I was working at BB when these were introduced at the store. They gave the employee's a discount. I had ordered a full set including the RSF1000 towers. I still use them to this day and love them.
Amazing to find this! I purchased the complete Eosone surround setup with RSF600’s back in 1999 when I worked for Best Buy. We got a GREAT discount (around 50%) and I could still JUST afford the setup sans 1000’s. Of course buying them at 20 I pushed them HARD but they took it and I still use them to this day. My eight and six year olds have completely smashed all the front tweeter domes in but I still love them (the speakers too 😉). I have always told anyone who asked they were designed by Arnie Nudell “the guy who started Infinity” so it’s nice to add another name to that. I believe the manual said Eos was the Greek god/goddess of the dawn and Sone was the word for sound, hence Eosone “the dawn of a new sound”. Thanks again for the story, I’ll be ordering a copy of your book from Amazon and please if you ever are in the mood to tell the long version of the story behind Eosone I would be very grateful. Best wishes - Joe
Thanks for sharing your take on this mostly-forgotten speaker brand. I was working at a BB store in Minnesota when the brand was rolled out and IIRC got to meet you and Arnie with a demo of a complete system featuring the Genesis 1 speakers (and the system even had a Digital Lens which seemed pretty exotic). I was really impressed how well the whole thing sounded even when set up in a generic big box store conference room or whatever it was. I have some great memories of that day which was a nice break from all the mostly subpar electronics I was selling at the time (mini systems!). Like other commenters here, I took advantage of the generous employee pricing and got a complete set of Eosones (600 towers+center/surround speakers). I enjoyed them for years and they're still in use today by a different owner. They were really good for the price but Best Buy really never had the setup to demo them effectively in store. It was hard to sell folks on the quality and it was not a known brand (the Polk angle wasn't really known at the store level and I'm sure BB didn't want them known as "Polk but not Polk"). In any case, thank you again for your video.
Picked up a pair of RSF600s about 5 years ago. Went in blind on them and absolutely love them. Tracked down a center channels a few years ago. I'm now watching for some satellites to show up at a decent price.
I have a pair of RSF1000's that I bought at Best Buy as soon as they came out! And I love them to death, I've powered them with the tried and true ADCOM GFA-555 power amp (200wpc) from the beginning. Fantastic highs and lows with great detail.I read a very good review in STEREOPHILE magazine back in the day (featuring the 1000's and the related surround speakers) which is a feather in anybody's cap, they did state that the 1000's were best suited in the surround sound configuration. I don't know about that I love them on their own in a "stereo" setting! And I think at $1100.00 each they were the deal of the century...
Thank you for sharing this story and thank you to the person that wrote in asking for you to do so. Like some of the other posters I was employed at Best Buy when the Eosone speakers were rolled out. Probably one of the bigger rollouts that I remember happening, we had lots of training on them starting probably 3 months before we ever got any speakers in to sell. They offered a 50% (maybe more) discount to employees and when the employee ordered speakers finally came in I think they took up half of the Friday night truck. Best sounding speakers ever offered at BB as far as I am concerned. They sold just not as the level that was expected. Basically they were out or reach price wise for most people coming in to shop at BB. They were rolled out in 1995 (to the best of my memory). In 98 or 99 I started having issues with one of the amps in my RSF 1000's. I dug out the paperwork and called the number shown hoping that there was a service center I could send the amp into. Imagine my surprise when I ended up talking to someone at Polk Audio. I don't remember if Best Buy had already stopped selling the speakers at that time or not but the guy at Polk was not shy in sharing that they were ultimately behind the whole thing and that Arnie Nudell was just used for marketing purposes. He claimed that they did all the design work etc. Interesting to hear you say that at least you and Arnie were truly involved in the design. I powered mine with a Sansui receiver also purchased on my employee discount.
My sub died earlier this week for my home theater/projection system. I did not want to go out and spend the money for a new sub woofer. I found an eosone rsp 910 on Facebook Marketplace for $39 and I talked him down to $30. I installed it this afternoon and re-calibrated everything with Audessey. I knew nothing about eosone (because I could not find anything), but the box, was very solid and heavy. Good solid cabinets make for very good reflection of sound and allow solid mounting of the speaker and electronics. It was also painted or laminated bright white matching the AV cabinets and room trim. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. I do not look for freaky and nauseating low frequencies from my home theater. I only hope it enhances and hits the natural lows. Congratulations! You designed a very good product. Now, I need to find a manual.
