by 13 Stoploss
Tonight, I was testing my ribbon tweeters in the ESS AMT Monitors. I put a CD into the player and cranked the volume to about -11 in 2 channel Stereo mode (a piece by Gyorgy Ligeti played by Dominic Harlan). I started with both channels, then just the right channel, and finally, just the left channel. At about -19, the left ribbon was distorting and tingling. The right had no such problem all the way to -11. I went back to both channels, at the same volume. I heard something in the cabinets, which are about 12 feet away in a perpendicular line from the left speaker (the tweeters are dimensional to 360 degrees). I didn't think anything of the noise, just that maybe I was hearing things since the volume was so loud. About two hours later, a mixing bowl in the cupboard had burst. It was not freestanding, but neither did it have the weight or pressure of a larger bowl on top of it. In fact, it had a smaller glass mixing bowl inside it. The dimensions of the small bowl did not touch the sides of the larger bowl, just the bottoms, one inside the other. The bowl that shattered was sitting on top a thicker glass pie bowl. Here is the result:
Mrs. 13 is not happy.
The ESS AMT Monitor is the flagship model from former California brand ElectroStatic Sound. Dr. Oskar Heil, a German scientist, is credited with the patent for the "Heil Air Motion Transformer." Details on the air-motion transformer can be found at Wikiepedia, and at the ESS Web Archive.
The top woofer measures 12" and the bottom woofer, a passive radiator, also 12", helps to move air for impressive bass response. They can handle a maximum of 400W at 6 OHMS and have a sensitivity or efficiency rating of 93db, and a frequency response of 30Hz-23Khz. Each tower weighs 110 pounds, and when combined with a audiophile quality receiver and amp, they will murder your ears.
6 comments:
Dear Jason,
You make me smile! If I was Mrs. 13 I wouldn't be happy either. Please don't play it that loud too often...you will damage your hearing and that of your wife and babies. Rock on with your bad self. Take care Jason.
All the Vietnam era guys had monster stereos. My guy likes to say he "took that stairway to Heaven" a few too many times. Significant hearing loss.
Headphones if you must damage yourself. Please. Earbuds are not the same. You can seriously hurt yourself with headphones :>)
Lessons to be learned here. Domestic bliss is a good goal.
Did your ears bleed and did your face melt too?
Yes, my ears bled tears of cheer. My face melted, but it was still soft and so I was able to shape it back to normal before cooling.
Truly a pair of thundering speakers. If subsonics are lacking - the flat piston inserted into the reflex position in place of the drone cone will bring promise. New tweeters are available now but they do not shine as did the old pieces. Greater focus field is with an older Heil. Beautiful speakers.
Joe, ESS is back in California, since summer 2009. I have heard nothing to suggest that the remanufactured ribbon "tweeters" are anything less than the name implies.
The fact remains that my left main is not healthy. The right takes more to distort and crackle. Any piano piece is hard to take, at any respectable volume. They need to be rebuilt or replaced. Listening today confirmed this fact again.
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