So far just playing at ‘better half at-home’ volumes. I’m playing mostly vocals (ie Norah Jones / Diana Krall / Sade) and placing my head directly in front of each speaker (~3 ft) going back and forth trying to differentiate. I’m not hearing the difference I thought I would (credit to the AudioNirvanas on their high extension - and/or age of my hearing). As mentioned previously the ESS Heils are very clean and open- my personal bias is I’ve been a fan of dipoles (old maggie fan). When I pull back a bit any issue (maybe just mental) with the ESS physical separation from the woofer playing upper mids is a non-event. Grok calculates with 3rd order Butterworth high pass @800 with 1st order low pass on the woofers @600 (one driver reversed) phases are 180 vs 179 degrees. So extremely coherent moving off-axis.
I like the ‘concept’ of one driver carrying 380Hz up. No crossover anywhere near 1kHz - 4kHz, and vocal range (mostly) point sourced towards listening height. But also ‘know’ that the AN’s won’t be as quick (detailed) as the ESS Heils.
Eq’ed and gain adjusted very close left vs right I’m enjoying the combo mix for a bit. Next up going with ESS Heils for both sides, and crank up the volume.
While a 3rd O high pass Butterworth (combo 1st O passive line-level with 2nd O active Butterworth - both targeting 800Hz) provides significantly more attenuation below ~600Hz than a 2nd O LR 800Hz, above it’s pushing the Heil a bit more. But maybe only plus a dB @ 1500Hz.
(if I did this correctly: yellow LR2, green Butterworth 3rd order)
I’ll be revisiting to get the crossover frequency @ 800-850ish down 6dB. I like the phase relationship one can get with a 3rd O (~800Hz) with 1st O (~600) Butterworth.
Measured actual Xover of drivers ~835Hz. Interestingly playing with GROK /AI for setting delay on the ESS Heil relative to both its ctr forward position (vs the front woofer position) and the crossover relationship (3rd order high pass net on the ESS Heil at ~835HZ, and the 1st order on the woofers (1.5 way) at ~ 482Hz. Active advantages.
Grok AI trying multiple 'what ifs...' has been an interesting and informative process. (I'm like a child, continuing to ask; but what about this, or that, or how would this affect phase,... and Grok just gets to work, and smiles.)
Starting with getting the high pass filter for the ESS Heils set. Using two .01uF capacitors (in series), with the amps input impedance gets a target HP ~800Hz (this is to provide a bit of protection at turn on). Tossing this in with a stated goal of providing more protection to the Heils (near and below 800Hz) in view of ESS's stated recommendation of 2nd order LR high-pass, and wanting a crossover point down 6dB at 835Hz, the net response was to set a 2nd order Butterworth active high pass filter at 850Hz. This combines (with the passive line level) to a 3rd order Butterworth at 835Hz.
Then onto the low pass for the woofers. I tried several of the recommendations, and at the end of the day (finding LP frequency setting that provided flattest crossover) went back to a 1st order at 600Hz, with a time delay. Grok calculated the delay based upon; the driver's center heights from the floor, I supplied setback of tweeter diaphragm to the base of woofer's cone, distance to listening position and listening height, and a 5 degree speaker tilt back, and Grok added in the effects of phase of the specific crossovers (type and frequency). The resulting net phase difference, with one driver inverted was calculated at 188 and 180 degrees (much closer than anticipated). As with the final LP frequency, I played with the delay on the tweeter (going with .5ms) and the relative gains, getting to the flattest transition around crossover frequency.
While I didn't end up with/at all its specific recommendations, as I'm ultimately relying on measurements and subjective listening, but the calculations were very informative, and provide an excellent place from which to tweak.
'Course, when one ends up with a speaker not too dissimilar from one of the ugly_woofers, how far off can you go?
Update edit: As previously mentioned, while I’m a fan of the AudioNirvanas carrying 380Hz and up (w/o a crossover anyway near 1-4 GHz) the cleanness of the ESS Heils dipoles puts a smile on my face.
I had never heard the big Heils until Nick brought his creation to Ankeny. They made quite an impression. I'm trying to curb my spending, but you guys are making it tough!
@Tom_S said:
I had never heard the big Heils until Nick brought his creation to Ankeny. They made quite an impression. I'm trying to curb my spending, but you guys are making it tough!
I’ve been intrigued for a long time. Following Nick’s build (didn’t get a chance to hear them) later combined with an email from ESS and I folded. Now I just need to do a sale page of a few drivers….