Radio Shack was that way Paul. At the time I was negotiating with them ( Around 1983 for a backup system for the TRS-80 ) they wanted like 3 units for each store ( figure 1300 stores ). Delivered to 3 regional distribution centers. They then had the option to re-order as many additional as they needed. You got paid 30-days after the units sold out of the store. So figure $1000/unitx1300storesx3. Then additional orders with a 30-day lag, at least until you got paid, on unit #1. If at the end of 60-days sales were not as expected Radio Shack would negotiate a sale price discount. If that didn’t work the units would be returned to the distribution center where you could pay for the whole pile to be returned to you. Or tossed in the Tipsy Dumpster. The big chains won't take the risk of inventory. It's still yours until 30-days after out the store sale. Then you get paid.
I still own a working 10" Eosone subwoofer. Not much production below 40 Hz but the frequencies it does reproduce sound wonderful to me. It's a very musical subwoofer, and knowing about you and Arnie, I am not surprised that musicality seems to have been your priority. Even though they had decent displays for Eosone, I don't think Best Buy adequately marketed the brand in their stores, by the way. They were the best speakers Best Buy sold at that time (with Cambridge Soundworks being the next best in my opinion).
Paul, I know I'm late to this video but I found it just perusing around youtube for other things audio related. I was an audio technician for Best Buy from 1998-2008. Today I'm currently in clinical engineering at a hospital working on medical equipment since 2008. But I just wanted to chime in after watching this. I remember working on Eosone speakers. For the most part it was just physical damage we repaired on these, they were excellent speakers. Most of the time we were replacing the top covers that got smashed, and the tweeters as people had a penchant for pushing in the tweeter domes. Unfortunately the clientele (and to a certain extent a few of the employees) of Best Buy (at least back then) had no clue how to handle higher end audio, know what to do with it, or understand it at all. After I graduated and earned my electronics engineering technology degree I was fortunate enough to have already been working at a Best Buy store part time, then applied and got hired into their Cleveland, OH service center full time for 10 years. I met a few technicians who were from high end backgrounds and I learned to appreciate audio above the standard rate fare you see at a Best Buy store to this day. We'd see the standard speakers in all the time for being blown and what not, which after a time didn't do much for me. But when something like an Eosone would show up I remember my eyes would light up because it was just far superior to everything else Best Buy sold. I eventually built my home audio system with 4 AudioSource power amplifiers, an Adcom GTP-800 pre-amp processor, but because Eosone had gone away from Best Buy by the time I could afford to build my system I ended up going with Pinnacle speakers. I finished by build around 2004 and still have that system playing strongly today. Just wanted to say what a small world it is now with your youtube videos how I got to see someone behind the Eosone speakers just on a chance watch. Brought back memories of when I was in my 20s and really had fun at work (I'm 43 now - our audio crew was a bunch of characters lol). Thanks! If I was anywhere near you in Colorado I would certainly love to stop by your facility and check out your products and listening room. After things get back to normal I have family in Phoenix so maybe I'll take vacation to see them and make a detour in Boulder CO on the way! I would certainly be interested in your PS Audio equipment if I didn't have my AudioSource amps.
Joe I worked at BB in Canton, Ohio while the Eosone speakers were being sold in the store’s. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of the factory direct discount of 70% off and picked up RSF 1000 surround sound system. Wow! 20 years later and Wow! I still love those speakers. I was also a tech for the displays in the store and the speaker rooms were ran by a mix of Sony or Pioneer receivers and Audiosource amps. Never had a problem with the Audiosource amp in the 5 store I serviced or with my personal one these past 20 years.
Just picked up a pair of rsf600 and a 910 subwoofer for 135 bucks... cabinets have a few scratches but they sound damn good. I’m quite impressed, it’d be hard to beat for less than 150 bucks!
Grinning from ear to ear coming out of the bedroom? They say a lot of deals are made that way.....LOL. JUST KIDDING PAUL. Another great video as usual. I hope you have a great day!
Myer-Emco. Funny how that DC area chain that never got bigger than eight or nine stores got such a great national reputation. I miss having Ed Myer and Myer-Emco around. That was a great place to go into.
I have a pair of RSF400s that really need some love. the foams rotting and the tweeters have been killed. and the grilles and tops are gone. but man do i miss how they sounded when I was a kid..
