ESS AMT-6 ?

 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2651
Registered: Dec-03
Anyone happen to have any info on these guy's or know anything about them.

I find other ESS stuff but not the AMT-6.

There is a pair sale local but they are huge and may be in the need of repair.
I went there with my van but I need to go back without the seat in it, also
bring a dolley as they are huge "refrigerator size"

I am still contemplating weather I need to even deal with a speaker this size
and the headaches that may follow but I have a tough time just leaving them
where they are and at the price for them. I am a speaker hog/collecter so I
am very intrigued by these guys but I really don't think I have a place for them.

Yes they have the AIR MOTION TWEETER but it looks quite different then
others I've seen as it looks like a bunch of small ones in an arrray on top.

Thanks!
 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1247
Registered: Dec-03
I had a pair of AMT 3's back in the 70's, but don't remember much about the 6's. They all utilized the Heil tweeter. Pretty radical stuff for the times Kegman. Is there anything specific you were looking for info wise?
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2652
Registered: Dec-03
Thanks rick!

There is a pair down at a local thrift for a $100 that one may need some work
but I can't find any info on that model # and I'm not sure if I should get them.
 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1248
Registered: Dec-03
I would think the tweeters alone would be worth more than the asking price. I'll see if I can find any info on the 6's and post back.
 

Silver Member
Username: Joe_c

Atlanta, GA

Post Number: 994
Registered: Mar-05
Took your advice Rick, got some E H kt88's on the way, and also a mix of used nos 12ax7's.
 

Silver Member
Username: Joe_c

Atlanta, GA

Post Number: 995
Registered: Mar-05
If this is the tweeter for the amt then I would say go for it :http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A//www.speakerrepair.com/Me rchant2/merchant.mvc%3FScreen%3DPROD%26Product_Code%3D10-127%26Category_Code%3DE SS-Diaphragms&ei=d38MQ5STEpGS-gHjrcW0Bw
 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1249
Registered: Dec-03
I found info on the AMT3's and 4's only. ESS is still alive and HQ'd in California. Call or fax them. I'm sure they can send info on the 6's.

(916) 362-4102 phone
(916) 362-1179 fax
 

Gold Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 5281
Registered: May-04


The ESS line had a sound that was an acquired taste, much like owning Quads or Dahlquists. The lack of coherency through the system can make some (much) of the music you play through them sound disjointed and not very pleasnt. The problem is the same as all hybrids, the slower cone driver cannot keep up with the faster, lighter Heill driver. If you get past that, the ESS line was a rousing success. As with most fast drivers, and especially tweeters, the high frequency components could be damaged quite easily. The Air Motion driver is still a very good design and coupled with better low frequency drivers can make an above average speaker for the money invested. The main market for Heill drivers today is keeping older speakrs running. The driver went through several variations to make service easier and sound better.




 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2653
Registered: Dec-03
Allright much appreciated!

Rick I think I will give them a call. Thank you!

Oh by the way I could not let them sit there so now they are sitting in my van!

I will check them out later, no idea the condition of the components as we speak.

These are different then most ess I've seen as they have an array of 4 Air Motion
driver's up top sitting sideways with 2 12" drivers below.

I will take pics and post back! I am still not sure why I bought these!
 

Gold Member
Username: Joe_c

Atlanta, GA

Post Number: 1004
Registered: Mar-05
Because you can.
 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1250
Registered: Dec-03
You're welcome Kegger. I remember back then, most people who were seriously getting into audio, were using AR, KLH, Advent as affordable speakers. Suddenly the original Ohm speakers came along, with the ESS line soon to follow. The Ohms were expensive at the time, so I went with the ESS's. They were internally fused, and I remember going through a box of fuses a week. LOL! Keep me informed when they are up and running. I will send that "package" soon. Promise!
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2655
Registered: Dec-03
Sounds great Rick thanks!

These speakers are seriously probably the biggest I have ever seen.

I called the company and they have no info on the amt-6 but a tech of 30 years
has recently retired and they said they would try an contact him to see if he could
give me any info on these monsters!
 

Silver Member
Username: Twebbz

Ann Arbor, Michigan USA

Post Number: 234
Registered: Apr-04
Boy I remember those from my late teen years. The ROCK MONITOR towers with the Heil tweeter & two ten inch woofers really excited me. I remember the salesman saying the bass was muddy but, hell who cared, they really did ROCK! I could never afford them so I settled on Large Advents and kept them for twenty years.
 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1251
Registered: Dec-03
Yes sir, the good old days.....when we were young! LOL!
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2656
Registered: Dec-03
So far 7 of the 8 tweeters work and all 4 12 inchers seem fine.

And for the limited playing time I like the sound.
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2657
Registered: Dec-03
Hey just got the other tweeter fixed, HURRAY!

Here's a couple pics.

Upload

Upload
 

Gold Member
Username: Thx_3417

Post Number: 1054
Registered: May-05
WTF! Is that cotton wool stuffed in them, surely there not that bight sounding?

Also they look like horns in the shape of a horn that is, very interesting design concept....

The dispersion of the high frequencies must be good looking at the angle curving round, to give a 45º to 90º no, or is it less?
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2660
Registered: Dec-03
Andy the cotton is "behind" the tweeters to reduce standing waves and dampening.
There is a panel that goes on there and none of that shows from the front.
 

Gold Member
Username: Thx_3417

Post Number: 1056
Registered: May-05
KEGGER,

Gotch, clearly understood, so there from the 80' era right, and the bass drivers are they still intact?

So the tweeters as well there not, affordable, of the shelf are they?

