakers better than those". Thats fine. Speakers are like singers. Some are on key and more accurate than others. If perfect pitch was the end all of judging the best vocalist,your favorite vocalist may not even be considered. But that's not the way most people would judge vocalist. Many other considerations are taken into account as well. Among great vocalist,all of us will have our different preferences,for whatever reason.
The Epos was just reviewed and measured in a local hifi magazine, and it does have a somehatw uneven dispersion with a BBC dip followed by a wide lower treble bump at higher angles. This means it will be more sensitive to how well your room acoustic setup deals with side reflections from the walls. Otherwise the measurements look good, with low distortion.
I believe the difference in sound signature we hear in this video comes down to this uneven off-axis response of the Epos. But as usual, listen for yourself in your own room.
@@deydrm while your points are well considered- you’re presuming that everyone here is what you picture an “audiophile” to be… while you know something about the production of rock music. I’m willing to bet that some people who comment here are involved in producing music as well. I happen to have classical training in singing, and I also used to play the trombone. So I know how things sound to me in person. And I am particularly sensitive to reproduction of the human voice- which doesn’t really have anything to do with guitar amps in rock ‘n’ roll…
Anyway - all of this is very subjective, point that you make and that I support. I didn’t like the way the Epos sounded- I didn’t want to nor do I have measurements to back up my argument because I understand it’s subjective. TO ME- it sounded ‘unnatural”, which I didn’t mean some sort of particular “inaccuracy”, I just felt that the soundstage produced was unpleasant and didn’t really reflect what I perceive to be “realistic”.
@@chefren77 so I’ve been paying a lot of attention to TH-cam videos discussing speaker set-up- I’m coming around to the idea that the interaction between the speakers and your particular room is of tremendous importance, and I found the concepts that you don’t pick a listening spot in your room arbitrarily and then set up the speakers somewhere relative to that- but instead have to do tests to figure out where the few possibilities are in your room, given the shape and the materials on the walls and floor and ceiling, for all potential reasonable listening spots, and only then do you choose one of those potential spots and try to optimize that with speaker placement. Of course, sometimes these spots don’t align with how you intended to set the room up- which is a problem when you are not dealing with a dedicated sound room, but a multiuse room like a living room… which also leads us to the fact that some speakers are just more sensitive to placement than others because of the off-axis characteristics and other elements of speaker design you discuss…
Mofi sounds brighter than the Epos and both sound more forward than the Spendor.
1. Epos - detailed and warm, full-bodied
2. Mofi - more neutral, a little on the forward side
3. Spendor - it just sounded dull to me
MoFi 1st track …..Epos 2nd track …. MoFi / Epos 3rd track …..MoFi…..has the voicing …..Epos has the focus, but almost sounds tunnel like sometimes…..Spendor sounded muffled for some reason. Would be great if you would post the tracks you’re using. Great choices.
Hi Grzegorz (right? But in the beginning it sounded more like Greginy and the transcript calls you GRE!) - through TH-cam and my desktop gaming speakers I like the MoFi best - they are airiest and have the most energy in the top end. In my mind the Spendor have more midrage energy but also some coloration and the Epos sound to me quite balanced but a bit more shut in. I found I could identify which speaker was playing with my eyes closed.
By the way at 0:18 the moving banner mentions Elac instead of Epos. The common link between Elac and Sourcepoint would be Andrew Jones, the designer of the Sourcepoint 10's and 8's.
All the best, Rob in Switzerland
Spendor are my favourite (they sound much better in real life)! More natural midrange and highs, without the brightness afflicting so many speakers.
Mofi is by far the best speaker in this test. Spendor is second and Epos is third due to bad stereo image (vocals and instruments drown to the left channel, a problem that i hear often.)
Can't say I experience the same at home listening through my Epos/Luxman combo. Centerimage is dead center and soundstage is wide and deep.
They all sound great!! 😂.
Iiked the laid back presentation and soundstage of the Epos best. The source points sound too forward and compressed. The Spendors don't sound balanced. Mid bass too present and distorted. For the metal song the source points were OK.
