Essence Electrostatic Speakers...A Bold Statement


I found this on their facebook page...A Bold Statement!! Their "entry level" $$$3500 system can't be outperformed by ANY other SYSTEM on the PLANET...at ANY PRICE!!

http://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/the-frugal-audiophile/
hifisoundguy
No matter what I say, you'll just keep talking, so I won't waste my time. I'll just make 1 quick point.

"09-22-15: Andrew9405
Hifisoundguy also espoused Bose 901 as the world's best speaker a few years ago in these forums.
I would take this just as seriously. "

I know I can do better than that.
Without comment on whether Essence sells wonderful or terrible (or anything in between) gear, I can say that the linked article is pretty close to outright ridiculous. What is their point? Well, per their own text:

"The real question comes down to this; can you actually hear the difference between a $50K system and a $3K system and if so, is it worth the difference? IMHO no, you cant. "

Why is that the real question? Why isn't the real question "Can you hear the difference between a $3k system and a $300 system?" or a "$300 system and a $30 system"?

Or, if (as I understand their reasoning) the room is the critical element - Why isn't room treatment/room correction the key question? Further, given that different rooms present very different issues, why is this particular design the best solution for every room?

As to the last link - the model 1200 'stat that is being touted there is listed as "discontinued/no longer carried". By the way - assuming that it's available (or available again) - it's a very different design than the one touted in the first link. This one is an electrostatic dipole. Is THIS approach better at taming the room than the line source design, which is supposed to be the best?

Look, this stuff may be great or it may be awful - but there is just about zero in either of the linked texts that makes any sense, much less a decent case for these products.
IMHO, I believe the correct phrase for trying figure out claims such as this is "Pissing in the wind".

10-03-15: Hifisoundguy
We can go..FORWARD or BACKWARDS! ???..
And you make wild swings sideways time after time:

Chasing after the Essence electrostatics (no longer distributed in the US),

Bose 901 (40-year step backwards),

Yamaha Soavo NS-F901 (came and went in less than a year), and speculating that they're pushing TAD R1's off the market,

"Modified DCM TFE200's......World Reference Now",

... and more breathless be-all and end-all product rhetoric than I am willing to track any further.

BTW, your link to Princeton U's measurements of the Essence 1600 show that they start rolling off in the "bass" at 320 Hz and are down 16dB at 100 Hz. I don't expect any better bass performance from a stand-mounted electrostatic, let alone 20Hz at -3dB.