ESS speakers "Translinear" Transstatic

i could never tolerate the original ESS AMT1 in the top where it was so rough as to be intolerable. the same effect was present in early shibata equipped cartridges and the original threshold 400 amp. i can only imagine the high frequency cacophony if all three of those components had been used together.

i never got to hone in on the lows of the towers like transtatics with their transmission line loading in the lows. i will guess they werent quite as good as the IMF and Fried embodiment of that approach. i think mike wright of the UK did that design work on the IMFs and later TDL.

there are numerous speakers out there now with heil drivers including one with a very large amt (Atma Audio) marketed by Paul Squillo Music Systems.

i heard a LARGE version of this speaker at the moorpark theater while attending a performance of dan hicks and it didnt exhibit the roughness i referred to that i heard in the AMT1s.
perhaps this technology has evolved to a more usable state.

The ESS AMT was my first intro into high end in the mid '70s. A friends attic with a Marantz integrated amp and turntable and the spekers. It was the hang-out for our gang in while in college. It was a great way to spend the cold Iowa winters. Amazing sound for its day and still stands on its own. If anyone is interested in an upgrade - we now offer a killer one. Check out our info on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151132188420489&set=a.10151126147345489.460048.119021235488&type=1&theater.

I have the only 2 sets of these ESS speakers that I've ever seen like this, there are 4 satellite speaker small bookshelf looking and 1 large bass sub and a satellite power matrix? that says Electrostatic sound systems ... I bought them from the original owner in 1978 and he bought them in 1973 ... While I'm sure there are tons of new stuff to surpass them the sound is really remarkable just a pleasure to listen to ... Anyone else have any experience with these?

I picked up a couple of Translinears several years ago at a Goodwill for fifty bucks, but since I have another high-end system, after listening to them for awhile, I put them into storage. I would like to restore them as a gift for a friend along with a Carver HR-752 and TLM-3600 that also are stored. In case I have to replace the drivers, I need crossover points. Please, help.

Ds1058:

I love this story, especially about the speakers flying off the car roof on the freeway! This speaks to the difference in build quality compared with today's junk, which would have to be swept up instead.

I first ran across the Transtatic and Translinear in 1970 when an Oakland dealer was going out of business. He was selling both at half price, but I could not come up with the asking price then. At the time only the Infinity ServoStatic at about five times the price of the Transtatic, could outperform them among the speakers that I had heard. But the bass of the Transtatic was at the time the best I had heard, nearly causing me to wet myself!