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ESS PS1220 Speakers


tom b. 57

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Does anyone know anything about these ESS speakers. I am a bit familiar with the ESS AMT line but not these. I read that the specs. are pretty good. They incorporate a 12" woofer and what looks like a 5" midrange. It also includes the Heil Air Motion Transformer, although a much smaller transformer than the AMT line. Does anyone have experience with this particular model and would they like to share their oppinion and experience. I have wanted some AMTs for awhile but have not had the opportunity to find a pair for a reasonable price. I loved these speakers back in the 70's, ever since I first heard the Nazareth rendition of Morning Dew on them. I still remember the goosebumps. The PS1220's are for sale in my neighborhood and if I get some favorable feedback, I may just get them, depending on the condition of them.

Tom

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Tom....I can't help.... I remember ESS speakers but never heard any...heard a lot of Advent, ARs, JBLs in those days.

I am still trying to get over the Vandersteen 2Cs on Audiogon for $300!!! If anyone wants to look at non klipsch speakers they are on the fourth or fifth page of classified ads under full range speakers. Think they are in California as I recall. Those boys were about $1700 new and only need a small piece of veneer to be reglued according to the ad.

Good luck with your research.

Chuck

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My last year in the Army at Fort Bliss and my wife got a job, good one. I immediately got a loan from El Sharko and then spent many, many hours at a local audio store auditioning amps and speakers. I finally settled on a Luxman amp, but then kept coming back to compare my two finalist for speakers. The finalists were Rectilinaer IV's, and a pair of ESS with similar specs whose model I do not recall. I remember clearly the shimmering, almost etheral highs from those Heil transformers. Thier literature explained that they concentrated and accelerated the air rather than pushing it (I recall an illustration comparing it to squirting a watermelon seed from between your fingers). I was very taken with it on rock and roll or big band, but on things like harpsichord or chamber music it was too real, very "present." I finally settled on the Rectilinears which I keep until about 5 years ago. Never got tire of them, though they were certainly anything but efficient.

That store also cared the Ohm F radiators (forget what they called them), the inverted megaphone shaped 360 degree mid/high driver, 12" at the base and all titanium. Extraordinary! Near perfect image from almost anywhere in the room. But WAY outside my range.

Don't know what became of these concepts. Perhaps, like the Wankel, equal to or better than conventional, but not conventional.

Dave

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Here is some add'l info from the 1991 AUDIO directory: 12" woof, 4" cone mid, 3/4 x 2.5" Heil AMT, separate Mid & Treble controls, freq resp 28 - 23, eff 93, crossovers @ 380 & 2k, impedence 6 nominal, 4 min, 14 x 12 x 34", finish type was optional, and weight 65#. LIst price $600 pair in late 1991.

NP - Replacements "Let It Be"

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ported or rear firing radiator ?.......................mine liked the corners

Rear firing radiator. The seller has not responded to any of my emails. I am starting to think they are gone and the ad has not been cancelled. Thank you all for your input. What do you guys think of Soundcraftsman equipment? Any good? I like the way it looks.

Tom

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I aquired this ESS Eclipse project. It's rough to to find info on them. They have a different variant of the Air-Motion-Transformer.

They are sans ten inch woofers, the passive radiators need re-foaming, and I'm not sure if I have the right networks, a Eclipse model B122........

I have some 3.5 foot cabinets port tuned to around 35 Hz with Lafayette/Criterion 10 inch woofers in them.

I took the B122 networks, and run the tweeters on the HP, and the woofers on LP sections of the network.

These Heil tweeters sound pretty damn good to me. Sensitive with a big open sound, and rather dynamic. A wee bit on the bright side, however. I ditched the crummy bi-polar 'lytic caps on one network, and am going for the other side. I think that may help a bit.....

These thing do things that dome tweeters will never do......

post-6643-13819324957974_thumb.jpg

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