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ESS AMT-3 replacement woofer candidates

Yes. I also know this guy. I have purchased a number of OE ESS parts from him including complete large speakers. He has had this listing going for a long time and has not reduced the price. He is one of the only people selling ESS who will ship a complete 100 lb speaker cross country and have it arrive intact. Anything he sells is accurately represented.
 
jcidave said:
Yes. I also know this guy. I have purchased a number of OE ESS parts from him including complete large speakers. He has had this listing going for a long time and has not reduced the price. He is one of the only people selling ESS who will ship a complete 100 lb speaker cross country and have it arrive intact. Anything he sells is accurately represented.
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Yep-I bought a pair of those mids from him 1 1/2-2 years ago-since my second set had the 4 ohm woofers, and 4 ohm Peerless mid, 4 coil AMT3's.
As mentioned, the prices are relative to a high performance classic speaker. IMHO is a decent enough deal for mids that rarely come up for auction.
And unfortunately more then a few of the O.E. mids were trashed in favor of R.S., Goldwood replacements.
As mentioned it has a relatively easy job to do, and should blend, not stand out from the Great Heil, other wise your changing he natural tonality of the AMT3.
And that's also the issue with finding suitable woofer replacements.
Fortunately I went back to the 1040SF's. as they are as close to a modern replacement for the stock woofers.
The certainly have more detail, nuance, and audible lower end response then the stock woofers, but I would love to have a set of O.E. woofers again, to see how changing the damping from fully stuffed, to braced, and foam lined would improve their response.
It would not be like the 1040SF's, but I think it would be a improvement for those who aren't cranking their AMT'3 on a regular basis.
Luckily the 1040SF's used what appears to be a identical pulp cone, and foam surround, so their no changing of their 'voicing' per say, but just added definition, and response, probably in part to the more efficient/large magnet/motor structure.
They definitely play very loud with low distortion vs the stock woofers/stock dampened enclosure, and their detail/low end response is outstanding, which was what I was looking for years ago. They just don't work well, or any other woofer for that matter, with a fully stuffed enclosure.
 
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automojo said:
One thing I forgot to mention is there are at least 2 midtube sizes-the Alpha ^A will not fit in the smaller midtube.
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A four or five sided particle board box inside of the main enclosure would be a lot easier to attempting to make the most of one of ESS' hare-brained penny savers. I'll bet Nelson Pass did this to help his brother-in-law that got scammed by some shady sonotube crooks.

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Germsmasher said:
haaaahhhaaaaaa not sure chief, do you like nelson pass
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His stint with ESS was so short, I'm not sure he was around during R&D for the rock monitors.
Who DOESN'T like Nelson Pass? His core philosophy of "let your ears be the final judge," adds heavy weight validation to what I've been blathering to my buddies that have been quoting specs for years.
 
Sure..
I have a Amp Camp amp.
For all the complaining, bickering etc (with hindsight- everyone’s an expert- hell you could re-engineer everything after the fact ) the AMT3 is a remarkable speaker as is.
Look at the never ending, long lasting forums on this speaker.
Myself I have always, leaned towards sticking with stock as much as possible.
This been for a number reasons not everyone has the woodshop, or the inclination to change everything.
And given the speaker is pretty darn good stock.
I got a PM from a new member that just picked up a set, totally stock.
No port on either.
He leaves up near Duluth. Anyhow I’m going to mail him some of the extra braces I made, and he is go to foam line the interior, and remove the stuffing. Recap too.
Once he gets all this stuff done he invited up to have a listen.
While these won’t me 1040SF’s,
I’m thinking this should help alleviate the main bass issues people have with the speaker stock, It should say people a lot of time and trouble and aggravation and simply enjoy their speakers and music!!
 
Porkloin said:
His stint with ESS was so short, I'm not sure he was around during R&D for the rock monitors.
Who DOESN'T like Nelson Pass? His core philosophy of "let your ears be the final judge," adds heavy weight validation to what I've been blathering to my buddies that have been quoting specs for years.
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12:46 AM
"Let your (last) beer be the final judge", more like it..... ;)
Sure specs are a starting point, but it seems the Heil, specs, politics, social media etc can easily end up in a quagmire were every usually looses, because someone always has to have the last word.....
Watching these yahoo this am (not 12!) only confirms how utterly unintelligent people CHOOSE (not are) to be.....
 