Ashley
 

Silver Member
Username: T_bomb25

Dayton, Ohio United States

Post Number: 747
Registered: Jun-05
Nice Kegger,hey even Paul can appriciate those.So when are you gonna give them a test run and which amp are you gonna use?
 

Gold Member
Username: Thx_3417

Post Number: 1061
Registered: May-05
KEGGER

I should say there'll pack a punch, and I'm still cracking up Tawaun, thought I'll put "The Naked Gun" on and hehehe, sorry.

What's the frequency response on these loudspeakers, then I'm guessing 30Hz 35Hz down with a peak SPL around 109dbc weighting?
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2661
Registered: Dec-03
After checking everything out and cleaning up a tweeter all the drivers are intact!

These things weigh between 150-200 pounds each.
They are from the mid 70's and use a special tweeter/midrange array that
is electrastatic in nature, (HEIL AIR - MOTION TRANSFORMER).

I did fire them up this afternoon out in the backyard with a sansui integrated amp.
To say the least they are impressive, at this moment I'm not sure if I'll be able to
keep them as my house is full and I mean FULL! These babies are pretty darn big
and I figured they would take some giant amp to drive them but they are very very
effecient and don't seem to need a lot of power to drive them, they are a 4 ohm load
but the outputs on the sansui never even got warm.

If somehow I can keep them "but I don't know how" I would probably take advantage
of the biamp inputs that are allready on the speakers that bypass the internal xover
and use tubes on the tweeter/mids and solid state on the bass drivers. Also pairs of
the tweeters are in series at 8 ohms a piece so I may play with how they are laid out
if I keep them to get the impeadence up. In theory the tweets are in a series parralell
config that should yeild 8 ohms but yet the back of the speaker says 4 ohm so it's
possable the bass drivers are a 4 ohm load while the tweetes are 8 which would be
really cool for what I would want to do.

Have not found any info on the net or from the company as to any specs of this model.

 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1254
Registered: Dec-03
Talk about bringing back memories! If memory serves me correctly, I remember ESS's using KEF drivers for bass response. Just curious.
 

Gold Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 5327
Registered: May-04


The very early ESS line used KEF's. I remember my surprise when I went to a friend's house after having sold ESS for some time. He had a pair of early ESS (very large, about 4.5' tall with a single Heill driver); and when he took the grills off, there was a KEF B139 oval driver and a B110 mid staring back at me. I'm not certain when ESS stopped using the KEf components; but what I was selling a year earlier than this meeting did not contain KEF sourced components.


 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1255
Registered: Dec-03
Thanks Jan. I bought my AMT3's when the ESS line first came out, and remember them having KEF drivers. How old I feel.....LOL!
 

Gold Member
Username: Jan_b_vigne

Dallas, TX

Post Number: 5331
Registered: May-04


What I sold was pretty far down the line of ESS becoming a memory rather than a company. It was at Pacific Stereo and there were one or two real ESS speakers and a few black box ESS models made specifically for Pacific which was owned by CBS at the time. Ah, corporate shenanigans and wheeler dealers. Don't ya miss 'em?




 

Gold Member
Username: Rick_b

New York USA

Post Number: 1258
Registered: Dec-03
.......about as much as my ex-wife. LOL!
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2662
Registered: Dec-03
No idea if these use kef drivers, they don't look like anything special down there.

Well I may be able to keep them after all, A buddy of mine has an attached garage
that he just carperted and ran some cable out there for a tv, I asked what he thought
about me putting a pair of speakers out there, he said sure, heck hook me up with a
reciever and they'll get some use. Think I'll hook them to the marantz 2270 I recently
rebuilt. Then I showed him the speakers, he stood there speechless then said, umm
those are BIG, we'll have to make some room!
 

New member
Username: Mrobbins

Pittsburgh , PA U.S.

Post Number: 1
Registered: Sep-05
I just won an X-shaped Heil AMT tweeter pair on Ebay. But unlike most of the pix I've seen, there are no silver folded areas showing anywhere, only a narrow slot down the middle on front and back. Where the silver folds are usually, there seems to be only solid covering. Anyone know what that means?
 

New member
Username: Mrobbins

Pittsburgh , PA U.S.

Post Number: 2
Registered: Sep-05
Here are pictures to show what I mean.Upload
Upload
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2675
Registered: Dec-03
Mike I believe what your talking about is just cosmetic in nature.

The whole tweeter is basically the ribbon diaphram inside and the outside is
a magnetic housing that sometimes has some silver plasic crap on it they use
to make them look pretty. They look to be the normal heil to me.

Mine are older with the same basic principle but a different magnetic structure
and my diaphrams are slightly different. I believe there is 3 variations of this
tweeter, with mind being the middle and yours being the later then there is an
older 1st gen of this tweeter that you don't see much of.

At least that is what my research so far leads me to believe.

Also I believe the newer tweeter like the ones you have like to run at a xover
point of 1600hz or higher where mine can go down to 800hz like they are at
in the amt-6 version of the ess speaker.
 

New member
Username: Mrobbins

Pittsburgh , PA U.S.

Post Number: 3
Registered: Sep-05
Kegger, thanks for your thoughts

So you're saying the metallic areas in this picture are only windowdressing and serve no other purpose other than perhaps diffusion?Upload
 

Gold Member
Username: Kegger

Warren, MICHIGAN

Post Number: 2678
Registered: Dec-03
Yes mike, you can see in other auctions that have them torn apart and now after
having mine apart there really isn't much to them. The main parts are the
diaphrams and the magnetic housing, anything else is cosmetic and like you say
some different thoughts on "dispersion" with different units per say.
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