Spendor sounds the most balanced. Epos and Sourcepoint 10 have nasty treble bumps.
The Mofis have coaxial drivers and should be oriented 15-30 degrees off the listening position. Maybe you should have removed the Spendors grills?
Ok can't comment on all tracks, let just focus on vocal listening start from 10:53, I think Spendor is mid range focus, warmer and more forgiving to even old school recording, but still it really depend how transparent your gears put into the chain, Epos seem sounded neutral but if you sensitive to especially cymbal, sax, sharper background hence might lead to earlier listening fatique I believe. Mofi I think the most crisp/bassy sound in this comparison, maybe even loudness level too? Between I'm collecting the song tested here Wildson feat. LaKesha Nugent - I Am Better Off, thought this song is perfect for testing
My favorite depended on the type of music that was played.
EPOS! best mids.
Mofi ! best
Epos wonderful bookshelf speakers for small room. Clear sound❤
Oddly enough, l like the Spendors. The warmest of the bunch
Great comparison! For me:
1st - EPOS - most dynamic, very transparent and neutral, best soundstage
2nd - Spendor - nice vintage style, bit slow and boomy, but some character
3rd - MoFi - not bad, but never really my taste
Why did u not remove the grills on the Spendors???
Which speaker… Mofi or epos would be better for acoustic jazz instrumental (trio music) and some female vocals? Thanks
When you have the demo sound from the new WIIM ULTRA STREAMER?
Epos
Easy, Mofi Sourcepoint 10 is the winner. The worst: Spendor Classic 2/3.
Mofi sounded nervous, too bright and not Close to Epos.
@@borisbobowski628don’t agree
@@kineahora8736 u dont have to. Mofi and spendor are made to play with tubeamps if you like this noisy mismatch playing better than the best bookshelf made by Karl heinz fink ure a funny men.
All three speakers are placed in the same position. The key is that coaxial (and full range) have to be less focused on the listener, hence what you mention. Placing them parallel to the side wall will improve. Look for the measurements.
As usual, I have done the test with my modified KEF Q100 5.25" coaxial (they sound much better than the originals) and not with headphones. Near field. With my modified Magnat MA 900 (again, much better sound than new)
@@borisbobowski628 🤷🏻♂️ it’s fine, as I said in another post-what struck me most about the comments section was the lack of consensus among listeners. It just means to me that this is similar to the shoe and bike saddle market: everyone’s ears and audio neural networks are different and need personal fit, just as everyone’s feet and ass are different for shoes and bike seats. What one person’s review of a bike saddle says doesn’t matter at all to my ass. I finally realized this 2 years ago and had a 1-hour blind saddle fitting done by a bike shop (they INSISTED it be blind, bless them) and i’ e been happy with my new bike saddles ever since!
And my other takeaway for this nice video is: Loudspeakers sound *WAY* more obviously different from each other than any other piece of gear in a system-so I think 2/3 of your $$ should go into the loudspeaker choice-unless you just happen to *LOVE* a really cheap speaker🤣
Epos!
Baring in mind that youtube compress this audio files the Mofi would possibly be a little bright for me in person. I reckon the EPOS are best balanced here. Spendor are typical UK sound, forward mids, slushy bottom end and kinda veiled imo. Anyway I have Qualio Ultras which really are world class.
I am planning to buy the Qualios- but I am pretty dubious about spending up for the ultra version… I wish I could hear both of those versions in person… how did you decide to buy them without being able to hear them in person?
@@kineahora8736 3k pounds is a lot for just a different variation of the same capacitors and inductors etc.
@@kineahora8736 Reviews, talking to Qualio and I know the importance of speaker wiring and components. Plus to be able to bi amp in the future gives an upgrade path. It is kinda taking a risk but I am extremely pleased with the results, if not you can return them. The standards are great also, I guess it depends on the level of equipment you plan to use and how far you wish to upgrade,
@@torus186 yeah I’m planning to try the leap- but I think for the standard version… because I’m not going for super expensive additional components, and I might be saddled with using some pretty generic speaker wire…
Dla mnie Eposy brzmią najlepiej z tej trójki 👌pozdro
All very good. I think I could live with any of them. I have spendor d9.2 but here perhapd mofi would be my choice if ai was forced even thiugh bass is a little loose. Epos don’t have enough bass extension for me. Spendor classic is too laid back for my taste ultimately.
