ESS speakers "Translinear" Transstatic

I sold HiFi gear in the late 1970's and had the opportunity to try every speaker out there. In the end, I bought a pair of ESS 7's to mate to my Marantz 2270. The speakers(and Marantz) are still going strong after all these years. Everytime we have guests, they always complement on the sound of the speakers. You will not find a better, more realistic bass reproduction and the overall image those speakers produce is still competitive today. I love my 7s and would love to grab a pair of Translinears.

Hi,

I saw your post and would like a bit of advice, please.

I am the original owner of some ESS AMT1 Towers, which need some work, as
the bass sounds muddy. I've got a friend who will be replacing the old
capacitors for me to see if that will help. Now, I've got the chance to
pickup a pair of ESS (Electrostack Sound Systems, Inc.) variable omni
translinear I towers. They'd be $125 and I cannot hear them before I buy
them. Do you have any thoughts on these speakers? I bought mine in 1974
and these, I assume, are older. Any feedback will be appreciated. Thanks.

Gary

That's not bad at all although it's the shipping that'll get you. You do know they weigh over a 100 pounds each? First thing where they are will determine the possible overall condition. The weather can destroy a good speaker not to mention what it can do to the cabinet it's housed in. I own a pair that I bought and am in the process of re-storing myself. In fact my B139 replacements for the original 6171 or low end drivers arrived today. So next I'll work on finding the other replacements. If you decide to buy these know this the older the unit the chances are they will be difficult to restore to original specs that is unless you have a bottomless checkbook. Good luck and happy listening. I also own a pair of ESS AMT1A since 1977. ZGRK

That's not bad at all although it's the shipping that'll get you. You do know they weigh over a 100 pounds each? First thing where they are will determine the possible overall condition. The weather can destroy a good speaker not to mention what it can do to the cabinet it's housed in. I own a pair that I bought and am in the process of re-storing myself. In fact my B139 replacements for the original 6171 or low end drivers arrived today. So next I'll work on finding the other replacements. If you decide to buy these know this the older the unit the chances are they will be difficult to restore to original specs that is unless you have a bottomless checkbook. Good luck and happy listening. I also own a pair of ESS AMT1A since 1977. ZGRK

I owned a pair of these speakers back in the early 70s. I found them to be far superior to the early ESS AMT-1. I would avoid the Transtatics as there are probably no replacement parts; especially the RTR drivers. By todays standards, they are nothing special.