Great story Paul don’t remember it being mentioned in your book .Best Buy was the Amazon and the audio brick and mortar killer. Had 2 higher end locations and like many others closed them both after they came to town:(
I just got my hands on a premium enclosure with two eosone IRD0007-1 AND two eosone tweeters(two different types) maybe two1/2 feet by one ft. I'm trying to find what type of power/ ohms this beauty needs.
How much you wanna bet Best Buy didn't like their precious Bozo line getting kicked down the road like a rusty can by this upstart Eosone brand and killed it off.
Beaver Creek, Colorado is about 8 miles west of Vail along the I-70 corridor. There's a nice ski area there with the highest elevation being a little over 11,400' and over 3,300' of vertical.
There is also the dodgy named 'wet beaver creek' in az near sedona - sporting a water hole known as the crack. This is not a joke. really. (lived quite close for a short time away from uk home) ruclips.net/video/DiKNtBpdFFM/видео.html
This is just my opinion but those Eosone speakers looked too much like Definitive Technology speakers at the time. I thought the Def Tech speakers were better.
So many products from the past with stories like that. Hearing about them never gets old.
I was working at BB when these were introduced at the store. They gave the employee's a discount. I had ordered a full set including the RSF1000 towers. I still use them to this day and love them.
Amazing to find this! I purchased the complete Eosone surround setup with RSF600’s back in 1999 when I worked for Best Buy. We got a GREAT discount (around 50%) and I could still JUST afford the setup sans 1000’s. Of course buying them at 20 I pushed them HARD but they took it and I still use them to this day. My eight and six year olds have completely smashed all the front tweeter domes in but I still love them (the speakers too 😉). I have always told anyone who asked they were designed by Arnie Nudell “the guy who started Infinity” so it’s nice to add another name to that. I believe the manual said Eos was the Greek god/goddess of the dawn and Sone was the word for sound, hence Eosone “the dawn of a new sound”. Thanks again for the story, I’ll be ordering a copy of your book from Amazon and please if you ever are in the mood to tell the long version of the story behind Eosone I would be very grateful.
Best wishes - Joe
Thanks for sharing your take on this mostly-forgotten speaker brand. I was working at a BB store in Minnesota when the brand was rolled out and IIRC got to meet you and Arnie with a demo of a complete system featuring the Genesis 1 speakers (and the system even had a Digital Lens which seemed pretty exotic). I was really impressed how well the whole thing sounded even when set up in a generic big box store conference room or whatever it was. I have some great memories of that day which was a nice break from all the mostly subpar electronics I was selling at the time (mini systems!).
Like other commenters here, I took advantage of the generous employee pricing and got a complete set of Eosones (600 towers+center/surround speakers). I enjoyed them for years and they're still in use today by a different owner. They were really good for the price but Best Buy really never had the setup to demo them effectively in store. It was hard to sell folks on the quality and it was not a known brand (the Polk angle wasn't really known at the store level and I'm sure BB didn't want them known as "Polk but not Polk"). In any case, thank you again for your video.
Picked up a pair of RSF600s about 5 years ago. Went in blind on them and absolutely love them. Tracked down a center channels a few years ago. I'm now watching for some satellites to show up at a decent price.
I have a pair of RSF1000's that I bought at Best Buy as soon as they came out! And I love them to death, I've powered them with the tried and true ADCOM GFA-555 power amp (200wpc) from the beginning. Fantastic highs and lows with great detail.I read a very good review in STEREOPHILE magazine back in the day (featuring the 1000's and the related surround speakers) which is a feather in anybody's cap, they did state that the 1000's were best suited in the surround sound configuration. I don't know about that I love them on their own in a "stereo" setting! And I think at $1100.00 each they were the deal of the century...
