ESS speakers "Translinear" Transstatic

I was a tech in R&D for ESS for 1.5 yrs. '77-'78. The company was long past the electrostatics by then. I hired on there so I could afford a pair($450 ea.) of what I believed were the best sounding speakers in the world. Don't have all the answers for your questions, forget the 'statics they were before my time and did not compare with the Heil AMT.
I helped with the proto-types of all of the systems at the time including one special one called the Transar (full range Heil AMT). I left the company with what may well have been the best pair of speakers to that date: 1978 AMT1B Bookshelf built in the lab by myself with hand tested

The Transstatics were low sensitivity loudspeakers so they would not play loudly without the potential for damage. My store sold a few and fortunately they were discontinued before we sold many. It was a very good sounding system but just not meant to be played loudly. The Phase Linear 400 was not a good match. The Phase Linear 700B might have been better but still was a poor match for the Transstatics. We serviced just about every Phase 400 we ever sold. You guys must have been loaded to be able to afford the JBL Paragon. I use to stare at that system in the Dell audio directory published yearly and daydream about owning it. Other speakers that caught my eye during that period were the Stephens with enclosures designed by Eames. They were virtually identical to JBL. In fact, Stephens originally worked at JBL in the early days. However, the sound of JBL, Altec, and Stephens was becoming obsolete in many ways with introduction of the acoustic suspension systems and the "New England Sound."

I just posted some comments as a former dealer for ESS. Whatever happened to the owners and can you tell us the inside story of what happened to ESS. My guess was that they went for the mass market and failed. I remembered two of the owners, Gary Hudson and Phil Coelho but not the third, who was a college professor.

I just came across this thread. I HAVE A PAIR of original ESS transmission line speakers; the ones that were made just before the Heil tweeter were added.
I purchased them in Toronto for $900 in 1970. I moved back
to NY in 1972 with the two speakers on the roof of my car. Going about 70 mph on the Thruway in the middle of the night they lifted off my roof rack, (I thought they were gone) and they did a perfect 180 degree flip (as seen from my rear view mirror) and landed on the side of road, sliding, with almost no damage. One of the speakers broke part of the top teak wooden panel, which I glued together again. Ten years later I replaced one of the Kef 9x12 oval speakers; the part cost me $125.00 in the 80's. My wife didn't like the size, and when one of the fuse housing broke I retired them to the attic. They are still there! and I think in good condition. I will post a photos when I set them up. I remember incredible sound playing Pink Floyd - Money.
What sold me on them originally was a cover shot of a stereo magazine with them competing with 10 foot Magnaplanars Monsters and coming in second.

Just found this thread, picked up a pair of m102's (1980 I believe)recently and am quite impressed with them. They are all original,only needed a good cleaning and a little touch up on some edges. Was able to get original grill cloth from
ESS. They are amaizing and play well on all music.