Really quite an interesting read, this thread is.
I have some experience with the company et al, but alas i don't have the time to expound on everything that has come to light about ESS in general, and the Transar builds as well... too much wordiness for me at this hour of night. But i'll try.
The company truly disrespected it's dealer and clientele with the Transar. Which is quite unfortunate for Oskar who spent the better part of half of his genius mind developing not only the Transar, but the AMT technology itself. I'd be happy to go on about the idiosyncrasies of the Transar but maybe at a later time.
The company was bought by a gentleman in 1981 and he funded everything "Oskar" after that point. I spent several hours talking to him last year about the Transar and many other inherent issues the company had with products. Here's my take in a nutshell... he ruined the reputation of the ESS company at large. If anyone has noticed (if you've been a Heil fan for decades) that it was precisely in 1981 and subsequent years, that all builds from the factory went downhill and continued to do so year after year, until the only thing they had to rely on was backward product support. And they fully brought the fail with even that. Cheapening everything.
I spent hundreds of man hours working in the newly re-opened US facility over the last 2 years (after closing in 2006 for a brief unsuccessful stint in Frankfurt) and the problem is just re-manifesting itself all over again. Sad times for such a profound speaker design, really. The new "Great Heil" (< - - this verbiage would make Oskar turn in his grave) is not a performer compared to the AMT of olden. It is an inferior build and side by side listening with even the untrained ear, will show this. I won't go into the "why" of inferiority, at least not in this post. But i'm happy to share with my fellow audiophiles. No secrets among us! Another time however.
So to the Transars, the main problem was in the carbon rods. Oskar was rushed to production in the early 80's from his design based in the late 70's where he spent years developing the original Transar, with the Transar II. He was NOT DONE perfecting a tremendous design that was years ahead of it's time. But the "funder" (same ess owner as of today actually) wanted sales and so the tragedy unfolded.
Oskar wanted to, and attempted to, upgrade those carbon rods with a graphite composite but was limited to what funding he had available and competitive levels "other" loudspeaker mfr's were racing into production during a time when tubes were rapidly being replaced with SS, and Heils were directly competing with Japan, Germany, France, England builds etc, including Tannoy and so many other companies that... "had it together" compared to the failings of, ESS LLC.
It's a long, sad, very sad, story. I shan't go into it now. It would make the Oskar follower almost cry to hear of it.
