ESS Speakers!

[westend]

My application of the AMT1. I have it sitting atop an Altec 811 horn/802 driver. The bass enclosure is 15.5 cu. ft. with a single Altec 416.

Nice sound from the AMT, I have it crossed in at 9K hz but sometimes lower that point for more dipole reflection in the top registers. I like 'em.

 

[Mojo Warrior]

I have owned ESS AMT-1 Towers since the late 1970s and the biggest improvement that I have ever heard was to bi-amp them and add a subwoofer. I am not even considering selling them, ever.

 

[TomReceiver]

One of my favorite speakers of the '70s was the ESS Heil AMT 1a pyramids. They have a huge footprint w/ a 12'' subwoofer in the rear and a 12"" driver in the front and those Heil raditator tweeters up top.. As w/ Ohm/Walsh another favorite of mine they have hoods which can be huge dust collectors so my friend covered them until he used them. Awesome speakers if one has the room.


https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=ess+heil+anmt+speakers&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

 

[ESSowner]

I'd love to find a pair of AMT-1's and refurb them. So far, no luck.

I may have those, or maybe not... see my other post to you please.

 

[ESSowner]

I've got an older pair of the PS-8's too that I bought new back in the 70's. What struck me most about them was how accurate even the small Heil is. You could close your eyes and think you were standing next to a piano.

I said in my first reply that the AMT I was talking about were "ESS", they are not, here is my corrected reply:

I have The original Heil Air Motion Transformer towers that have one 12 inch speaker each and one of the smaller (non hour glass shaped) tweeters each. The tweeters appear to be hand made. I have been told that those tweeters use "Heil Air Motion Transformer diaphragm D-689-1109". Do you know if that is true and where can I get those diaphragms. Also, do you know how much these towers are worth with those hand made drivers? Thank you.

 

[SleeperSupra]

Pictures please.

 

[JamesDee68]

Need Opinions: New ESS Amt-12 with Heil Air Motion Transformer. These speakers just blew my mind and I'm considering a pair I can get a great deal on. Anyone have experience with them or other ESS models?

I owned a set of AMT I-B's for many years.. Bought them in the early 70s... Had the woofers reconed on both of them after about 20 years of use, and about a 3 years ago, I disposed of them in the landfill, as they were falling apart again.
In hindsight, I should have had them repaired and put back in service, but in the house we have now, there was just no room for them..
They were amazing speakers.. Matched well with my mid range Hitatchi Preamp and Power Amp. I held on to the Heil air motion transformers for a few years after that, and eventually disposed of those too
Those moved some serious air at higher volumes, and loved the 70s rock music which would play through them.

 

[Ziinda]

I owned a set of AMT I-B's for many years.. Bought them in the early 70s... Had the woofers reconed on both of them after about 20 years of use, and about a 3 years ago, I disposed of them in the landfill, as they were falling apart again.
In hindsight, I should have had them repaired and put back in service, but in the house we have now, there was just no room for them..
They were amazing speakers.. Matched well with my mid range Hitatchi Preamp and Power Amp. I held on to the Heil air motion transformers for a few years after that, and eventually disposed of those too
Those moved some serious air at higher volumes, and loved the 70s rock music which would play through them.

Replacing the woofers with some modern woofers would have been ideal. A newer driver would have blended much better than the originals. Probably the only thing that could have been an improvement, I found this to be true with old electrostatics. Really is a night and day difference when compared side by side. Not only in extended range but in coherence, matching the speed, (at least a much faster driver, not expecting to be a perfect match) or getting it closer really helps blend at the crossover point. I think you would have found the result to be hard to beat even with today's speakers offered for under $4k.

There was a rough set posted locally for about 6 months, I did consider them but they've been pulled this month.

 

[toddalin]

If the Heil is movable and you have an RTA, you can "time align" the Heil and improve the response through the crossover area. You may also find that you can further improve the imaging by obstructing the rear wave with a piece of foam or such.

 

[automojo]

I may have those, or maybe not... see my other post to you please.

This is a thread from 2015
Boto hasn't been seen since 2020.....