FIY
I have a local friend, fellow AMT3 owner, that was visiting the west coast and had a chance to hear one of the new ESS speakers, the AMT12.
He commented he was thoroughly impressed with how well they sounded, no midrange hole, nor lacking in the bass.
Expensive new, but again I think the price is relative for a high performance speaker.
Some people just prefer new, and if you enjoy the Great Heil, you have few choices-and why not go with the original, so to speak?
The new cabinets have plenty of added bracing, so no apparent cabinet coloration.
Vey cool!!
I also think some of the issues people have, have had in the past has more to due with their source components, then the speaker itself.
A recent thread comes to mind..
I felt bad for the OP, but he was stubborn, disappointed, and easily offended, so their was little one could help him out with.
He couldn't grasp the fact that some speakers can sound better, regardless of cost, or legend status, with some components vs others.
Too bad...
The AMT really need good source components that complement them. Because they can be brutally transparent at times, especially if this isn't taken into consideration.
 
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I also have a real appreciation for what Ricky is trying to do.
I admit, due in part to some biased info (should have know better) I didn't really have a good opinion for what he was trying to do.
Some of this glass have empty syndrome as well, but I take my buddy's word for how well they sounded, he is much more of a audio perfectionist them me (musician).
 
automojo said:
Sure..
Myself I have always, leaned towards sticking with stock as much as possible.
This been for a number reasons not everyone has the woodshop, or the inclination to change everything.
And given the speaker is pretty darn good stock.
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That's a damn disappointing revelation coming from the guy who's changed his drivers more in the past 4 years than I have my underpants. The name "Automojo" has become synonymous with the latest, greatest drivers to replace old 70's technology, and now you've "come full circle" back to OEM? What's next, swearing off of beer? Tuning the radio to am talk?
 
Porkloin said:
That's a damn disappointing revelation coming from the guy who's changed his drivers more in the past 4 years than I have my underpants. The name "Automojo" has become synonymous with the latest, greatest drivers to replace old 70's technology, and now you've "come full circle" back to OEM? What's next, swearing off of beer? Tuning the radio to am talk?
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No, I haven't come back to stock-I don't have any stock woofers anymore.
So...that would be a little difficult.
My point was, the stock unit was a little light on the bass-you, me, others are aware of that. No new revelation. But besides that are very good. No speaker is perfect.
However, through my experimentation, over the years, yes with many woofers- I have found the major draw backs of a fully stuffed cabinet with non stock woofers. So it would be interesting to experiment with a foam lined, braced cabinet with the stock woofers, and hear the difference.
As mentioned, the ESS service manual describes the stuffing's purpose was to reduce cabinet vibrations. Not to reduce reflections, change the box/woofer impedance curve, etc.
There are better ways to reduce cabinet vibrations.
frankly there aren't many manufactures who fully line cabs.
I'm quite content with the 1040SF's in a sealed, lined, and braced configuration.
But for those you don't want to search for new compatible woofer replacements, this might be a possible solution.
Not every one has the capabilities, wood working etc to do a complete make over.
Nor wants to waste time searching for woofers, if they have the stock ones.
These mods, lining the cabinet, even the baffle bracing are fairly easy-even to a novice.
So, I don't see a problem with easy tweaks, or a reason to be disappointed for that matter.....
My original point of the mods years ago was to find better bass, and the ability to play really loud with less bass distortion.
It's possible this could have been all I needed, with probably the exception of played louder with less distortion, but I can't be certain of this. A fully stuffed cab can cause early bass compression and serious friction looses.
But I do appreciate how the 1040SF's seems to have more detail and "touch", and have a deeper audible response.
Bigger voice coil and magnet structure may have a part in this.
As far as the other stuff, I have reported my findings, and opinions.
As with life, things change, with new knowledge and revelations.
Everyone's a individual, and has to make their choice on their own...as it should be.
I'm NOT a Ess guru. "god", or any number of names I've been called over the years.
Just a HIFI hobbyist searching for better sound.....pretty simple..
 
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Germsmasher said:
all fine listing sessions require good source components.....just saying..
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Yes, your missing the point of the story-not everyone realizes this-and that was my point.
Some speakers can smooth over inadequacies of source components-the AMT3's don't.
He refused to take this into account, then got defensive, and offended, at it was all over-he sold them and moved on...
 
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