ESS TRANSAR (1978)
Little is documented about the ESS Transar beyond a handful of late-1970s magazine notices. What those notices make clear is that it was a loudspeaker system, and the first full-range ESS design built around Oscar Heil's air-motion transformer. Earlier ESS speakers used the AMT as a tweeter module above conventional woofers. The Transar (also written Transar/ATD or Transar/A.T.D.) paired the AMT with a new Heil-developed low-frequency driver to cover the whole range.
Audio (Aug 1978, p.32) gave the Transar/ATD a specified frequency response of 30 Hz–22 kHz, ±3 dB. HiFi/Stereo Review (Aug 1978, p.79) reported the system at $3,250 per pair, including an amplifier for the woofer and an electronic crossover — and took care to note that, despite the "full-range Heil" billing, the woofer did not itself operate as an air-motion transformer. The same review noted that audiophiles had been eagerly waiting for an AMT woofer with the clarity and transient response of the tweeter. ESS promoted the physics behind the design heavily; HiFi/Stereo Review (Dec 1977, p.11) mentioned the company's offer to send its theoretical monograph, "Transar: A Study in Genius, A Study in Physics," along with the cherry-pit analogy explaining why the AMT's squeezing motion beats a cone's pushing motion.
Beyond those period pieces, surviving records are thin. No complete specification sheet, production figures, or sustained review coverage appears to have survived in the usual archives.
Known specs
- Full-range loudspeaker system using the Heil air-motion transformer with a new Heil-designed low-frequency driver
- Frequency response: 30 Hz–22 kHz, ±3 dB
- Price at introduction: $3,250 per pair, including woofer amplifier and electronic crossover
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