Has anyone here heard a set of ESB 7/06 speakers?

[gmichael]

The owner of our company wants to revamp one of his systems. He wants me to help him put a new system together that's more for HT instead of just stereo. (more on this when I have a budget and more feedback from him) In the mean time, he has given me his old set of speakers. They are very old and a bit dusty. The only markings I've found so far is an emblem saying ESB. After a few minutes Googling, I've found that they seem to be the model 7/06. They are from Italy costing about $3300 new. I have found one set being sold recently for $650.

Has anyone here ever heard a set of these? Are they as good as they look?

They are too big for my living room. They would block the 40" LCD. They might be nice in my poolroom though. He was driving them with an older (top of the line 150wpc) Sony receiver. My guess is that this wasn't the best match for them. Maybe adding even a cheap Emo amp would be an improvement. But are they worth it?

I haven't heard them yet. I only have 1 home so far. That's all that would fit in my car. I'll bring the 2nd home tonight.

(I was trying to get him to give me his old ML's, but no luck with that)

 

[gmichael]

Not so much huh?

 

[walter duque]

Not so much huh?

I would'nt even hook them up if I where you, but let me know when you get the 2nd home, I'll be there in about 45 minutes with $650.00 cash.

 

[gmichael]

I would'nt even hook them up if I where you, but let me know when you get the 2nd home, I'll be there in about 45 minutes with $650.00 cash.

Hahahaha.. Thanks Walter. These things seem kinda rare. Not a whole lot of info on them. Just enough to make me wonder.
This weekend I'll swap out my DIY speakers and see how they sound. (see sound?) Took the 2nd home last night. They look nice enough. A little clean-up is in order though. The dust looks like it's from the 60's.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

These?

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Interesting. I hope you end up liking them.

 

[gmichael]

These?

That's them, except the pair I have also have three knobs in front. They are labeled presence, clairity & something else. I expect they control the tweeter and mids levels. There are also 3 fuses next to the knobs.

Oh, and mine have 3 pounds of exta dust. Did I meantion the dust yet?

 

[GranteedEV]

These?

I would love to see the polars on those speakers. The 4-way design has really good potential to "dissapear" into the room with the right crossover!

 

[gmichael]

I have these hooked up to a 30 year old Pioneer 80w, 2ch receiver. This is easily the best sounding system in the house. I'll need to upgrade the rest of this system to match these speaker. They sound incredible.

 

[walter duque]

I have these hooked up to a 30 year old Pioneer 80w, 2ch receiver. This is easily the best sounding system in the house. I'll need to upgrade the rest of this system to match these speaker. They sound incredible.

That's too bad that they sound good. I had everything set up for new veneer and speaker grills. No, I am just kidding, glad you enjoy them. They are in a league of their own.

 

[audioa6rr]

ESB 7/06 distributed by Marrt Electronics, Cedarhurst NY 1981-84

My father was the US distributor of ESB ("ElectroStatica" - something). It was run out of high-end AV dealership Marrt Electronics in Cedarhurst, NY from about 1981-84, and exhibited at CES Las Vegas most of those years - which is where TAS's Harry Pearson likened the 7/06's to the best sound reproduction he'd heard other than the $30,000 Infinity RS system. (Thence the '$27,000 Off' ad campaign launched in Stereophile & Absolute Sound). At peak, they were in about a dozen high end dealers nationwide.

The 7/06 was the most popular model at a $3,000pr price point, although they also made a 2-foot-taller 7/05, as well as mid-range 7/07s $ 7/09s, in addition to smaller "box speakers" comparable to Yamaha's top offerings. Handmade and finished of piano-grade hardwoods, they feature fusible links and individual drivers that can also be replaced.

You can still find Doug Sax's review online. My father's illness & death ceased US distribution in 1985 - don't know what became of the Italian manufacturer, though they had been the largest Neapolitan speaker maker at the time.

 

[tkollen]

I just happened to see this thread although it's quite old. I happen to be the one who bought the 7/06 pair that was exhibited at the CES show in Chicago (1983 I think). I had just read Harry Pearson's review and on a business trip to Chicago I visited CES and listened to these speakers. I was so impressed that when I got back to New York I went out to Cedarhurst and bought the CES speakers at a discount. I have kept them ever since and they replaced my Mark Levinson HQD-system. Although one of the great speakers of all time (in my opinion), they improved substantially from adding a Sequerra ribbon tweeter on top.

Other than that refoaming of the midrange and the bass is all I have done to them. So in my opinion at $650 it's a steal but you have probably bought them by now anyway.