Thank you for sharing this story and thank you to the person that wrote in asking for you to do so. Like some of the other posters I was employed at Best Buy when the Eosone speakers were rolled out. Probably one of the bigger rollouts that I remember happening, we had lots of training on them starting probably 3 months before we ever got any speakers in to sell. They offered a 50% (maybe more) discount to employees and when the employee ordered speakers finally came in I think they took up half of the Friday night truck. Best sounding speakers ever offered at BB as far as I am concerned. They sold just not as the level that was expected. Basically they were out or reach price wise for most people coming in to shop at BB. They were rolled out in 1995 (to the best of my memory). In 98 or 99 I started having issues with one of the amps in my RSF 1000's. I dug out the paperwork and called the number shown hoping that there was a service center I could send the amp into. Imagine my surprise when I ended up talking to someone at Polk Audio. I don't remember if Best Buy had already stopped selling the speakers at that time or not but the guy at Polk was not shy in sharing that they were ultimately behind the whole thing and that Arnie Nudell was just used for marketing purposes. He claimed that they did all the design work etc. Interesting to hear you say that at least you and Arnie were truly involved in the design. I powered mine with a Sansui receiver also purchased on my employee discount.
Paul I appreciate you for your honesty, you have my best wishes.
Fascinating story, Paul. Thanks for sharing it.
Just glad you didn’t let shit like that bring you down, and that we’ve still got PS Audio.
My sub died earlier this week for my home theater/projection system. I did not want to go out and spend the money for a new sub woofer. I found an eosone rsp 910 on Facebook Marketplace for $39 and I talked him down to $30. I installed it this afternoon and re-calibrated everything with Audessey. I knew nothing about eosone (because I could not find anything), but the box, was very solid and heavy. Good solid cabinets make for very good reflection of sound and allow solid mounting of the speaker and electronics. It was also painted or laminated bright white matching the AV cabinets and room trim. I was pleasantly surprised by the performance. I do not look for freaky and nauseating low frequencies from my home theater. I only hope it enhances and hits the natural lows. Congratulations! You designed a very good product.
Now, I need to find a manual.
Radio Shack was that way Paul. At the time I was negotiating with them ( Around 1983 for a backup system for the TRS-80 ) they wanted like 3 units for each store ( figure 1300 stores ). Delivered to 3 regional distribution centers. They then had the option to re-order as many additional as they needed.
You got paid 30-days after the units sold out of the store. So figure $1000/unitx1300storesx3. Then additional orders with a 30-day lag, at least until you got paid, on unit #1.
If at the end of 60-days sales were not as expected Radio Shack would negotiate a sale price discount. If that didn’t work the units would be returned to the distribution center where you could pay for the whole pile to be returned to you. Or tossed in the Tipsy Dumpster.
The big chains won't take the risk of inventory. It's still yours until 30-days after out the store sale. Then you get paid.
I still own a working 10" Eosone subwoofer. Not much production below 40 Hz but the frequencies it does reproduce sound wonderful to me. It's a very musical subwoofer, and knowing about you and Arnie, I am not surprised that musicality seems to have been your priority. Even though they had decent displays for Eosone, I don't think Best Buy adequately marketed the brand in their stores, by the way. They were the best speakers Best Buy sold at that time (with Cambridge Soundworks being the next best in my opinion).
Hi Paul! Thanks so much for answering my question! That was a very interesting story, and I appreciate you taking the time to tell it!
Very interesting story. I suspect it was emotionally uncomfortable on some level for you to recount it. Many thanks
Paul, I know I'm late to this video but I found it just perusing around youtube for other things audio related. I was an audio technician for Best Buy from 1998-2008. Today I'm currently in clinical engineering at a hospital working on medical equipment since 2008. But I just wanted to chime in after watching this. I remember working on Eosone speakers. For the most part it was just physical damage we repaired on these, they were excellent speakers. Most of the time we were replacing the top covers that got smashed, and the tweeters as people had a penchant for pushing in the tweeter domes. Unfortunately the clientele (and to a certain extent a few of the employees) of Best Buy (at least back then) had no clue how to handle higher end audio, know what to do with it, or understand it at all.
After I graduated and earned my electronics engineering technology degree I was fortunate enough to have already been working at a Best Buy store part time, then applied and got hired into their Cleveland, OH service center full time for 10 years. I met a few technicians who were from high end backgrounds and I learned to appreciate audio above the standard rate fare you see at a Best Buy store to this day. We'd see the standard speakers in all the time for being blown and what not, which after a time didn't do much for me. But when something like an Eosone would show up I remember my eyes would light up because it was just far superior to everything else Best Buy sold. I eventually built my home audio system with 4 AudioSource power amplifiers, an Adcom GTP-800 pre-amp processor, but because Eosone had gone away from Best Buy by the time I could afford to build my system I ended up going with Pinnacle speakers. I finished by build around 2004 and still have that system playing strongly today.
