ESS Heil Tweeters on Sale

[jcidave]

I looked up Mundorf who makes a bunch of Heil pleated diaphragm transducers in all manor and form of design. All of them are pricey. I didn't think I saw any with a low range spec comparable to where ESS crossoved the great Heil. I have 2 pair of AMT1's, a pair of AMT 1 Towers and 2 pair of AMT3's. (among a bunch of other ESS Heil speakers in the collection) the published xover spec from ESS on all of these is 700 hz. I play all of these all together all the time with their factory passive crossovers. I have several pair of first generation diaphragms in use which sound fine and give me no reason to change them. But If I had to, I could do it myself in minutes. Its easy to buy spares, at least for now. If I was going to tinker with these Great Heils, I would be double stacking them and crossing them over lower than 700 hz like the Klipsch guys.
Other than that, I have no need to make a change.

 

[Poultrygeist]

I ordered a pair to use with my single driver Frugal Horn Mk3's. According to the posted dimensions they should fit nicely perched atop the Frugal's. Having enjoyed B&G planar tweeters for several years I know how nice dipole tweeters can sound.

 

[Poultrygeist]

The dipole B&G planar tweeters which will be replaced by the Heils.

 

[Tom Brennan]

I hooked up the Heils this morning. Luckily they seem to work well with the Altec crossovers once I added a 4 ohm resistor in series with the Heils: frequency response sweeps show a pretty smooth response and balanced response with no problems in the crossover region (2000hz), indeed the response is quite similar to the Altec's horns. Clarity is excellent and tone is good though not quite so "transient", so to speak, as the horns. Imaging is very good but I was expecting, or hoping for, a wider and deeper soundstage and so far I'm not hearing that. Much more listening is in order but so far this seems more a lateral move than an improvement and perhaps even a little downgrade.

And yes, the wire nuts are audiophile grade.

 

[toddalin]

Imaging is very good but I was expecting, or hoping for, a wider and deeper soundstage and so far I'm not hearing that. Much more listening is in order but so far this seems more a lateral move than an improvement and perhaps even a little downgrade.

View attachment 2708289

Maybe try blocking off the rears of the Heils. Also, you've got to get them set in the proper location (front/rear) and aimed in the right place. My speakers image beautifully, probably best I've heard.

 

[JoeESP9]

Many listeners have always been dissatisfied with the crossover frequencies chosen by ESS. A major complaint has always been that there is a huge suck out where the woofer is crossed over to the Heil tweeter. The Heil doesn't go low enough and the woofer doesn't go high enough.

IIRC, the loss of those frequencies is one of those things that once it's pointed out becomes audible all the time.

IMO, a major part of what makes a tweeter good is transient response. Plasma which acts directly on the air has first place locked up. The mass of air is the only physical restriction. Electrostatic, Ribbon and Heil are a close second as they have diaphragms. ESL's may have a slight advantage as their diaphragms have the lowest mass.

What I find interesting is that while plasma tweeters are basically omnidirectional (pulsating sphere). ESL, Ribbon and Heil (and clones) tweeters are dipolar.

 

[SleeperSupra]

I hooked up the Heils this morning. Luckily they seem to work well with the Altec crossovers once I added a 4 ohm resistor in series with the Heils: frequency response sweeps show a pretty smooth response and balanced response with no problems in the crossover region (2000hz), indeed the response is quite similar to the Altec's horns. Clarity is excellent and tone is good though not quite so "transient", so to speak, as the horns. Imaging is very good but I was expecting, or hoping for, a wider and deeper soundstage and so far I'm not hearing that. Much more listening is in order but so far this seems more a lateral move than an improvement and perhaps even a little downgrade.

And yes, the wire nuts are audiophile grade.

View attachment 2708289

I think they sound a lot better crossed over lower.

 

[Poultrygeist]

I bought a pair and have been trying them in various set ups. Ran them full range bi-amped atop a pair of single driver Tektons and liked how they augment the top end. Next I'll be bi-amping them using an active crossover. I'm trying to stay away from a complex passive network as they sound so nice less filtered.

