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ESS AMT3 Heil Sickness-Continuing Saga Of Changes And Improvements

sbradley02 said:
Both speakers are now done. Zobels in both. From the meter, looks like the Zobel is having an impact, a few dB less in the mid-bass (still a peak - some of this is room gain).

Now to enjoy the results of my labor and see what I think of them :beer:
Click to expand...

Nice job! Glad the Zobel calculator worked out.
 
automojo said:
Good job-glad the Zobel worked.
I would maker sure they are away from any cabinets next to the sides, as this made a big difference when I had my 1040's.
Click to expand...

How did you guess...

Can't be changed in my case.

Very appreciative of all the help.

If anyone is interested I'll post overall impressions after some burn-in time.
 
sbradley02 said:
How did you guess...

Can't be changed in my case.

Very appreciative of all the help.

If anyone is interested I'll post overall impressions after some burn-in time.
Click to expand...

Yep-mine as well with the living room system....
Please post your impressions, as us AMT3's users/addicts need to post more information for new potential addicts..and ourselves in general!:thmbsp:
Again great job, and thanks for all the information so far.
As a side note-if you have some extra cash-you might want to try the Aura NS6A's.
I still haven't gotten my new adapters-but got them more solidly attached to the tube/baffle (my main problem with the earlier comparision) and after a day of break in-these really are killer, and are much lower coloration then the Alpha 6A. I think I got a bit used to the Alpha in part-but my wife also agrees they sound cleaner, and really more musical.
They are no doubt a step up from the stock driver-a good unit but modern technology prevails again here.
That's the really cool thing about the Great Heil-it was really ahead of it's time, and truly benefits from modern, low distortion, high efficiency speaker technology.
Don't worry- your not loosing any bit of musicality-no "dry" stuff here-your just improving your musical listening experience.
And @ $9 ea- a real steal........again-thansk Ron for the great input-much appreciated-C. Bob-AMT, MrB, Rocky,Hbrocks, Bill144-get some while they are still available......I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
 
Interesting, when you look at the early AMT3 woofer they used 8 10 watt 8ohm resistors, plus 2 (2mh +) inductors.
The old 4 ohm Alnico woofers must have had a serious peak in their response.
 
automojo said:
I can relate-I had some gasket rubbing as well.
1 meter.
If you decide you want to move the O.E. woofers-let me know-I know someone you should want them.
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Saw this post. I will be selling the woofers that came with, but they are not OE. Will be a bit tough to sell with no specs but they are nice.
 
automojo said:
Yep-mine as well with the living room system....
Please post your impressions, as us AMT3's users/addicts need to post more information for new potential addicts..and ourselves in general!:thmbsp:
Again great job, and thanks for all the information so far.
As a side note-if you have some extra cash-you might want to try the Aura NS6A's.
Click to expand...

I can do anything I want in the home theater room which is my primary system, but the living room where the ESS are I have more constraints.

Will post impressions. First I have a crazy idea I am going to try, if it works I will include results, if not, not :scratch2:

How much modification is required for the Auras?

Thanks!
 
At $9 each, low risk, so I ordered a pair, but I am going to do one mod at a time and want to try my 'crazy idea' first, hopefully next weekend.

My mids are already clamp mounted. Wonder if they are stock. Does anyone have a close-up photo of the OE mid?
 
ESS uses screws or clamps to mount the mids on AMT3. It is best to use t-nuts and longer clamps as PE sells if you are going to do a lot of mid swaping.

Thanks,
Ron-C
 
My later production set had the foam surround mid siliconed in, with 4 #6 mounting screws.
My earlier set had the rubber surround Peerless driver also siliconed in with 2 pan head screws at 3 and 9 o'clock holding the edges of the driver-this driver had no screw holes.
I agree-t nuts and clamps are the way to go for swapping.
 
sbradley02 said:
At $9 each, low risk, so I ordered a pair, but I am going to do one mod at a time and want to try my 'crazy idea' first, hopefully next weekend.
Click to expand...

Just as well I never got around to trying this mod. After many, many hours break-in the bass has evened out quite a bit. Still not quite where I would like it from a control standpoint, but good to the point where I don't feel a burning need to mod further.
 
sbradley02 said:
Just as well I never got around to trying this mod. After many, many hours break-in the bass has evened out quite a bit. Still not quite where I would like it from a control standpoint, but good to the point where I don't feel a burning need to mod further.
Click to expand...
I would still try those Aurasounds when you get the chance....
I had these rings made up-and they fit perfectly.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6055924&postcount=9
I scrapped the screws, and used JB Industroweld to glue the Aura's to the rings. You need to rough the paint up a bit on the flanges. They are solid.
I used (4) # 8 screws and inserts (from Mensicus Audio) with a small SS washer, plus gasket tape to secure and seal the assembly to the baffle. The clamps stick out too far when you use the grills.
 
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Will do - the drivers are sitting in their boxes, waiting for me to get around to it :thmbsp:
automojo said:
I would still try those Aurasounds when you get the chance....
I had these rings made up-and they fit perfectly.
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showpost.php?p=6055924&postcount=9
I scrapped the screws, and used JB Industroweld to glue the Aura's to the rings. You need to rough the paint up a bit on the flanges. They are solid.
I used (4) # 8 screws and inserts (from Mensicus Audio) with a small SS washer, plus gasket tape to secure and seal the assembly to the baffle. The clamps stick out too far when you use the grills.
Click to expand...
 
Aura vs Alpha 6A/Network ESR

Interesting the differences between these drivers. It's really hard to say which is best over all.
The Aura adds some very nice mid-bass definition, and the lower midrange is smooth and detailed.
The Alpha has adequate mid-bass, but the lower midrange definition goes up a notch or two, and is very smooth, especially when one considers this is a 'pro" driver.
Something to think about when looking at drivers. One has a tendency to look at the more expensive Euro drivers-Seas,Fostex, Morel Audax and the like, when this fairly inexpensive Alpha performs way above it's pay scale.
Comparing Aura and Alpha in the AMT3-hard to say which I really like best. Both seem to benefit from "Super" crossover with the large gauge wires, and inductors.
Something you really read/hear about-the benefits of using larger air coil inductors.
The Alpha has ridiculously low voice coil inductance, and perhaps this accounts for the really superior and natural and smooth midrange reproduction.
Maybe this lowering of network ESR in the "Superized" indirectly point to the advantages of using a active crossover. Something I may do in the future- but for now I'll stick with passive.
I'm using one of each-stock coils and aftermarket-all with new caps.
These still are in mule form, as I'm trying to fine tune the capacitor values, and will post pictures as soon a this is all done, and get my camera back on line.
Basically the speaker look like a bit of a mess, with wires everywhere-so not much to look at.
I'm glad I did set them up so swapping the Alpha and Aura are fairly easy-because I may just do this from time to time, as it may take me awhile to settle on either of the drivers.
The Great Heil is really picky about it's supporting drivers-they need to be musical for sure, but they also need to be fairly uncolored and low in distortion, along with the requisite high sensitivity. Not a easy task.
 
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