The specialist magazine Fidelity reviews the Epos ES-28N floor-standing loudspeaker in its Issue 80 (June 2025) and urges readers to “absolutely book a listening session with a trusted dealer”:
“What I’m most curious about is the bass, because Epos has introduced a few well-thought-out changes here compared with the speaker’s smaller sister. Although the two seven-inch woofers share the same motor and basket as those in the ES-14N, they use straight cones instead of curved diaphragms. A large inverted dust-cap further stiffens the cone, promising fast, powerful bass.
And indeed: in the finale of Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, in Pierre Boulez’s sober, clear-cut reference recording, cellos and double-basses march inexorably forward, making you sink back into your chair in awe. The timpani solo that opens the movement perfectly illustrates how the entire low-frequency range is tuned for speed and precision: nothing smears or blurs between the rapid strikes. Boulez’s dry interpretation seems tailor-made for Fink’s three-way design.
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The music unfolds on a broad, though not endlessly deep, stage. The ES-28N is not a loudspeaker that relies on orchestral spectacle; instead it offers musical substance with unwavering coherence across all frequency bands. You notice this especially when, in that same Mahler symphony, the trumpets launch their piercing fanfares while a furious bass foundation charges ahead beneath, tremolos from the violins and trills from the woodwinds filling the midrange of the vast orchestra. Despite Mahler’s deliberately far-flung orchestration, spread to the extremities of the symphonic palette, there is no break in the seamless, homogeneous orchestral sound. The extensive voicing process—listening by ear in addition to complex measurements, as Karl-Heinz Fink told us—has clearly paid off; in his experience this is a crucial difference when developing a three-way rather than a two-way system.
Before anyone thinks the ES-28N was designed solely for classical music, let me share my lengthy listening sessions with Kruder & Dorfmeister’s KD Sessions, which quickly found their way onto the turntable afterwards. […]”
The Epos lets the Viennese sound-wizards strut their stuff in full splendour. A rolling, room-filling deep bass sweeps through the space, while the sparkling high-frequency filigree is the proverbial seasoning that completes the dish. That unmistakable “fun factor” – the very essence of the smaller ES-14 – is back in force, and carrying the proven tweeter over to the more grown-up ES-28 was clearly a smart move. In short: with the right amplifier, this speaker is primed for parties packed with dub and grime. Which brings us to amp choice. The big Epos is deliberately not designed for high sensitivity, so it thrives on amplifiers capable of injecting real shove from below. In my room both a Naim SuperNait and an Esoteric F-02 delivered that drive in their own distinctive ways, and a hearty valve amp can work wonders too – Karl-Heinz Fink himself rates the tube amps from Canor as an excellent match.
After three weeks of intensive listening, what’s the takeaway? Where the smaller ES-14N struck me as an exuberant fun-speaker – I once called it “unbridled energy” and a “dynamics powerhouse” – the ES-28N adds a more sonorous, almost serious demeanour to its playful spirit. Yet, fed with driving beats and the right amplification, it can still cut loose without restraint, making it the larger all-rounder in Fink’s line-up. Incorruptibly neutral yet always full of flesh and blood, this thoroughly audiophile yet refreshingly uncomplicated loudspeaker – still carrying a four-figure price tag per pair – is reason enough to book a listening session with your trusted dealer. And then tell me again that hi-fi has no more surprises.
