Audiophile noob with a treasure that will blow some minds.

Heil Heir

Heil Heir

New Member
When I say that I am an audiophile noob with a treasure I mean just that. I am married to the grandauhter of Oskar Heil, and I live in Oskar Heil's house.

I'm not sure if I have all or just most of Oskar's personal equipment, as it is very possible that the higher end stuff went to his daughter, my mother in law.

As I say, I'm a noob, so I'm not exactly sure how to make the best of the equipment I currently have or how attaching my crappy Panasonic CD player, Playstation 3, or old school Phillips HD TV to the pre-existing equipment could make it better or worse.

I'll list what's in the living room and you guys be the judge.

Analogue Engineering Associates Analogue 520 Stereo Preamplifier. Apparently made in the mid 70's. Here's a link to a youtube video review from some guy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzz60bAkp1U

Heil AMT (Air Motion Transformer) Aulos Speakers
http://www.precide.ch/test/Heil/e_aulos.htm

Onkyo T4055 Solid State AM/FM Tuner
circa 1970-1973

Threshold Model S-150 stasis linear state amplifier overall feedback free.
75w x 2, 38 lbs, released 1980


We also have all sorts of handmade AMT speakers, tweeters etc.

One thing in the garage that I'd like to hook up at some point, appears to be a handmade bass that looks like a coffee table. My wife says that it's not necessary because the Aulos has great bass, but I've read others say that the bass may be lacking. I think that she just doesn't want to place it in the living room as it is larger than a bread box.

Cheers.
 
:yikes:

Welcome aboard! Post some pictures when you get a chance. Stick around and you will just about everything you can about what you have.
 
Welcome to AK! You certainly have a running start with all that gear. I've been a fan of Heil AMT's since I bought my first pair of ESS in '76. I'd love to see some pictures.
 
"My wife says that its not necessary because the Aulos has great bass..." LOL!! Your wife isn't as much of a hi-fi "noobie"!
We all should be as lucky!
 
Pretty awesome story there.
Welcome to the forum! That sub in the garage is necessary! Not because your main speakers are lacking, but because you have a huge sub just sitting in the garage!

Best of luck to you.
 
that preamp looks fabulous and so does their big ass amp...

image.php
 
If there are Heil prototypes they deserve to be in the Smithsonian, honestly. For that sort of item I would contact them, tell them what I have and go from there. The prototypes should be kept together if at all possible and it would be preferable if they were in a public museum instead of private hands.
 
Last edited:
the AEA was designed by Nasa engineers...the preamp supposedly is superb..the layout is impressive/
 
Thanks for being interested.

I'll take some pics when I can. The bass is very sexy. I also remembered that I have one of those ESS speakers, not the one that is angled (like a pyramid with it's cone chopped off) but totally rectangular. I've only got one, but here's a question...... if I ever wanted to do something silly like trying to set up a surround sound system, should I use that single ESS as a center speaker? No way it could be in the front center, as it is a beast, but if I stick it behind my entertainment system, maybe on a pedistal or something? I don't have a fancy, large TV, just a 32 inch HD tube sitting on top of a pos Ikea av cabinet.

Am I thinking about this too much? I've had the surround sound system in my head for a few years now, but have no idea what I'd really need to get to use my existing equipment.

Oh and my father in law has a pair of ESS branded headphones (I believe that they are ESS) and they look like something out of Star Wars. He let me borrow them for a while, but he'd rather that they stay in a box at his house, unused, than be on my melon for playing video games while the kid sleeps.

Thanks again.
 
Smithsonian

diamondsouled said:
If there are Heil prototypes they deserve to be in the Smithsonian, honestly. For that sort of item I would contact them, tell them what I have and go from there. The prototypes should be kept together if at all possible and it would be preferable if they were in a public museum instead of private hands.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that Oskar's daughter, my mother in law, sent a boat load of stuff to the Smithsonian a couple of years ago. Most of what is at my place seems like big speaker experiments that he never got to.
 
Hi and welcome! Pretty cool stuff with a great heritage.

If your single speaker is not a prototype but a commercial version, you can probably find a mate or even another pair (to use for L and R fronts or rears for surround). Lots of folks at AK have orphan speakers and good pairs for sale.

In a surround system, the center speaker is where most of the dialogue comes from. It can be 'phantomed' by most surround receivers (i.e. split between the left and right speakers) if you don't have one. I'm no expert on home theater but I thought a center was a key element...
 
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