Had a bookshelf pair around 1978 to 85, with a rear passive driver to augment the 8" bass on the front. The Heil tweeter is very efficient and clear sounding, great for dull LPs and cassettes of that era. The woofer is flabby but can play very loud, great for parties. It can compete very well with the huge Altec Lansing or JBL of that decade.
ESS and Heil air-motion tranformer - any thoughts?
These seem like interesting speakers, has anyone on this board had any experience with the ESS line of speakers?
A.M.T. description:
"The Heil diaphragm, made of soft, quiet mylar to reduce background noise, is bonded with conductive aluminum strips. It is equivalent in surface area to a conventional cone type eight inch midrange driver, but is accordion-folded down to a compact one-inch band for better point source dispersion. The low mass diaphragm is suspended in a massive magnet structure concentrating an intense magnetic field around the diaphragm.
When a signal passes through the aluminum strips, the bellows-like motion of the folded "pleats" squeezes air out five times faster then the air motion of a conventional cone driver. The virtual "instant acceleration" provides high definition, crisp transients, and overall spaciousness with superb dynamic range. This type of performance distinguishes the heil from all other transducers."
http://www.essspeakers.com/
A.M.T. description:
"The Heil diaphragm, made of soft, quiet mylar to reduce background noise, is bonded with conductive aluminum strips. It is equivalent in surface area to a conventional cone type eight inch midrange driver, but is accordion-folded down to a compact one-inch band for better point source dispersion. The low mass diaphragm is suspended in a massive magnet structure concentrating an intense magnetic field around the diaphragm.
When a signal passes through the aluminum strips, the bellows-like motion of the folded "pleats" squeezes air out five times faster then the air motion of a conventional cone driver. The virtual "instant acceleration" provides high definition, crisp transients, and overall spaciousness with superb dynamic range. This type of performance distinguishes the heil from all other transducers."
http://www.essspeakers.com/