 

[dsimms]

ESB 7/06 distributed by Marrt Electronics, Cedarhurst NY 1981-84

My father was the US distributor of ESB ("ElectroStatica" - something). It was run out of high-end AV dealership Marrt Electronics in Cedarhurst, NY from about 1981-84, and exhibited at CES Las Vegas most of those years - which is where TAS's Harry Pearson likened the 7/06's to the best sound reproduction he'd heard other than the $30,000 Infinity RS system. (Thence the '$27,000 Off' ad campaign launched in Stereophile & Absolute Sound). At peak, they were in about a dozen high end dealers nationwide.

The 7/06 was the most popular model at a $3,000pr price point, although they also made a 2-foot-taller 7/05, as well as mid-range 7/07s $ 7/09s, in addition to smaller "box speakers" comparable to Yamaha's top offerings. Handmade and finished of piano-grade hardwoods, they feature fusible links and individual drivers that can also be replaced.

You can still find Doug Sax's review online. My father's illness & death ceased US distribution in 1985 - don't know what became of the Italian manufacturer, though they had been the largest Neapolitan speaker maker at the time.

I was stationed in Vegas in the 80's and visited the ESB room at the top of the Tropicana hotel/casino during CES. I'm assuming your dad was Arthur Regal, and he was a very nice man. He sold me a pair of the ESB 7/08 speakers at the end of their last day there. Sorry for your loss.

 

[dsimms]

I just happened to see this thread although it's quite old. I happen to be the one who bought the 7/06 pair that was exhibited at the CES show in Chicago (1983 I think). I had just read Harry Pearson's review and on a business trip to Chicago I visited CES and listened to these speakers. I was so impressed that when I got back to New York I went out to Cedarhurst and bought the CES speakers at a discount. I have kept them ever since and they replaced my Mark Levinson HQD-system. Although one of the great speakers of all time (in my opinion), they improved substantially from adding a Sequerra ribbon tweeter on top.

Other than that refoaming of the midrange and the bass is all I have done to them. So in my opinion at $650 it's a steal but you have probably bought them by now anyway.

I have a pair of 7/08's I bought around 1984, and the foam is deteriorating around the woofers on both speakers. Did you do the refoam yourself/is it an easy process or should I just replace the drivers?

 

[tkollen]

dsimms,

Yes it is an easy process. I bought a new foam kit (mid range and bass + glue) from Midwest Speaker Repair (www.midwestspeaker.com) for about $50. They have refoamed ESB 7/06 before so they knew exactly what foam surrounds I needed. They will provide you with instructions and phone support. You won't go wrong. The hardest part is the removal of old foam and glue from the basket and an x-acto knife comes in handy here.There is no need to order new dust caps and centering shims. The cones are centered by the spiders anyway.

 

[tkollen]

dimms,

The surround kits you need are F8-2 for the 8" mid range and F12-4 for the 12" bass driver.

 

[dsimms]

dsimms,

Yes it is an easy process. I bought a new foam kit (mid range and bass + glue) from Midwest Speaker Repair (www.midwestspeaker.com) for about $50. They have refoamed ESB 7/06 before so they knew exactly what foam surrounds I needed. They will provide you with instructions and phone support. You won't go wrong. The hardest part is the removal of old foam and glue from the basket and an x-acto knife comes in handy here.There is no need to order new dust caps and centering shims. The cones are centered by the spiders anyway.

Thanks for the info! I had them refoamed at a professional speaker repair shop about three months ago for around $75 and am happy with the results. Are you still using your 7/08s? Sadly, the ESB engineer/designer, Renato Giussani, died about a year ago.

 

[tkollen]

Yes I'm still using my 7/06s. I have own and sold many high rated speaker systems since the early eighties but the ESB 7/06 are still my favorite speakers. I was in contact with Renato Giussani early last year and he was kind enough to provide me with construction details of the speaker. I'm now trying to replicate the 7/06 using a more rigid cabinet, using modern high quality drivers, plus a built in ribbon tweeter (see my earlier post).

 

[dsimms]

Yes I'm still using my 7/06s. I have own and sold many high rated speaker systems since the early eighties but the ESB 7/06 are still my favorite speakers. I was in contact with Renato Giussani early last year and he was kind enough to provide me with construction details of the speaker. I'm now trying to replicate the 7/06 using a more rigid cabinet, using modern high quality drivers, plus a built in ribbon tweeter (see my earlier post).

I contacted Renato through his Facebook account two years ago and he gave me a contact (Mauro Zeppilli with AudioKit, info@audiokit.it) for replacement parts, and recommended using CIARE components. Mauro emailed me asking me to send the woofer dimensions and an image to see which surrounds to send, but it was easier for me to take it to a local speaker repair shop that had done work on my band's PA system. Mauro might be helpful to you if you're looking for Italian components. Let me know what you end up using in your replica 7/06. That's a great project. I'd love to get a pair of 7/06s in great condition to replace my 7/08s one day.