Comments
Copy , noted . Curious how it sounds up and running.
So far just playing at ‘better half at-home’ volumes. I’m playing mostly vocals (ie Norah Jones / Diana Krall / Sade) and placing my head directly in front of each speaker (~3 ft) going back and forth trying to differentiate. I’m not hearing the difference I thought I would (credit to the AudioNirvanas on their high extension - and/or age of my hearing). As mentioned previously the ESS Heils are very clean and open- my personal bias is I’ve been a fan of dipoles (old maggie fan). When I pull back a bit any issue (maybe just mental) with the ESS physical separation from the woofer playing upper mids is a non-event. Grok calculates with 3rd order Butterworth high pass @800 with 1st order low pass on the woofers @600 (one driver reversed) phases are 180 vs 179 degrees. So extremely coherent moving off-axis.
I like the ‘concept’ of one driver carrying 380Hz up. No crossover anywhere near 1kHz - 4kHz, and vocal range (mostly) point sourced towards listening height. But also ‘know’ that the AN’s won’t be as quick (detailed) as the ESS Heils.
Eq’ed and gain adjusted very close left vs right I’m enjoying the combo mix for a bit. Next up going with ESS Heils for both sides, and crank up the volume.
While a 3rd O high pass Butterworth (combo 1st O passive line-level with 2nd O active Butterworth - both targeting 800Hz) provides significantly more attenuation below ~600Hz than a 2nd O LR 800Hz, above it’s pushing the Heil a bit more. But maybe only plus a dB @ 1500Hz.
(if I did this correctly: yellow LR2, green Butterworth 3rd order)
I’ll be revisiting to get the crossover frequency @ 800-850ish down 6dB. I like the phase relationship one can get with a 3rd O (~800Hz) with 1st O (~600) Butterworth.
Now have the ESS Heils on both sides.
Measured actual Xover of drivers ~835Hz. Interestingly playing with GROK /AI for setting delay on the ESS Heil relative to both its ctr forward position (vs the front woofer position) and the crossover relationship (3rd order high pass net on the ESS Heil at ~835HZ, and the 1st order on the woofers (1.5 way) at ~ 482Hz. Active advantages.
Grok AI trying multiple 'what ifs...' has been an interesting and informative process. (I'm like a child, continuing to ask; but what about this, or that, or how would this affect phase,... and Grok just gets to work, and smiles.)
Starting with getting the high pass filter for the ESS Heils set. Using two .01uF capacitors (in series), with the amps input impedance gets a target HP ~800Hz (this is to provide a bit of protection at turn on). Tossing this in with a stated goal of providing more protection to the Heils (near and below 800Hz) in view of ESS's stated recommendation of 2nd order LR high-pass, and wanting a crossover point down 6dB at 835Hz, the net response was to set a 2nd order Butterworth active high pass filter at 850Hz. This combines (with the passive line level) to a 3rd order Butterworth at 835Hz.
Then onto the low pass for the woofers. I tried several of the recommendations, and at the end of the day (finding LP frequency setting that provided flattest crossover) went back to a 1st order at 600Hz, with a time delay. Grok calculated the delay based upon; the driver's center heights from the floor, I supplied setback of tweeter diaphragm to the base of woofer's cone, distance to listening position and listening height, and a 5 degree speaker tilt back, and Grok added in the effects of phase of the specific crossovers (type and frequency). The resulting net phase difference, with one driver inverted was calculated at 188 and 180 degrees (much closer than anticipated). As with the final LP frequency, I played with the delay on the tweeter (going with .5ms) and the relative gains, getting to the flattest transition around crossover frequency.
While I didn't end up with/at all its specific recommendations, as I'm ultimately relying on measurements and subjective listening, but the calculations were very informative, and provide an excellent place from which to tweak.
'Course, when one ends up with a speaker not too dissimilar from one of the ugly_woofers, how far off can you go?
Update edit: As previously mentioned, while I’m a fan of the AudioNirvanas carrying 380Hz and up (w/o a crossover anyway near 1-4 GHz) the cleanness of the ESS Heils dipoles puts a smile on my face.
I had never heard the big Heils until Nick brought his creation to Ankeny. They made quite an impression. I'm trying to curb my spending, but you guys are making it tough!
I’ve been intrigued for a long time. Following Nick’s build (didn’t get a chance to hear them) later combined with an email from ESS and I folded. Now I just need to do a sale page of a few drivers….