My pair of the large ESS AMT-1s arrived and I am seriously impressed by them! I did only some quick and dirty measurements and they are flat and very low distortion, I guess they will sound great.
I will report my progress in this thread - trying out different combinations with direct radiators, paraflex and horns and ultimately a synergy horn with them.
I will report my progress in this thread - trying out different combinations with direct radiators, paraflex and horns and ultimately a synergy horn with them.
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Great to hear. I’ve been thinking about a 2-way build with the Heil. What level were the distortion measurements and listening impressions taken at?
The distortion is measured at 90 dB and one meter. The FR plots are 20 dB less. I had to take them at low level, these are just quick and dirty measurements after unpacking. For proper tests and listening, I need to buy some protection caps first. I am impressed by the impulse response, best I ever measured.
What is the AMT-1, just the AMT, and if so is it the 'Grand Master' dipole?
I have a pair in modified AMT-1Bs, modded to 1Es, and later again to my own mid/woofer combination.
I have a pair in modified AMT-1Bs, modded to 1Es, and later again to my own mid/woofer combination.
This is the AMT I refer to: Original Great ESS Heil Air Motion Transformer™ I - LARGE
– ESS Speakers USA
– ESS Speakers USA
OK, that is the one, mine are old versions but the design has not changed. my friend thinks they are colored.
Mine have the yellow diaphragms, though I have some original 70s ones as spares.
Did you buy them new, I presume so from your post?
I have been bowled over by them since '85, when I rebuilt a pair of AMT Monitors.
Mine have the yellow diaphragms, though I have some original 70s ones as spares.
Did you buy them new, I presume so from your post?
I have been bowled over by them since '85, when I rebuilt a pair of AMT Monitors.
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Yes, new and bought directly from ESS. Well worth the wait and money. A very solid piece of equipment. If I find any "color" in the sound, it should be easy to EQ away, the low distortion and frequency range are more important in my book. Looking forward to experimenting with them, how they will compare to CDs on large horns and all the stuff🙂
pelanj, what woofer do you intend to mate with your ESS? I've been eyeing these for some time, to bi-amp with a SE vfet. Your plots are encouraging.
I have a pair of Beyma Liberty 8 speakers, which are waiting for their enclosure (a paraflex with high tuning) and also a pair of BC 8PE21s, which may end up in a frontloaded horn in future. Also, I have Eminence 2515 in sort of Yamamoto YS-500 clones, so these are the first candidates. It will end up at least 3 or maybe even 4 way with my large bass horns. I think I would choose some nice 12" speaker if I wanted to go 2way, most probably some Nd magnet woofer from BC Speakers, I tend to like these. Unfortunately, I missed a deal on Beyma 12P80s, which should be a great choice for a two way crossed over around 1 kHz. Beyma speakers have also my respect and would be my first choice if I could get them easier here for a good price.
Good deal. By coincidence, I was thinking of using Beyma 10br60, or an SB acoustics. SE bi-amped to 15w. Alas its all still theory. This woofer handshake, seems to me the most important part. My intuition says that I want both to sound equally "fragile", based on no particular data. I'm a low volume listener.
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I have a set too and they are one of the best tweeters I have heard. Play some female vocals through them full range sometime and it will sound like the singer has been miniaturized and sitting inside the tweeter. Such realism.
There's a number of people stacking these and adding wings to the front on Klipsch forum - example Double Stack ESS AMT-1 with Wings--Possible Kit for Heritage - Technical/Modifications - The Klipsch Audio Community
Hope this is of interest
Hope this is of interest
Oh no, you should not have shown that to me! Now I need to buy another pair🙂 I think the wing extension or horn loading would work also with a single AMT.
My friends, and my concerns are to an extent, are the potential coloration from the linear 'horn'.
The spaciousness is addictively lovely.
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For two way the mid/woof must be a curvilinear controlled detachment type to go high enough, I used a BBC LS 5/8 one, better I think than ESS ones.
Yes, the horn part is too small, so it might be the cause. The second page of the linked thread shows a horn for a single AMT. Something like that could be printed in two halves on my 3D printer, so I will spend some time with Fusion 360 🙂