Luxurious Magazine looks at the Goldmund Epilogue Speaker System

The Goldmund Epilogue Speaker System

For the past thirty years Goldmund have been synonymous with the very high end of speaker design. Goldmund created its powerful reputation in the audio marketplace with mythical products such as the Reference turntable, the Epilogue speakers and the Telos power amplifiers to name a few. Perhaps their greatest offering to date  is the Goldmund Epilogue Speaker System, a modular speaker system that can be used in various configurations. With distintive styling and significant enough mass to present all but the most short sighted of people with the desired wow factor, the stunning Goldmund Epilogue Speaker set up provides crisp and clear sound instantly. Created in the 90’s to answer the rapid development of the Home Theater market and the insisting request from its best customers to acquire a very high-end Home Theater system, Goldmund developed a top speaker system to replace the famous Apologue. Designed to benefit of the same subtle sonic quality, but also to be able to reproduce realistic theater levels, the Goldmund Epilogue has quickly become the absolute top speaker on the audio/video marketplace. Today, the Goldmund Epilogue remains an incredibly successful speaker system that has been upgraded with Signature versions of the Goldmund Epilogue 1 and 2 to allow the use of the latest Technology.

Goldmund Epilogue System Modularity

For users who cannot invest at once in the full Goldmund Epilogue system or who do not need the full system performance, the Goldmun Epilogue Speaker System can be acquired in several configurations that each constitute a step toward the full system. The first element is the Goldmund Epilogue 1 satellite system, a full range small speaker of extreme quality, sufficient for a small to medium-sized room. Depending on customers’ needs, the Goldmund Epilogue 1 or Epilogue 1 Signature can be used.

The second element is the Goldmund Epilogue 2 Signature bass enclosure. Associated with the Goldmund Epilogue 1 satellites, it can be used for a full-range high level audio or video system.

The third element, the Goldmund Epilogue 3 sub-woofer, may be added to increase the bass response level, mostly needed in high-level Home Theater installations. It can also be coupled as a single mono or a stereo sub-woofer to a pair of Goldmund Epilogue 1 satellites if wanted. The full Goldmund Epilogue Speaker System is made of 2 pairs of Epilogue 1 Signature, one pair of Epilogue 2 Signature bass units and a pair of Epilogue 3 sub-woofers. To progressively build the speaker system, a modular frame may be acquired separately. The parts of the frame used to attach one pair of Epilogue 1 satellites with a pair of Epilogue 2S bass speakers will be kept and only extended by additional parts if the system is built-up to the level of the Full Epilogue, avoiding trade-in costs.

Upgradability and the Goldmund Epilogue Signature Versions

In addition to the possibility of building-up the full system progressively, the modularity of the Epilogue extends to the enclosure parts themselves. Separate elements like drivers, crossovers or optional built-in amplifiers can be exchanged easily. Users have the possibility to upgrade their speakers if a component of better quality or a newer technology are made available – this without changing the other mechanical parts of their system, which remain the most expensive ones. This is the case today with the Epilogue Signature versions. The latest developments of the Goldmund technology have allowed us to release Signature upgrades of the Epilogue 1 and 2. The Goldmund Epilogue 1 Signature is aimed at users of the most advanced Goldmund System, who are driving their speakers with Proteus Software (see below), either as a 2-channel system or in the environment of a Goldmund Media Room. In those systems, the crossovers are not located in the speakers anymore but in the preamplifier where they are created digitally. The Goldmund Epilogue 2 Signature is the latest version of the Epilogue 2 low-frequency speaker section and is also driven by the Proteus software. A new pair of drivers allows it to achieve a more extended low-frequency response but also to play at the higher level required for the use of an Epilogue Speaker System in a Home-Theater environment. Owners of the Epilogue 1 and Epilogue 2 can purchase Signature upgrade kits to update their system. This is why Goldmund claims that the Epilogue could become users’ last speaker system (an Epilogue!); because its modularity will allow them to upgrade it up to the latest state of the art without the usually costly process of trading-in the precedent version.

The Proteus Technology in the Goldmund Epilogue Speakers

Proteus is a mathematical model created by the Goldmund research team led by Dr. Veronique Adam (white paper available on demand). Based on the system type, the room in which the system will be used (audio only or home theater) and the particularities of the decor, Proteus produces configuration files that include acoustic corrections allowing a perfect alignment of the frequency response, the phase response and the time response.  These configurations files are loaded in the preamplifiers (or amplifiers if they have a DSP) and individually control the speakers’ drivers so they reproduce the signal with a perfection that has never been achieved before. The Epilogue Signature versions have been created to work with Proteus configurations and it is interesting to note that since the Proteus technology is entirely digital, future upgrades will imply simple updates of the configuration files of a system, or at worst a change of processor.

Full Metal Construction

To insure perfect enclosure rigidity under extreme internal pressures, all Goldmund Epilogue enclosures are entirely built in metal. A construction of brass and aluminum, with internal steel bracing is used to capture the vibrations and evacuate them to the center Mechanical Grounding evacuation bar. In addition to its internal perfect rigidity, this full-metal construction allows any of the internal parts to be replaced without degradation of the speaker’s integrity, each of these parts being attached by mechanical screws without any gluing or painting. A neoprene joint system guarantees the enclosure’s perfect sealing even after several dismounting.

Mechanical Grounding

Built around a vertical steel bar, which connects each of the four enclosures to the ground, each Epilogue enclosure concentrates the vibration evacuation towards this steel bar. The choice of metals in the assembly is optimized to fully benefit of the mechanical diode effect, avoiding external vibrations to be communicated to the sensitive parts. Driver’s mounting in the goldmund epilogue 1 and Goldmund Epilogue 1 Signature are made of a sandwich of brass and aluminum with a total thickness of 20mm in order to avoid the baffle of the driver to be excited by the heavy vibration of the driver itself.The external frame holding the enclosures together and insuring the speaker’s stability receives 24 Teflon insulators to avoid vibration transmission, leaving the central steel bar play its full role of Mechanical Grounding transmission.

Goldmund Epilogue Speaker Performance

120dB above 150Hz, and 130 dB below, are sound pressure levels usually encountered in the very best Theaters only, when sitting very close to the screen. The full Goldmund Epilogue system can be driven to such peak levels without distortion. The system bandwidth extends from below 20Hz to more than 28kHz with extreme time accuracy.

Finish

The standard finish of the speakers and of the Goldmund epilogue 1 feet is in silver aluminum, matching the famous Goldmund electronics metal finishing. Gold plated labels ornate the speakers. The Goldmund Epilogue frames are in black eloxed aluminum.

Availability and Rates:

Goldmund Epilogue 1 and foot: US$ 48000

Goldmund Epilogue 1 Signature and foot: US$ 58700

Goldmund Epilogue 1 & 2 Signature and frame: US$ 161000

Full Goldmund Epilogue System: US$ 313600