This letter is to tell you an interesting story. I have owned a pair of ESS AMT 1's Since 1974. I graduated college in 1978. These were the most awesome speakers anyone had ever seen. The Heil air motion transformer was way ahead of its time, with brilliant high and tremendous speaker cabinet design and porting for the 10" woofer. My girlfriend, now wife of 21 years often complained of my rattling the dishes off the kitchen counter. After many yearsof moving around after college these fine monsters ended up in the garage.
My wife kept asking me when was I going to get rid of those old things. I said I was keeping them for my son to take to college. Guess what? He just replaced the rotted woofers with new ones and has moved them into his new apartment with 4 other fraternity brothers. They will still bring the police!

Ihave owned these speakers for over twenty years.The Heil midrange and tweeter are non-paral. The woofer,however,is not up to todays standard.
Incidently,I just talked to the factory and they will replace the woofer and passive radiator for $260.00 per pair.I expect all of you who still own them will find these speakers are pretty well shredded.

I have just upgraded to Home Theater with the Denon 5700 receiver and ACI Titans and Sapphires. I shall be using the AMT 1b for the surround speakers

WOW! Blow me away!! I thought I was the only person who still appreciated these babies!! I grew up with them, and I'm still always comparing more expensive speakers to them. I love the Heil high end for clarity and dispersion. Talk about power handling--ESS says the "new" AMT1-Ds can handle 400watts!! I asked why there was no fuse on 'em. My friend and I auditioned them in 72 or 73 with a little know album---Dark Side of the Moon! My friend back in CHI-town still has my old ESS amp (300w/ch) and ESS preamp, and Towers. The Towers were capable of reproducing a 20' standing wave!! ESS was digital ready before digital was happenin'. Good to hear you "guys" still talking about 'em. P.S. Can I rate them more than 5 stars?

I have some AMT-1Cs I've owned since new, ca. 1983. I still use them as mainson my system, although higher-end stuff is singing a siren song now... :-)
I have an older Sony ES unit with a parametric equalizer that I use to
tame the brightness of the speakers somewhat.

As an aside, a friend used to sell ESS. A number of years after
I bought my AMTs, he managed to pick up a pair of Transars (which I believe
he still has). If you don't know, Transars were an ESS speaker completely
based around the AMT concept. They had a relatively standard AMT tweeter/mid,
as on the AMT-1 series, mounted on top of a thick, wide panel.

(from memory):
Vertically centered in the panel is the base speaker assembly, an AMT-type
device, composed of front and rear facing scoops with a horizontal diaphram
mounted between the upper and lower scoop in each driver.

Each diaphram was connected to the base driver (mounted at the bottom of the
panel) via 4(?) vertical rods that served to force the diaphrams up and
down in the scoops. There were about five or six diaphram units per panel.
They sounded surprisingly good, although I think they didn't deal with high
power levels very well. FYI...

I've heard much better speakers than my AMTs, but for their time, I think
they were quite good, and are still acceptable now. I'll probably step up
considerably if/when I get around to replacing them. I'll give them four
stars for where they've been and how well they've lasted. You can do better
now in the $1200-2500 range, but technology has advanced greatly since
ESS rolled these out.

Reproducing Accurate Highs

MarketShare

I first heard the Heil Air Motion Transformer in 1978. My
High School friend put on a Master Recording of Dark Side of the Moon. I said to him I did know your mom bought a Grand Father Clock then the song began. The AMT's have a very spaitial effect to them.

While taking in Electronics in college I was fasinated with designing speaker crossovers and amplifers. Saving my summer money I build some cabinets with dyanudio drivers. While tring to match drivers from Madisound I kept having the problem of being able to cover the 20 to 20K. I kept wondering why no one made a mid- hi speaker like the old
AMT's my high school friend Karl had.

Fifteen years later I bought my first a set of beatup AMT-1.
Made new grill cover and oiled the cabinets. I would have bought some sooner I just couldnt find them anywhere. My Obsession grew, I learned of the AMT-1A with at 12" woffer and 12" Passive. This had to be much better for the low end.
But I would have to sneak them in without the wife seeing them. Then I bought a set of Rock Monitors(the base is too muddy in these for me).

I Love ESS ATM model speakers and will never consider another speaker. I dont believe transducer can be made
that will out perform Dr. Heils design...
Would live to hear from other Heil enthusiast...
BartonMay@aol.com

Similar Products Used:

AMT1,AMT1A & Rock Monitors

I originally purchased my AMT 1b's in the mid-70's and I keep going back to them for my main speakers. I still think it's one of the best sounding and best value speakers I've heard.

