Gizmodo
Pioneer is releasing the S-1EX-LTD, a pair of speakers that share much of the same fancy audio technology as their TAD-M1, but for about one-fifth of the price. The speakers have a response range of 28Hz to 100kHz and can output up to 89.5dB. There's a whole host of other, audiophile-friendly terms, but for normal human beings, many of these numbers mean very little. Plus, Pioneer has a habit of using weird metaphors in their press releases that aren't exactly kind to machine translation. Just know that Pioneer is touting the speaker's signal-to-noise ratio and something called "Acoustic Balance Drive," which "holds down the occurrence of the unnecessary standing wave inside the enclosure of speaker system." Why are speakers so complicated?
The S-1EX-LTD will be released late October for around $5,300 per speaker.
Press Release (in Japanese) [Pioneer via Akihabara News]
Comments
S-1EX-LTD = SEX LIMITED ?
Perhaps it's just the perv in me, but that's what I read out of it about 2 seconds after seeing the name. Some interesting marketing strategies ya got there, Pioneer.
$5300 each.
Affordable.
Uh... 89.5dB would be their sensitivity rating, usually measured at one watt at one metre. They can no doubt go quite a bit louder.
(The Akihabara News piece has some nonsense in it, too - "with an output of 6Ω for 89.5dB" ... "Invert the fistrion matrix polarity, O'Brien!")
Speakers also don't have a signal to noise ratio. They do have distortion specifications, though.
@Paul D,
I agree. I was expecting under $500 each.
Affordable? This is the same blog that blasted those high end Altec speakers that were priced at around $6k.
Wait, if this is 1/5 the price, that means the other ones are $26,500 per speaker. PER SPEAKER.
That is insane. You could almost buy one 103" plasma TV with the money you'd spend on a pair of those.
count me among those who do not consider $5300 affordable. c'mon guys, does blogging really pay THAT well??
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