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Any info on ESS AMT 1am speakers? -- new and have searched hard

I

Isinkputts

New Member
Thank you in advance for any help -- I have recently come into some ESS AMT 1am speakers and love them, but I am having a tough time getting any info on them. What year(s) were these produced? Are they fairly rare? Best I can tell is that these must have come later in the first incarnation of ESS, but I cannot tell for sure. Manual is impossible to find as well.

I'm using a Pioneer SX 1250 to push them and the are great -- looking forward to a biamp set up soon.
 
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The 1aMonitor is the first version of the Monitor. Paper cone 12 inch woofer, not plastic cone. A little more similar to the AMT 1a but in a monitor cabinet. Yours has 2 circuit breakers for protection. Bi-ampable. I have a pair. Great bass. I think the paper cone is a great piston.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. There is a nice ESS owners group page on Facebook as well. Plus ESS is on top of their game in the customer service dept messaging me through Facebook Chat (and have a knob I needed). I will be bi-amping them soon -- looking to go with amp for the Heil and a beefy SS for the lows --let me know if anyone has any suggestions.
 
Wow two big woofers and a nice heil tweeter must sound nice . And lots of bass .
So many speakers of vintage age have no way of matching a center channel for surrounds but look amazing for music or stereo modes.
How do you use old speakers with stereo receiver when all new stuff uses hdmi?
 
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ultumax said:
Wow two big woofers and a nice heil tweeter must sound nice . And lots of bass .
So many speakers of vintage age have no way of matching a center channel for surrounds but look amazing for music or stereo modes.
How do you use old speakers with stereo receiver when all new stuff uses hdmi?
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I use these exclusively as a 2 channel set up with a vintage Pioneer SX 1250 (160 watts RMS channel) — the ESS Speakers are rated to 375 watts and need a ton of energy to drive them (especially the lows). They are set up to be bi-amped to drive even more power to be split amongst the Heil and the woofers. Once set up with enough power to the woofers — there is incredible bass. They weigh about 100lbs each — built to last and played loud.

If you can find a set locally at a good price — grab them, they do not disappoint.
 
How about giving us some pictures with the grill off and the back plate? If your speakers are correct 1aMonitors, the bottom driver is a flat disc which is a passive radiator. This is a 2 way system with 2 active drivers. The Heil and one woofer. This is a moderately efficient speaker and can be driven to good listening levels in the average room with a moderately powered amp. However, you can crank them with several hundred watts per channel. The picture provided above is close but not exactly correct for your speaker.
 
You are correct — the lower is a passive radiator — and I have pushed them with a smaller Pioneer SX 850 at 60 or 65 watts — but I’m finding when I can deliver the power to woofers they really can stretch their legs.
 

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OK. These look like the correct drivers for the 1aMonitor. Mine look just like yours. You never know what you are buying these days. People change things all around. Your 65 watts will drive them to a reasonably loud level. But this is not enough to drive them to full potential. 165 is much better. If you bi-amp them, then you can customize your wattage. Have you popped the circuit breakers? Fortunately you have them. They will keep you on the straight and narrow.
 
jcidave said:
OK. These look like the correct drivers for the 1aMonitor. Mine look just like yours. You never know what you are buying these days. People change things all around. Your 65 watts will drive them to a reasonably loud level. But this is not enough to drive them to full potential. 165 is much better. If you bi-amp them, then you can customize your wattage. Have you popped the circuit breakers? Fortunately you have them. They will keep you on the straight and narrow.
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Yes — I had them all scoped out. I’m fortunate enough to live about 20 minutes from Midwest Speaker Repair here in Minneapolis. They are one of about 9 ESS speaker dealers in the country and Joe (owner) is highly knowledgeable. He told me I stole them and that if I ever wanted to unload them — he would be first in line.
 
Good deal. Enjoy them. This is a pair of Monitors I got this year from a seller in Duluth. I modified them to add a second active woofer in each cabinet. I put some bass reflex ports under the second woofer. They play along well with the rest of the ESS collection. ESS Monitor double actve woofer.JPG
 
I think the best thing to do is put the woofer where the passive radiator is and put an 8 or 10 inch mid in the woofer hole. They added an 8" mid and crossed the Heil at 5khz or so.
 
Well, that's one way to do it. Wouldn't mind hearing that if someone is willing to put it together. For me, I think the Heil is a better driver, so I want as much of the frequency spectrum going through it. I'll keep all mine crossover at 700-800 hz from the factory.
 
What is the procedure for bi-amping them?
I am not familiar with how to use those terminals.
Looks like regular spring clips and maybe 1/4" jacks?
 
djnagle said:
I think the best thing to do is put the woofer where the passive radiator is and put an 8 or 10 inch mid in the woofer hole. They added an 8" mid and crossed the Heil at 5khz or so.
Click to expand...
What’s passive radiator do for the bass output ? Would he need to port it . Sounds like a lot of work to add a big mid but wow 10” mid!
 
The passive eliminates port noise, and allows for lower tuning-without a large, or long port. Both are bass reflex designs, and act the same to box size/damping changes.
 
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