Why do Spendor have grills and others don't?
Actualy I don't care mutch for artificial sounding speakers (Mofi). Epos are nice but for music listening my preference goes to Spendor.
MOFI 10 !
Didn't like the Spendor's at all!
Epos, I found a bit hollow. Those Mofi's .... they're ... BIG!!!
mofi all the way IMO
1) Epos (best on everything except the harder rock, and still second best there - particularly great on jazz), 2) MoFi (best on the harder rock), 3) Spendor (not even close to the other 2 on any of the tracks). But, then again, TH-cam is not the greatest place to test speakers.
Mofi👍🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
Strange.. how the Spendors sound here. I listened to them in Real life comparison (and the Epos). I would definetly choose the Spendors.... but in this video they sound horrible.
Mofi is almost perfect
Epos has very different frequency response and MAYBE is canceling and needs a complete new crossover.
Spender design is Wrong and it's a classic design but can't be compared with new era hifi speakers. it is misplaced is this test.
I could listen to all of them also each shows up the music different than the others. Anyway, the spendor sounds most relaxed, the Epos makes not realy something wrong and the Mofi to discribe is making a hughe lot very good and a little not very bad. I know, sounds stupid but the hole hifi hobby is crazy😂😂😂.
Spendor good palco sonoro, the Epos good vocal. Mofi beautiful music Rock
1. Epos
2. Mofi
3.Spendor
Epos for the win for certain, spendor a close second, mofi way behind, too bright to my liking.
I Like Spendor
Mofi10 sounds a bit ragged in high frequencies, Epos kind of neuralish, flattish, unvolving sound, and Spendor clearly rolled off on top and bottom with roundest/warmest midrange. If I could choose different amps for each speaker, I could probably come up with combinations much better sounding than here..
7:53 8:41 8:56
11:09 11:42
2:59 3:23
5:17
Mofi has clean sound
Epos opens up the music.
Wokal najlepszy na spendorach. Rock, metal na eposach A jazz zdecydowanie na mofi.
Eposเปี่ยมบรรยากาศฟังสบายหู
Spendor the best
Based on the comments, they can judge the speakers using TH-cam?
Mofi not contest
The Epos sounded awful - big suck-out in the midrange. Drums sounded totally unnatural. Spendor better, but not as good as the Mofi. Clear win for the Mofi.
Even the classic Epos ES14 sounds better than all of them in my opinion!
Damn, wasn't expecting the Spendors to sound so bad, in comparison with the other ones. The Epos sound excellent to my ears.
Epos please.
Mofi mofi
Spendor ! Best mids
EPOS best voice!
The Epos run away on this.
Spendor classic 2\3 a song to me more full sound
Epos allll the way its not even close.
Mofi: typical modern sounding speaker, big soundstage, precise lots of Details and not for old'school audiophiles
Epos: sorry, poor and sound behind a curtain, but good for your Jazz title, overall: no go for me
Spendor: british sound at its best, good for overall genres, not big soundstage, overall: okay, but missing soundstage/blackness
MY choice? having two listening rooms and two different speaker, I' go for Spendor and Mofi .... thanks for your great efforts of amazing high quality sound demos!!!
Mofi easy win
For me,its Epos.
Mofi - by a big margin. Epos are good on some things (drumming!) but sound "pinched" tonally. Mofi are more open and coherent and richer tonality on guitars and sax. Spendor is balanced but lacking dynamics.
Spendor has more depth of sound.
Najlepiej brzmiały spendory, najładniejsze eposy a te trzecie to nie wiem po co to ma być?....jakieś odsłuchy estradowe.
Mofi
Clearly Mofi.
Spendor need juice
Spendor - bad
Mofi
Epos