ESS AMT 4 Upgrades

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Hello Everybody!

I recently found a pair of ESS AMT 4 speakers for dirt cheap. Hooked them up and was stunned at how good they sounded. I feel like I've become a music lover again instead of an audiophile! My expensive Thiel speakers are now in storage. The AMT- 4's have a single Heil driver and one 10" paper cone woofer.

An audio repair shop that I deal with told me that they could modify the speakers by doing the following:
1- Dampen the insides of the cabinets with some sort of special paint but keep the poly/cotton material that's in them now.
2- Replace the internal wiring with Analysis-Plus wire.
3- Replace all crossover caps with Mundorf's.
4- Change the single binding posts to double posts and bi-wire.

I'm basically very happy with the sound of these speakers, even the paper woofer. The above seems like a logical way of upgrading them without getting into new woofers and custom crossovers, but I would not necessarily be opposed to that. I read somewhere that ESS is now using Eichmann Wire in their new mega-buck offerings, so perhaps that may be an option. I live near Cleveland Ohio so if anybody knows of a good speaker repair shop within a reasonable driving distance that specializes in this type of work please let me know.

My current set up is:
Well Tempered Turntable, Audio Research phono pre(Tube), Audio ResearchZ(solid state)pre, a cheap CD player w/ outboard DA, a big Krell 300cx, older MIT wires.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Steve
 
Hi Steve,

IMO I would be check if the original coils was iron core. In positive case
upgrade with big air core type.
I'm not sure Mundorf is the best for the AMT ; maybe a paper in oil capacitor can be more sinergycal.
Do not know that particular wires you have mentioned but I think
normal copper solid core ( one conductor, no multiconductors) is ideal for AMT.
Resistor in series with AMT also is important. Do not use metal oxide or similar; Mills are fine with AMT imo.
Biamping seems to me appropriate : solidstate on the bass and tubes
on the AMT :D

Cheers,
Paolo
 
Thanks for your input Paolo. I know what you mean about those caps- just because they are high quality doesn't mean that the are the best choice for a particular application. I will also look into the type of coils and heed your advise about the resistors. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Steve
 
It's a pleasure , Steve.
To be totally honest, I'm searching to learn english, just a bit, and since my passion is speaker ( also amps,and sources and ....) this is the only method I am "forced" to practice myself! :D
I assicure you my skills in audio is much better than my english! :clown:

I was a true fanatic of Heil's when I was young. I have also had the Transar ATD2 system ;)
The things you like when you are young and newbie are Dynamic,SPL,
subbass and so on, no? When you accumulate years and years of experiences a lot of things change IMO.
I want choerence, equilibrate, imaging,etc
The thing I do not like today of the Heils is that sort of aggressivity in the midhigh region, "s" zone, frankly unliestenable :angel:
So I have tried to "smooth" this carachter by every sort of tweak.
You can mitigate but not eliminate . I suspect it is related to that sort of Waveguide the magnet act ( great Heil tw), sort of.
In others terms maybe it is simply HOM l:rolleyes:
This explain the reason because the Eton ER4 sound so different from the Heil IMO.

Cheers,
Paolo
 
Your English is quite good, Paolo, I can understand you perfectly. The Heils/AMT have had just the opposite effect on me. I put the audiophile speakers aside and(for now) enjoy the Heils with a renewed enthusiasm such as I had when I was younger and the music came first and equipment second. I think also there is special synergy with the amp, preamp, ect. as well. But this is part of the fun with audio. One never knows what will happen when a component is removed and then replaced with another one. The only thing that counts is how much we enjoy the process.
Regards,
Steve
 
Just take a look at my Frankenheils:
 

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Frankenheils

DIAMOND:
I noticed you were using amt Monitor s or amt1aM s as well.

(the amt is mounted at about 36in in height in the factory tower config.)

I also noticed you mounted your amt what appears to be considerably higher.

so I have two questions
what height did you use ?

Do you have an opinon / thoughts on the effect of the increased height?

thanks
 
They are about 45" off the floor. The sound of the Heils at that height is good, they do have a fairly broad dispersion pattern.

My thought is that the optimal height of the Heil is dependent on room acoustics. There is no doubt a sweet spot for every room. Seeing that under 1000 Hz is bass-mid bass (omnidirectional) decoupling the Heil from the bass-mid bass driver is an interesting consideration.

I'm close to getting a single Heil so I can try four on each side. I'm thinking of setting them up in a vertical array using ready rod to bolt them down to a wooden base.

Cheers

Lar
 
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