Pioneer S-2EX Speaker System User Manual


 
Equipment
Report
B
y offering qualities we typically
associate with audiophile
speakers as well as those from
the pro-monitor world, Pioneer’s EX
Series bridges the divide between
two distinct listening cultures. It
combines a recording-studio ethic,
rigorous construction quality, and
most significantly, technology
plucked directly from the playbook at
Pioneer’s pro-audio “skunkworks,” the
highly regarded TAD (Technical Audio
Device) division.
Though TAD’s first home-audio
effort, 2003’s M-1 speaker, was
critically acclaimed, its $40,000 tag
priced most of us out. The more
down-to-earth EX Series was designed
and built at Pioneer’s Speaker Design
Center in Paris by a team comprised
of TAD and Pioneer engineers.
Andrew Jones, the chief designer of
the M-1, served as sound advisor, and
the EX Series also received feedback
from sound engineers at London’s
legendary AIR Studios.
The $6000 S-2EX is a three-way,
stand-mount compact in a bass-reflex
enclosure. The baffle has a gentle
curve in it, as well as a backward
slope, that serves to time-align the
transducers at the listening position.
Weighing in at over sixty pounds,
the cabinet is bolstered by multiple
layers of laminated MDF, ranging in
thickness from 30mm to 100mm;
the side panels are curvilinear to
reduce internal standing waves.
With its massive internal bracing, the
enclosure’s resemblance to a ship’s
hull is striking.
As with the TAD M-1, a concentric
driver unifies the tweeter and
midrange transducers. Although
it’s a dead ringer for the M-
Bridging the divide
Pioneer S-2EX Loudspeaker
Neil Gader
Electronically reprinted from February 2007
To subscribe to the absolute sound, call 888-475-5991 (US), 760-745-2809 (outside US) or visit www.theabsolutesound.com. $42 for six issues in the US; $45 Canada, $75 outside
North America. Posted with permission from Absolute Multimedia, Inc. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication of this article is strictly prohibited.
For more information on reprints from the absolute sound, contact Wright’s Reprints at 877-652-5295.