Ok first of all.... how's everybody?
Holy cow, I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted on here! I've had a pretty rough time since I used to post on here daily. I split off with my fiancee Amy, moved into a friends house, and now just recently moved again into my own home.
In the break-up I kept all of my audio/video equipment since I bought all of it, and since I was much more into that sort of thing anyhow. She kept all of the camera equipment. Now the title of this thread was my response the first time I set up and demoed my HT system in my new digs. You see when I lived with Amy I completely revamped her living room from a run down, children infested disaster area, into a viewing room for our customers, which also doubled as our home theater system in the evenings. And she insisted on hardwood floors for a classy atmosphere for the clients. And I must say it was a stunning room visualy... but sonically it left much to be desired.
Not that I was complaining at the time. Even with the audibly challenged construction design of the room, I thought the Epic 80/800 HT package I outfitted it with sounded supurb in every way imaginable. And I said as much on here many, many times. However one thing I consistantly maintained was that the EP800, while being a very competent subwoofer, was more of a musical sub, and not so much a 'SHAKE THE HOUSE OFF OF ITS FOUNDATION' sort of sub. In other words I thought it followed bass notes with precision and accuracy, without being extremely overpowering. In short, I didn't consider it to be excessively loud.
However another thing that I always pointed out was that I was (and still am) a car audio guy. And car audio enthusiasts like myself are used to filling a very, very small area (as compared to home theater) with lots and lots of bass. So I was used to 'FAT' bass, or unrealistic levels of bass... overpowering bass to be sure. So with that sort of bass as a reference point, the EP800 didn't quite give me the same experience as the dual 12 inch subs in the trunk of my Volkswagen Passat being fed by a 3000 watt Precision Power amplifier gave me. I was admittedly spoiled when it came to bass output.
I was able to improve the bass response in our living room in a number of ways. First and foremost was moving the EP800 out from underneath the TV and placing it behind my seating area. Later on (which I don't think I ever chronicled here) I added two more EP800's which, along with strategic placement, boosted bass performance even more. I was actually quite satisfied with my set-up, I found the amount of bass to be quite adequate and did not find myself wanting higher levels what-so-ever. However, I never did agree with those who would come on here and exclaim that the EP800 would crumble the house down to its foundation if played too loudly. I simply did not feel the sub was capable of that kind of bass output. Nice, strong bass performance : yes. "Blow you out of your seat" performance : no.
After we split up and I moved into my friends home (which was empty, I shared it with no one), my HT was again housed in a hardwood floor area. So even though it was a much smaller room to have to fill with bass, my impression of the EP800's did not change. I moved into my own place a while back, and finally set up my HT in the basement just a few days ago. This area is a 14 x 28 foot rectangle with just under 7 foot ceilings... and it's CARPETED!!! So at first all I had set up was my M80's, the VP150 and one of my EP800's. Without turning on the EP800 I played some music and found the M80's seemed to be playing MUCH warmer than I had remembered. Not muddy mind you, it wasn't a 'bad' warm... it's just that in comparison I'd have to say they were much brighter in the hardwood environment. But even though there were brighter in the previous two rooms, I still thought they sounded remarkably good. But now they sounded even better!
Ok so then it was time to turn on the EP800... WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!!!! To all of those who I'd doubted when they proclaimed the EP800 could tear down the walls and I countered by saying I didn't think it was that powerful of a sub.... my deepest apologies! I guess I just hadn't heard it in the right surroundings.
Overpowering? Check. Earth shaking? Check. Ear drum bursting??? CHECK!!!
And that was with only ONE of the 3 800's hooked up. I still had another two to go (gasp)! So yes the bottom line is... performance has EVERYTHING to do with the environment you put them in. In wide open, hard surface, square rooms I found my Epic 80/800 system to be a very well rounded and competent HT system that filled the room with crisp, clean, extremely detailed music... but never would I have characterized it as being overbearing.
Now that this same system is nestled in a much more sonically advanced area, it's just as detailed as ever, but now it also sounds much fuller, more powerful, and it's as if I quadrupled (at least) the power to the bass amp! So now I very much do consider the EP800 as an amp that can shake a house to its foundation!
.... and today I'm going to hook up the other two 800's and discover just how much damage they can really do!!!
Hope all of this change is for the better for you.
