Here's your opportunity to own a hard to find speaker. Uses trickle down technology from TAD reference line and TAD drivers. Performs 90% of TAD Evolution-1 speaker which retails at $30K. Great precise beryllium tweeter and uses the same Aramid bass drivers found in the higher end TAD's. Hard to find quality of craftsmanship and styling at this price point by any manufacturer.
My Price is $4000 (local pickup only in 92677).
Dimensions: 51"H x 16.6"W x 24"D (with base). Weight: 145.5 lbs (66.1kg).
Finish: Genuine dark teak veneer (satin finish). Included are the grilles and jumpers.
Here's the review
https://www.stereophile.com/floorlou...sex/index.htmlConclusions: from Stereophile review
"I never bought into "trickle down economics" before, but Pioneer and Andrew Jones have applied the audio technology they learned in making the TAD Model 1 to a much less expensive speaker that has retained a disproportionate amount of the TAD's performance. Sure, $9000 is not pocket change. On the other hand, the S-1EX is fully competitive with higher-priced speakers that have spent time in my listening room, such as the B&W 802D ($12,000/pair) and the now-discontinued Revel Ultima Studio ($15,000/pair)--and with anything I've heard in demos. In regard to ease of placement in a domestic room not exclusively dedicated to listening, the S-1EX surpassed all other speakers I've used. This means that anyone who buys the Pioneer is more likely to enjoy optimum results than with more finicky speakers.
If you've read this far, you know that I love the Pioneer S-1EX. It is a full-range speaker with great transparency, dynamic potency, and truly neutral tonality. The speaker's ease of placement and setup are aided by its ability to immediately and easily reveal how it is affected by changes in position--when the Pioneers are in the right places, you'll know it. Then you'll stop thinking about the S-1EX and all its technological features, because you'll be listening to the music. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner."
More information about the speaker -
The awesome flagship of the EX series is the three-way four driver S-1EX. It uses a TAD designed and built coherent source transducer (CST) featuring a 1 3/8 inch Beryllium tweeter mounted in the center of a 5.5 inch Magnesium midrange driver. This results in an aligned sound delivery which is unusually linear and coherent with excellent directivity (pattern) control. Unlike conventional speakers with separately spaced tweeters and midranges, the TAD CST totally solves problems related to phase and off-axis frequency response errors. Dual TAD 7-1/16 inch Aramid / Carbon composite shell woofers provide deep high definition bass response. One piece cone and center cap construction combined with the rigidity of the aramid fiber structure produces a much stiffer and more rigid piston. Unwanted cone resonances are pushed beyond the bass driver's operating range significantly improve the accuracy of sound reproduction. With the tweeter/midrange and bass drivers perfected, an equally ingenious enclosure was created. The EX Series' cabinets are crafted from multiple layers of laminated MDF, ranging from a minimum of 30 mm up to a generous 100 mm, to ensure that they remain inert. Along with the Perfect Curve baffle and radius edges, these enclosures enable an amazingly realistic sound stage with exceptional clarity and focus.
They were designed by TAD's Andrew Jones, and use all TAD professional drivers, as a label on the back of each speaker proudly announces. Since Pioneer formed TAD in 1975 their collaboration on the EX series was a natural. Pioneer EX series speakers have been highly rated by Stereophile, TAS and other magazines for excellent sound quality and are considered overbuilt for their price.