I just blew out the passive radiators (they were replaced about 8 - 10 years ago). I closed the opening, thinking I'll get tighter sounding base. A bad idea! They lost too much low end - I guess I'll have to replace the radiators.

It will be worth it.

Any opinions about replacing the woofers with something better than early 70's woofer technology?

Reliable, clean sound

Heavy as heck. Not electromagnetically shielded.

I bought these ESS AMT 1B "Bookshelf version" speakers in 1979, and they've been my main speakers ever since. The passive radiators have finally given up, and I'll have to get them replaced (with factory originals - essspeakers.com). I remember the original choice was between the ESS and some JBLs. I think by now those JBL models are long since forgotten while the ESS 1B speakers are still in high demand and even collectible. They've always be outstanding performers and are about the best product investment I've ever made. I once considered whether the Bose 901s were better, and ended up deciding that the Bose speakers were somewhat artificial sounding.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 901

I've been a proud owner of a pair of ESS AMT1B's since I purchased them new in1977. The price at that time was $450.00 each. I bought them from a local stereo store here in the Wash. D.C. area under a special deal they had where
you could trade-up your current speakers for another pair within one year of
purchase. I started out with the Bose 901 Series III, which I could never get
used to even after running them through an additional EQ unit, the sound was
just not sharp and clear enough for my ears. So, I traded them in for the ESS
AMT1B.

It's now 22 years later and I still love the sound of these babys. Crank them
up with a good clean high-powered amp and they really sing!!! The bass and
sheer wall-of-sound will give you goose-pimples!! If any of you ESS enthusiasts would like to have copies of the original Stereo Review test of
the AMT1B (I also have a Consumer Reports test), as well as a copy of the
original brochure and manual, I have them in my possession. Just e-mail me
at my address and I will gladly send them to you! It's great to hear such
wonderful comments about a speaker that I thought had been consigned to the
dust-bin of history!

Not easy to move around

I had a pair of Bose 901 Series IV for several years that I really loved. Had never heard of these until I met a distributor that carried this among his brands. I hooked up the then new AMT 1C (brochure still said 1B) next to my 901's and I heard new detail in music I had listened to a many times before. I sold the 901's to a friend and bought these speakers for $344 each. List was $650 each I think. A few years ago the rubber/synthetic parts of the speaker cones were starting to crack from the dry Arizona weather. I took them to a local speaker shop and asked if they were worth repairing. For a couple hundred I got brand new woofers, passives and had the grills reclothed. The Heils are still in great shape. I found some JBL's with titanium tweeters a couple of years ago that pretty well blend in for my home theater so I'm planning on keeping them for a while longer. DVD's sound amazing through them. Was surprised to see so much talk about these classic speakers and discover ESS was still around.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 901, Pioneers, Technics, Kenwoods etc.

After 14 years, there are none.

These speakers sound as tight and wonderful as they did when I first got them. As a dealer, I was anxious to order my first demo set of AMT 1D's and I never relinquished them. They have been my main speakers ever since. They
are such an awesome speaker that I have yet to find thier equal to this day without spending triple what these cost.

The HEIL is still an unbelievable marvel of modern technology which has yet to be surpassed. The mid range and tweeter crossover is adjustable giving the listener the opportunity to tailor the mid and high frequencies to his or her liking right from the top of the tower. Not only is the sound still awesome but they look as good as ever with thier pyramid design and oiled walnut veneer, they fit any decor.
For all of the poor souls who purchased Bose 901's, you missed the boat. The 1D's simply blow them away and at nearly half the cost. I can't tell you how many Bose owners heard my 1D's and wished they'd heard these first.
I just built a new home theater system and everything went except these big dogs. In fact, I broke out my ESS PS 620 monitors for my rear channel and used one of my 820'S for a center channel. They sound amazing together and they were all purchased back in 1987. ESS Labs still remains in business and has a website (www.speakeress.com). Parts are cheap for those who need them. I had to replace one diaphragm on my 820's last year and I think it cost me about $14.00. I have made repairs on some of my past customers speakers and it's usually the diapphragm or the passive radiator that needs replacing. If a new woofer is needed, don't bother reconing your old ones. You can order those too. I don't know of any dealers on the east cost that still carry ESS but out west should be no prob. Check the website for availability or you can order a set right from ESS. All of their performance series speakers are great bargains. If it has a HEIL, buy it! You won't be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 901's, various other speakers including magneplaner, infinity etc...