ESS amt 1 tower drag home

scoloheros

Super Member
Found at an estate sale, they were just too big for his house and his house is full, like mine, and nobody knows if they work yet. Not a bad drive, 30 miles one way. But THEN, I got about 300 "yards" from my house on the way back and god said, "hahah, gonna get those speakers, gonna get those speakers!" Pouring rain, huge drops for 300 yards and then it stopped raining right when I got the truck in the garage. Panic time, towels, running, ripped of grill cover to dry the pressed board, grill has to come off anyway, a cat got to the grills but the cat didn't make it to the wood. It looks like the water caused a tiiiiiny bit of damage, maybe, and speakers were down so that was good. I don't know anything about these other than what I've read here and other places, supposed to sound good when working. A fuse cap doesn't screw on to one of them and you can see why. Is this easy to replace, would they have this at an electronics store like Frys?
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I've been to youtube, looked up how to replace the tweeter diaphragm if I need to. But what's up with people replacing the woofers, even when there is nothing wrong with the originals?
 
As long as you're having to replace the fuse holder, do it with a screw cap holder from Parts Express. Those "T-Ear" caps are a convoluted joke. The "Great Heil" takes a 2-amp quick-blow AGC fuse.
As long as you're in there, you may want to take an inventory of capacitors and resistors as well. Replacing electrolytic capacitors is pretty cheap and should be done if you don't know the age of the existing caps and resistors.
The instructions from ESS essentially say flip the Heil over, remove the putty from the bottom and lift out the diaphragm.
What model are those? The model number is just out of the photos and there's no pictures of the driver compliment beneath the Heils.
 
As long as you're having to replace the fuse holder, do it with a screw cap holder from Parts Express. Those "T-Ear" caps are a convoluted joke. The "Great Heil" takes a 2-amp quick-blow AGC fuse.
As long as you're in there, you may want to take an inventory of capacitors and resistors as well. Replacing electrolytic capacitors is pretty cheap and should be done if you don't know the age of the existing caps and resistors.
The instructions from ESS essentially say flip the Heil over, remove the putty from the bottom and lift out the diaphragm.
What model are those? The model number is just out of the photos and there's no pictures of the driver compliment beneath the Heils.

I remember reading things you typed about these in other threads. I had a pic of the terminals on back showing the model number, I just missed posting it, there it is. I just ordered 3 of those fuse holders. I know they look like hell in the pics but there aren't many dings, not in bad shape other than the grill that cat got to. I have the tops, I don't see any scratches. I think I finally have a pair of speakers that once running, they could handle the McIntosh amp my dad gave me a long time ago, I'm thinking they would match up well with it. All the other speakers I have are too wimpy for that amp. I also happened to have one Klipsch Heresy II speaker, yeah just one, how'd that happen? But I've read it makes a good center channel so I think I will keep that. OK thanks on the help there, I will mark this thread so I can look at your info. I feel pretty good about these if I can get them going, they might be permanent in my final setup with that McIntosh amp.
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I noticed after I panicked and pulled the wet part of the grill off the cab like super man, the rest easily swings out so here is the woofer. I'm not familiar with these but my gut is saying "original" and that the surround is original as well, what do you think? The surround still feels soft, that's kind of strange to me but I'm assuming the woofer is original. Of course that surround could blow up after one thump. btw the coil is free and no rub!
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It won't be long you will need to do the surrounds, just do them now before you put grills back on. The early AMT1 Towers had alnico woofers, cabinets are well built transmission line type.

I would also rebuild the crossovers if you want to do them up right.

I have owned two sets of these. They are far better than the 1a,b,c,d's.

Enjoy these are a very nice system.
 
I'm not sure why @SmitterDave thinks that the surrounds will need to be done any time soon. From looking at the photo, they look in pretty good shape, like someone may have already re-done them at some point. Maybe he's basing the statement on assuming that they've never been done since their birth back in the 70's.
A WORD OF CAUTION: Once you get the AMT-1's up and running, you WILL become an instant convert to the cult of Oskar. The big problem with the AMT on top is it's speed and ability to create a natural, airy sound. Everything else will sound like crap by comparison. They are a worthy end to the chain with a McIntosh amp in the middle. Hopefully, your pre-amp and source (CD-DAC or phone cartridge) are up to the task as well.

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I'm not sure why @SmitterDave thinks that the surrounds will need to be done any time soon

Because I am correct, with the age of original woofers the surrounds WILL be toast, but there is something not right here...

I thought the woofers were not right when posted, they are not original... Still at the age looking at the surrounds on these they will not last long.

Play them until they blow out... maybe an hour or two.

Find original drivers you will be surprised how great these sound.

Good luck with you restoration!

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A word on the surrounds.

My friend has the AMT 1C or D and his surrounds are not the foam but the butyl rubber and he reports that they are still fine after all these years. Could it be the same case here?
 
A word on the surrounds.

My friend has the AMT 1C or D and his surrounds are not the foam but the butyl rubber and he reports that they are still fine after all these years. Could it be the same case here?
Butyl doesn't generally crack up like foam. Instead it hardens and gets stiffer with time (there's a dirty joke in there somewhere, I know), changing the response of the woofer. Some are worse about it than others.
 
Butyl doesn't generally crack up like foam. Instead it hardens and gets stiffer with time (there's a dirty joke in there somewhere, I know), changing the response of the woofer. Some are worse about it than others.
You mean something like, "Oh, my BACK gets stiffer with time".... hey, wait, there's no dirty joke in there whatsoever!
Tease.
 
But they do tend to loosen up with use.

I’m curious what the woofers were replaced with.

These speakers can take quite a lot of power! Mine (1aM) were rated for max 275 watts.

What version of McIntosh do you have?
 
Because I am correct, with the age of original woofers the surrounds WILL be toast, but there is something not right here...

I thought the woofers were not right when posted, they are not original... Still at the age looking at the surrounds on these they will not last long.

Play them until they blow out... maybe an hour or two.

Find original drivers you will be surprised how great these sound.

Good luck with you restoration!

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Hopefully, @scoloheros will be able to read through ENTIRE posts and sort out the disparate bits of information being fed to him. Perhaps removing the woofer and looking for an ESS number (690-0007) would be in order.

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hmmmm, First, thanks for the added information. "Woofers not original", that is interesting, I completely took the grill cover off one of them today and did some cleaning up, they are looking pretty good, tweeter is heavy and cleaned up well, added some pics because everybody likes to see pics. OK I'm going to have to take that woofer out now and take a look and post pics of it. What's odd is that the grill cover looks like it's never been taken off, I see no extra nail holes where old nails would have been that attached it before it would have had to be taken off to replace the woofer. Alright, another mystery. I just cut the grill a little on the other one and it has a matching woofer. These came from a pretty wealthy old guy that bought them new, I don't think he would have done something sloppy with them so if they aren't original. I would guess it was professionally done, whatever is going on here. I bought them from somebody else that bought them at the auction, but I didn't get the feeling he would attempt a woofer swap. Yeah, no, the grills hadn't been off while he's had them, I'm almost certain of that. He wasn't big into vintage stuff anyway.
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these are heavy tweeters
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I have the screws out but the white putty sealant used around the speaker cage is a little more than putty strength, it might be difficult to get them out but I'm going to work on it. These things are practically glued in but I'll get them out. What was the sealant like on the originals, it might be a clue also. But, doesn't matter, I'll get one of these out so we can see. imo the cone has an Advent look to it.
 
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