Not to muddy up the thread, but after some trial and error I was able to get ahold of someone at ESS. I sent my measurements along with info on the measurement setup. They offered to send out a replacement tweeter, or diaphragm with instruction on replacing it. I'm leaning towards diaphragm so I get to take one apart and document it. I don't see the need to make them ship a whole 14.5lb tweeter to me. And for the record replacing the diaphragm was my idea durring the communication. They might normally just offer the whole tweeter.
If anyone needs to contact ESS here is my suggestion: emailing info@esslabsusa.com seems useless (never received a response). Calling the number they have listed on the return/refund policy page between ~3pm-5:30pm Eastern is the only luck I had. I do have an email address for someone there but I don't feel it is prudent to post it. Send me a PM if needed.
[EDIT] 11/30
They opted to send an entire pair of tweeters. Wow
Tracking has sat in "shipping label crated' status for the entire week. I'm being patient.. I swear.
After measuring all 4 I am still rather frustrated. The 2nd pair is much better matched on the upper end, but drop off quite early compared to what I have read these should be capable of. Due to that drop, the distortion is alot more ramped compared to the 1st pair. I was hoping to cross at least down somewhere around ~1.5khz. That was one big reason why I wanted to try them.
2nd pair
Compared to the previous pair measured in the same session..
Guess I just need to send the 2nd pair back and try to make the best of it.
I can only hope they don't treat the full paying customers to the same garbage quality control (I got their half price on a pair+ mounting kit sale). But if they are willing to do this to me, they certainly aren't winning any more of my money or praise. We'll see if they make me foot the bill to send this 30lb package back to Cali.
TBH by this point if I was able to send everything back for a full refund and never think of ESS again that would be my best outcome. I'm fed up with this whole situation and wish I never tried.
Comments
Thanks for the post.
Not to muddy up the thread, but after some trial and error I was able to get ahold of someone at ESS. I sent my measurements along with info on the measurement setup. They offered to send out a replacement tweeter, or diaphragm with instruction on replacing it. I'm leaning towards diaphragm so I get to take one apart and document it. I don't see the need to make them ship a whole 14.5lb tweeter to me. And for the record replacing the diaphragm was my idea durring the communication. They might normally just offer the whole tweeter.
If anyone needs to contact ESS here is my suggestion: emailing info@esslabsusa.com seems useless (never received a response). Calling the number they have listed on the return/refund policy page between ~3pm-5:30pm Eastern is the only luck I had. I do have an email address for someone there but I don't feel it is prudent to post it. Send me a PM if needed.
[EDIT] 11/30
They opted to send an entire pair of tweeters. Wow
Tracking has sat in "shipping label crated' status for the entire week. I'm being patient.. I swear.
They finally arrived 12/12.
After measuring all 4 I am still rather frustrated. The 2nd pair is much better matched on the upper end, but drop off quite early compared to what I have read these should be capable of. Due to that drop, the distortion is alot more ramped compared to the 1st pair. I was hoping to cross at least down somewhere around ~1.5khz. That was one big reason why I wanted to try them.
2nd pair
Compared to the previous pair measured in the same session..
Guess I just need to send the 2nd pair back and try to make the best of it.
Yeah, quality control is a bit erratic.
That's a real shame . . .
I can only hope they don't treat the full paying customers to the same garbage quality control (I got their half price on a pair+ mounting kit sale). But if they are willing to do this to me, they certainly aren't winning any more of my money or praise. We'll see if they make me foot the bill to send this 30lb package back to Cali.
Maybe they will just send you a pair of properly QC's diaphragms instead - it would be cheaper for everyone involved that way, me thinks.
TBH by this point if I was able to send everything back for a full refund and never think of ESS again that would be my best outcome. I'm fed up with this whole situation and wish I never tried.
Bummer. That's like a full 20dB drop in SPL by 1kHz. What do the impedance curves look like?
No bump in the 500 to 1kHz region at all?