Just wanted to say what a small world it is now with your youtube videos how I got to see someone behind the Eosone speakers just on a chance watch. Brought back memories of when I was in my 20s and really had fun at work (I'm 43 now - our audio crew was a bunch of characters lol). Thanks! If I was anywhere near you in Colorado I would certainly love to stop by your facility and check out your products and listening room. After things get back to normal I have family in Phoenix so maybe I'll take vacation to see them and make a detour in Boulder CO on the way!
I would certainly be interested in your PS Audio equipment if I didn't have my AudioSource amps.
Joe I worked at BB in Canton, Ohio while the Eosone speakers were being sold in the store’s. I was fortunate enough to take advantage of the factory direct discount of 70% off and picked up RSF 1000 surround sound system. Wow! 20 years later and Wow! I still love those speakers.
I was also a tech for the displays in the store and the speaker rooms were ran by a mix of Sony or Pioneer receivers and Audiosource amps. Never had a problem with the Audiosource amp in the 5 store I serviced or with my personal one these past 20 years.
Just picked up a pair of rsf600 and a 910 subwoofer for 135 bucks... cabinets have a few scratches but they sound damn good. I’m quite impressed, it’d be hard to beat for less than 150 bucks!
Grinning from ear to ear coming out of the bedroom? They say a lot of deals are made that way.....LOL. JUST KIDDING PAUL. Another great video as usual. I hope you have a great day!
Myer-Emco. Funny how that DC area chain that never got bigger than eight or nine stores got such a great national reputation. I miss having Ed Myer and Myer-Emco around. That was a great place to go into.
I have a pair of RSF400s that really need some love. the foams rotting and the tweeters have been killed. and the grilles and tops are gone. but man do i miss how they sounded when I was a kid..
All deals are made in a bedroom. I was just kidding 😂 before anybody's head blows up.
Great story Paul don’t remember it being mentioned in your book .Best Buy was the Amazon and the audio brick and mortar killer.
Had 2 higher end locations and like many others closed them both after they came to town:(
OK, so now I'm looking for Eosone speakers online. I have a speaker fetish!
Would you possibly know where I could find an schematic for the RSF1000’s?
EOSONE
I GOT THE 600 TOWER
THE 12 SUB
THE CENTER CH SP
Still rocking!
Hmmm, I guess that explains why I feel like I'm up to my eyeballs in Polk speakers whenever I go into the audio section at Best Buy..
Did BestBuy replaced the Eosone with different brand later?
I just got my hands on a premium enclosure with two eosone IRD0007-1 AND two eosone tweeters(two different types) maybe two1/2 feet by one ft. I'm trying to find what type of power/ ohms this beauty needs.
I remember when best buy sold eosone back in the 90s.
Love the video (like usual)!
I still have the literature for mine that I bought second hand. No one believes me that they are good speakers because no one has heard of them
How many of you thought that was an EOSONE speaker on the bench? :)
How much you wanna bet Best Buy didn't like their precious Bozo line getting kicked down the road like a rusty can by this upstart Eosone brand and killed it off.
Wanderfull story 👍
7:59 ...
And now all you can get at Best Buy is Klipsch.
Matthew polk? Polk audio?
endrizo The very same :)
Hey Paul when you say beavercreek is that beavercreek Ohio?
Beaver Creek, Colorado is about 8 miles west of Vail along the I-70 corridor.
There's a nice ski area there with the highest elevation being a little over 11,400' and over 3,300' of vertical.
There is also the dodgy named 'wet beaver creek' in az near sedona - sporting a water hole known as the crack. This is not a joke. really. (lived quite close for a short time away from uk home)
ruclips.net/video/DiKNtBpdFFM/видео.html
hehe... THATS funny.
Beaver Creek Colorado
So is that 99% true then?
...... or 1% fabrication or embellishment 😜
This is just my opinion but those Eosone speakers looked too much like Definitive Technology speakers at the time.
I thought the Def Tech speakers were better.
* i prefer B&W M1 for 'starter theater'.
@@googoo-gjoob B&W is an acquired taste you have to like harsh tweeters.
"Wanted to beat Bose".... wow...high bar set... (Best buy sucks too)
actually, unfortunately....that bar is pretty high.
since they were speaking of sales numbers.
not sound quality.
Wow! Makes me hate Best Buy even more.