This site was initially created some time in late 1998, and has progressed from a single page (a somewhat shorter version of the bi-amping article) to what you see today.  I have gradually built up the content, and the overall site 'map' has changed several times as I have tried to incorporate all the new stuff in a reasonably sensible manner.

As the site continues to grow, you will see more changes, but I will always keep the user interface as simple as possible to maximise loading speed.  This is one reason that you won't see fancy mapped graphics, frames, flash animations or other frills that might make the site look really cool, but at the expense of download times.  Likewise, I never have pop-ups that ask you to register before you can view the site contents, and likewise you won't see pop-up requests/ demands to disable your ad blocker.  While I'd prefer that you do so, it's not (and never will be) a requirement.

The overall philosophy of the site has never changed - keep to the facts, stay away from the constant efforts of the subjectivist camp to ever 'improve' on what they have - almost always with expensive 'tweaks' whose performance cannot be measured, or can only be heard by people with 'finely tuned ears' .  Music is to listen to.  Recordings are rarely perfect, the concept of reproduction ever matching a live performance is a myth.  Listen to the music, not the equipment.

Unfortunately, many people respond more readily to rhetoric and 'herd opinion' than to facts and logic, and there are forces (hi-fi reviewers, the market in general, and the political apparatus) that see it as their business to take advantage of this tendency rather than to rectify it.  My philosophy is exactly the opposite - I suggest that 'herd opinion' be eschewed, and I always try to provide information based on verifiable engineering principles.

Good equipment is always something to strive for, since your enjoyment is greater when it sounds good.  I love to experiment, and many of the designs are experimental - in some cases just to prove a point (the DoZ is a perfect example).  Sometimes these experiments backfire (the DoZ is a perfect example!), and I get a whole bunch of e-mail telling me how great it sounds.

How much of the great sound is purely the result of the reader having built it himself/herself? I honestly have no idea, but it doesn't matter.  If people can get double the enjoyment from building and then listening to equipment then so much the better.  In the long run it is all about enjoyment; of music, of making something and of life.

May you all enjoy building my projects as much as I enjoy bringing them to you.

I have been asked many times about the way I create the circuit diagrams (or schematics, if you insist), and over the time the pages have been running this has changed.  I currently use either Protel or (mainly) SIMetrix to draw the diagrams, although I have used other methods before and since.  These are simply captured and pasted into the XP version of Paintbrush (which runs fine on later versions of Windows, somewhat surprisingly) for touch-ups, and the final image is then exported as a GIF file.  This method is a little time consuming, but I have found that the images are very clear, and I get consistent results.  All schematics on the ESP site have unique features that allow me to recognise them even after they have been stolen and re-published elsewhere.

The content of all the articles and projects is entirely my own unless otherwise stated.  This extends to the philosophy of the site itself, which is mine and mine alone.  This (of course) does not mean that others will not have similar ideas (many do), nor that I automatically disagree with the opinions of others who might have a slightly different opinion on the same subject.  I have been corrected many, many times - for anything from spelling mistakes to errors in diagrams (I have even managed to get a few electrolytics backwards - oops!), and various people have assisted with additional information on a number of occasions.

I do not (knowingly) steal the ideas, drawings or other content of others, and any information from others is reproduced with permission and full credit is given to the original author.  Contributions are encouraged, as I am determined to make the best audio web site around, and I cannot do it alone.

There is a very small number of images on these pages that seem to be in the public domain, and I have used some of these where appropriate.  If any reader out there sees their image on my pages and is offended that I purloined it, let me know and I will remove it.

Sometimes you see an image that is just too wonderful to ignore - the picture * here falls into that category.  It was sent to me by a friend, and I am sorry to say that I know not where it came from.  I just loved it on sight! I do not use (or condone the use of) spam (the web kind or the canned variety), so you will never get bulk e-mail or cans of 'meat-like substance' from me for any reason, so that image is appropriate in its own silly way . I just wish I knew where it came from so I could thank its creator.  Whoever you are - my thanks and apologies for 'borrowing' this image. Cheers,           Rod Elliott

SPAM is a registered trademark for luncheon meat owned by Hormel Foods LLC.  The author of this website has no legal, commercial or financial involvement with Hormel Foods, LLC.  Neither the information herein, nor the manner in which it is presented has been authorised, condoned, sanctioned or approved by Hormel Foods LLC.  This information has been included to prevent threatening letters from anyone, and is not currently a legal requirement.  However, it's more fun to include it than leave it out.  Someone else did get monstered by fax, so I thought I'd get in first. 

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Created 09 Aug 2000