 

[Bkphoto]

Sold out…

 

[eizner23]

Sold out…

Still available without the mount kit but you can still get that separate.
https://essspeakers.store/collectio...reat-ess-heil-air-motion-transformer™-i-large
https://essspeakers.store/collections/heil-amt/products/heil-mounting-kit

 

[djnagle]

WOW!!!! Down to $150 now. That is a tremendous deal. Here are my speakers using the Heil from 7khz on up.

 

[Bkphoto]

Ah,

I was thinking about grabbing a couple but really don’t have any project in mind at the moment and spending 400 beans to have something on the shelf doesn’t make sense…but I almost fell for the spur of the moment impulse thing…

 

[Bkphoto]

Many listeners have always been dissatisfied with the crossover frequencies chosen by ESS. A major complaint has always been that there is a huge suck out where the woofer is crossed over to the Heil tweeter. The Heil doesn't go low enough and the woofer doesn't go high enough.

IIRC, the loss of those frequencies is one of those things that once it's pointed out becomes audible all the time.

IMO, a major part of what makes a tweeter good is transient response. Plasma which acts directly on the air has first place locked up. The mass of air is the only physical restriction. Electrostatic, Ribbon and Heil are a close second as they have diaphragms. ESL's may have a slight advantage as their diaphragms have the lowest mass.

What I find interesting is that while plasma tweeters are basically omnidirectional (pulsating sphere). ESL, Ribbon and Heil (and clones) tweeters are dipolar.

they got it right with the rock monitors….always on the lookout for a set of those

I always thought that the AMT 1 was 2/3 of the way to being a game ending speaker…

 

[RVT1K]

These are intriguing even though I don't know much.

I'm thinking a speaker project for the future.
Any opinions on their sweet spot as far as crossover point and slope are concerned? And I see they are very efficient, nothing a series resistor can't cure...right?

 

[djnagle]

Ah,

I was thinking about grabbing a couple but really don’t have any project in mind at the moment and spending 400 beans to have something on the shelf doesn’t make sense…but I almost fell for the spur of the moment impulse thing…

they are down to $150 now

 

[djnagle]

These are intriguing even though I don't know much.

I'm thinking a speaker project for the future.
Any opinions on their sweet spot as far as crossover point and slope are concerned? And I see they are very efficient, nothing a series resistor can't cure...right?

I cross mine at 7khz but now playing with an active crossover and they also sound great crossed at 3.5khz which is the top end of the human voice.

I took those speakers to an AKfest in Michigan and there was a guy that sat in the middle seat and listened to them for 2 straight hours without saying a word. when he finally got up to leave, he came over and told me that they were the perfect implementation of the Heils. I said thank you. He said, "you don't understand, I've been working for Dr. Heil for 20 years and that is how the ESS AMT should be used."

 

[JoeESP9]

These are intriguing even though I don't know much.

I'm thinking a speaker project for the future.
Any opinions on their sweet spot as far as crossover point and slope are concerned? And I see they are very efficient, nothing a series resistor can't cure...right?

If I read the ad correctly, Great Heil's are rated for an 800Hz low end. If so, I would use a crossover frequency of at least 1KHz to 3KHz. The higher the better.

If they are crossed over at 7KHz (good idea IMO) as djnagle uses, that pretty much rules out a two-way speaker.

 

[toddalin]

I cross mine over at 3kHz. I think they sound good down to ~2kHz at which point they start interferring with the woofer's band.

Mine have been treated to external modification in many ways to reduce the peak (a diffraction lens), increase the lower portion of the band (wing extensions), remove the rear wave (acoustic padding) and time and space alignment (separate stands that can be aimed) to get them where I like them. All modifications were performed using a 61 band RTA.

 

[jtee1340]

they are down to $150 now

Don't make the mistake I did....That's EACH not for a pair. I just got shipping notice that one tweeter is on the way. Crap. Pay attention when ordering stuff on line. They were 250 for a set.
25.00 to ship one tweeter.

 

[jcidave]

Don't make the mistake I did....That's EACH not for a pair. I just got shipping notice that one tweeter is on the way. Crap. Pay attention when ordering stuff on line. They were 250 for a set.
25.00 to ship one tweeter.

Too bad that wasn't more clear. 4 or 5 years ago when Ricky was still there, they were $140 each. If you bought a pair there was free shipping and they were not collecting sales tax.