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Are there any current production great speakers using AMT tweeters?

Back in the day, I had fallen in love with the ESS Heil AMT speakers, which were always too large and too expensive.    Now that I am looking for a new speaker, I am wondering if there are any current high end monitors that use these tweeters?  Or have good ribbons made the AMT tweeters less desirable?

My budget is in the $5k to $15k range, new or used, so don’t tell me about some of the $1k speakers that I know are out there, no matter how good they might be.

Stand mount is preferable, but a floor standing with a small footprint might be workable in my smallish room.

 

meiatflask
deep_333
2,482 posts
 

Get your ears checked..if both ears are in the ballpark of each other..

For my ears- no. Every single air motion / ribbon type tweeter I have heard have had obvious image left/right shifting issues. Basically center image wander / instability, especially slightly off axis. This is a deal breaker for me.  

toddalin's avatar
toddalin
678 posts
 

"For my ears- no.  Every single air motion / ribbon type tweeter I have heard have had obvious image left/right shifting issues.  Basically center image wander / instability, especially slightly off axis.  This is a deal breaker for me."

 

But is it actually the recordings and the Heils are just allowing you to focus in on the very small changes brought about by the recording engineer/equipment?  I also hear "every motion" and every touch of the pan pot from my Heils, but I really enjoy this.  I always sit right on axis.

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,663 posts
 

It’s worthwhile noting how important speaker sound dispersion patterns are when choosing and setting things up.  My understanding is AMT, ribbon tweeters etc. tend to be more directional than various dome varieties.  That has implications regarding how to best set up.  
 

As long as people make informed decisions based on technical reality of the devices they use,  all is well.  Unfortunately I suspect that is often not the case. 
 

My first good speakers were Lafayette Criterion with HEIL AMT.  I sold those among others at the time, circa 1978, my first real job.   The AMTs seemed easier on the ear than others at the time.  Problem was my 40 w/ch integrated amp would clip and keep frying the tweeters so they seemed delicate at the time.  Don’t know if that is the case today.  Soft clipping amps should definitely not have a problem. 

toddalin's avatar
toddalin
678 posts
 

The Heil AMTs are "current hungry" (3.X ohms) and some amps had a problem with this.

erik_squires
17,595 posts
 

For my ears- no.  Every single air motion / ribbon type tweeter I have heard have had obvious image left/right shifting issues.  Basically center image wander / instability, especially slightly off axis.  This is a deal breaker for me.  

 

I’ve literally never had this problem.   I imagine it could happen with any speaker with a narrow dispersion, but I can say with confidence it isn’t a characteristic of rectangular shaped tweeters (i.e. AMT and ribbons or planar magnetics) I’ve experienced.   

I have had very similar experiences with electrostatics however. 

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