ESS AMT-1D Wiring

cjmustang69

Well-Known Member
i picked up a pair of ESS AMT-1D speakers yesterday. I remember these from when they first came out and always wanted to try a pair. The woofers will need new foam surrounds, which I've ordered from Simply Speakers. I removed the woofers this morning and found the woofer's were wired differently. Each speaker has blue and yellow wires. However, one speaker had yellow wire going to positive tab on woofer, while the other speaker had blue wire going to positive tab on woofer. Can anyone confirm which color wire is for positive tab?
 
The schematic below is typical to ESS speakers, which has the woofer wires black and green. Follow both of your woofer wires and see which one connects to both a capacitor and the large coil. That's your positive lead.

ESS_AMT_1B_Crossover.jpg
 
I refoamed the woofers earlier today and put them together this evening. initially, I hooked them up to Pioneer receiver and listened to them for about an hour. I liked what I heard. I'll play with positioning speakers and their mid/high settings over next several weeks to try to determine where they sound best.

IMG_1218.JPG
 
Holy crap! Is that an SX-1980 in the mix?

Yes - it is a SX-1980. I was able to listen to the ESS speakers this morning before work. I believe I'm going to really like them. They are extremely smooth and open on the top end and image very well. I remember these speakers when they were current on the market. Really feel fortunate to find a pair locally.
 
The bad: You may be hooked by the Heils. I'm irritated listening to anything else, which is a bear as I'm trying to tune in a couple of subwoofers for the upstairs bookshelf speakers. I have to go to the living room and listen to my ESS speakers just to get out of the funk that I put myself into.
Did you ever follow your wiring and get the polarity situation straightened out to your satisfaction?
And did you ever A/B that Pioneer against other amps/receivers?

ListeningSpace.JPG
 
The bad: You may be hooked by the Heils. I'm irritated listening to anything else, which is a bear as I'm trying to tune in a couple of subwoofers for the upstairs bookshelf speakers. I have to go to the living room and listen to my ESS speakers just to get out of the funk that I put myself into.
Did you ever follow your wiring and get the polarity situation straightened out to your satisfaction?
And did you ever A/B that Pioneer against other amps/receivers?

View attachment 1010695

Given my past preferences for Magnepan and Infinity speakers and my current Quad speakers, I felt it was likely I would enjoy the ESS speaker. Listening to them now and am really impressed with their performance. Very large soundstage and extremely smooth sound. I didn't trace wires for woofers. Based on my search for answer, I connected yellow wires to positive connections. I'm quite confident they are correct as bass sounds very good. Based on some reviews I had read on these speakers, some reviewers indicated there was a lack of bass. I'm pleased with bass performance I have.
Relative to A/B comparisons to the Pioneer receiver - not yet. I connected to Pioneer receiver initially as it was easiest to connect to speakers. I will be connecting to my McIntosh front end (MC-2105 amp/C-22 preamp) in the future. Will post my impressions once I do.
 
What's not to love about dipole?
Your pyramids with the 1980 is a vintage audio lover's dream combo. I remember the days of going to Jafco (a local chain like Best Buy with jewelry) and listening to them with the SX's and the Marantz receivers. I'm sure they wore out several copies of "Crime of the Century" demoing those things 12 hours a day. I'm not a Supertramp fan, but I got a copy when I got my Heils just to relive the magic.
It actually sounded better than I remember.
 
Back
Top Bottom