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ESS Heil Tweeters on Sale

I was surprised at how heavy they are. Also with the free gifts of two pair of ESS headphones which if sold on eBay would almost recoup the investment.

The tiny aluminum hook up wires were a bit disappointing.
 
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Bkphoto said:
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…
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Yes. I like the sound of my AMT3s. They are more punchy and can certainly handle more power with greater SPL, hence the moniker Rock Monitor. But the xover frequency for the Heil in the 3's is the same as the 1's and 1 Towers; 700 hz. I think the bass of my I Towers having that transmission line, is the best of the 3 speakers. Its deeper and transitions better to the Heil even with the same xover frequency. The woofer in the Tower is also better loaded with the transmission line. More robust bass and more tightly controlled.
 
Poultrygeist said:
I was surprised at how heavy they are. Also with the free gifts of two pair of ESS headphones which if sold on eBay would almost recoup the investment.

The tiny aluminum hook up wires were a bit disappointing.
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Yes. They are heavy. And yes. the leads to the Heil diaphragm are pretty thin. But, I guess, think of the conductor bonded to the diaphragm substrate. Also pretty thin and light which makes the whole thing work.
 
jcidave said:
Yes. They are heavy. And yes. the leads to the Heil diaphragm are pretty thin. But, I guess, think of the conductor bonded to the diaphragm substrate. Also pretty thin and light which makes the whole thing work.
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And I need to remind myself that it's a tweeter.
 
Now the comparison comes forth …..how does the ESS sound versus the Neo 3…I have had both and am interested in your opinion.
 
Today I'm listening to the Heils running full range powered by their own TPA3116 amp while the Fostex Tektons are powered by an Aiyima with it's sub out feeding the plate amp powered woofers. Only the woofers are filtered. The highs are outstanding and the Neo 3's are't even close. Still plan to try the active but I could live with what I'm hearing now.

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Poultrygeist said:
Today I'm listening to the Heils running full range powered by their own TPA3116 amp while the Fostex Tektons are powered by an Aiyima with it's sub out feeding the plate amp powered woofers. Only the woofers are filtered. The highs are outstanding and the Neo 3's are't even close. Still plan to try the active but I could live with what I'm hearing now.

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You are running the Heils full range with no filter at all? If so, don't expect them to last long. I did it once by accident (switched the woofer and Heil wires) and could hear the diaphragm rattle/distort in the housing. Luckily I didn't turn them up and did no damage.
 
toddalin said:
You are running the Heils full range with no filter at all? If so, don't expect them to last long. I did it once by accident (switched the woofer and Heil wires) and could hear the diaphragm rattle/distort in the housing. Luckily I didn't turn them up and did no damage.
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The Heils are 96 dbs so why would they be anymore prone to damage powered by a fraction of a watt than any other high efficiency speaker? I take it from your comment that the Heils have no internal filtering?
 
Poultrygeist said:
The Heils are 96 dbs so why would they be anymore prone to damage powered by a fraction of a watt than any other high efficiency speaker? I take it from your comment that the Heils have no internal filtering?
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No, they have no internal filtering and if you run bass through them at volume, the "folds" will audibly rattle together.
 
toddalin said:
No, they have no internal filtering and if you run bass through them at volume, the "folds" will audibly rattle together.
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I bi-amp and leave bass to the woofers. At a fraction of a watt there's little volume with the Heils. It would be a different story if I cranked up the volume which I think you're warning against. The goal of a good tweeter is to blend and not draw attention to itself and these do that very well.
 
Poultrygeist said:
I bi-amp and leave bass to the woofers. At a fraction of a watt there's little volume with the Heils. It would be a different story if I cranked up the volume which I think you're warning against. The goal of a good tweeter is to blend and not draw attention to itself and these do that very well.
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Today I'm listening to the Heils running full range powered by their own TPA3116 amp

If you are bi-amping them, you are not running them "full range" if they are on the "top end" of an electronic crossover. :no:

Certainly you could also bi-amp (and destroy) them by putting the Heils on their own amp "full range" but still crossing over the woofer at some lower point. This would be a "1.5" system.
 
toddalin said:
Today I'm listening to the Heils running full range powered by their own TPA3116 amp

If you are bi-amping them, you are not running them "full range" if they are on the "top end" of an electronic crossover. :no:

Certainly you could also bi-amp (and destroy) them by putting the Heils on their own amp "full range" but still crossing over the woofer at some lower point. This would be a "1.5" system.
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I'm not using an electronic ( active ) crossover yet but soon will give them a go. I have one flea watt amp powering the Heils and a second amp powering the FR single driver Fostex speakers. All amps have volume controls. The woofers are powered by a plate amp with its built in low pass which could be considered a third amp. Full range in my case means there's nothing between the amp and the speakers. The CD player has two outputs which feed two amps. The amp driving the Fostex speakers has a sub output which sends its signal to the plate amp driven woofers. Sounds a little complicated but it's really not. I've spent the last several days listening with not so much as a hick-up. You'd be surprised how nice the system sounds without a passive crossover which can literally suck the life out of the music. I do plan to try one of my electronic crossovers but for now I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing.
 
Be aware that word is when you try to replace the Heil diaphragm, the bridal veil has a tendancy to snag on the housing.
 
Next up for the Heils will be the tiny Rolls active crossover. For home audio it's a better choice than my Ashly and Berhinger. As small as it is I was surprised that it features a sub out that's sums the LF. So far I haven't detected a sonic signature that many actives are guilty of imparting.

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Poultrygeist said:
They don't come with feet so you must add them otherwise they'll mar a speaker's surface.

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You should really add the top strap and bottom locators. Heils are known to split apart if bumped. The magnets from the two sides are repelling each other and this stresses the case. While ESS told me that the bolts are 100mm spacing, mine are 102mm. (Just goes to show what they know.)

BTW, the top strap is included with the mounting kit.

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essNeff said:
I tri-amp my Heils and I still run a protective cap @32uf. I don't want to risk it!
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You might also want to use a 3ag one amp fast blow fuse in line with the purple lead for protection. Thats whats used with my 2 pair of Heil Elites.
 
Tried a inexpensive horn tweeter full range once.
Less than positive result.

The fuse ^ is also a wise choice, accidents do happen.
 
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