Sony Sony Sony loudspeakers!

[purite audio]

A very nice man fromSony said I could borrow a pair of these ,
http://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-ss-ar1-loudspeaker


Arrive Monday,
Keith.

[Marco]

Very nice indeed, Keith. Just the sort of leftfield high-end choice I approve of! ;)

I'd be very interested to find out what you think of them, so a little mini-review would be appreciated :)

Marco.

[purite audio]

Marco Hi, that they are made by Sony is definitely part of the appeal, after all they are a huge company they should sound good!
I heard them at Munich for the last couple of years and they were great but the rooms are huge there,just wondering how they fit into a domestic setting.
Keith.

[DSJR]

Technics once made some very 'advanced' and expensive speakers, made with the finest materials they could use. They sounded awful and the company agreed, completely at a loss as to why UK made speakers made with 'inferior' materials sounded so much better to them ;)

[YNWaN]

Simon told me the Sony's sounded excellent at Munich and were probably his 'pick of the show'. What is also interesting, for me, is that Sony have chosen to outsource the drive units and not design them themselves - which is most unusual for a Japanese manufacturer.

[Marco]

Indeed, Mark. I'm not surprised that they sounded excellent. For me, they just 'feel' right. My gut feeling, in that respect, doesn't often let me down! ;)

Marco.

[chelsea]

Hope they sound good.
Around £20,000 seems extremely steep.
Thought they would be around a Grand from the pics.

[Macca]

A grand? come on you don't get much speaker for a grand these days - according to the link they are 16K in USD so about 11 grand sterling - yes still a bit pricey but they do look tasty - I like big 3 ways and I like Sony :)

[chelsea]

Thought it said 27,000 usd.

[Macca]

Thought it said 27,000 usd.

Sorry Stu - yes you are right the $16k is an older 'statement product'. So about £18K, that is pretty damn expensive.

[purite audio]

The internal carcass of the speaker and the finish are exquisite, the drivers are amongst the most expensive ( conventional ) drivers available.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/sony-ss-ar1

Keith.

[purite audio]

The very nice man from Sony was as good as his word and this morning,a very beautiful pair of Sony SS-AR1 loudspeakers arrived.http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb255/coopie_photo/P6113661_zpse8932191.jpg (http://s206.photobucket.com/user/coopie_photo/media/P6113661_zpse8932191.jpg.html)


Keith

[Marco]

Cool... You're missing out the most important bit, though: how do they sound? And please, no superficial one-liners, Keith. Put some 'meat on the bone'! ;)

Marco.

[purite audio]

They will be perfect with your 80's Midi system!
What I have tried to do is have a range of speakers here so that a potential customer can reallly hear all ( some at least) of the possible options.
From cutting edge active monitors to high efficientcy large drivers, to conventional ( Sony) to huge horns that no one in their right mind would countenance.
Really interesting to compare them all, they are not so different.
KR Keith.

[Marco]

They will be perfect with your 80's Midi system!


Hahahaha - aye, right enough! :lol:

Good approach, btw. How would you say the Sonys compare with other high-end modern floorstanders? Does their price tag reflect their musical abilities as well as their (undoubtedly gorgeous) finish?

What attracted me to them is that, apparently, they've been voiced differently (more naturally) than your normal 'pumped/hyped-up', hi-fi sounding modern speakers, which are designed to sound 'impressive' in a 5 min demo in a dealers dem room. The Sonys, apparently, are subtler than that and ply you with their charms and reward over longer listening periods.

If true, that appeals to me, as does their 'mundane badge', which ensures that owning them, regardless of their price, removes any notions of pretentiousness ;)

Marco.

[YNWaN]

I'm not sure many £20,000.00+ speakers are intentionally voiced in the way you describe though Marco (which is what the Sony's are after all), do you think?

[Marco]

Hi Mark,

Which voicing are you referring to: the falsely 'impressive' one, or the more natural one? If it's the former, then, regardless, that's what I so often hear with today's commercially produced loudspeakers, almost regardless of price. If it's the latter, then intentionally or not, it sounds like Sony may have succeeded in getting the voicing right (for a change) for the more discerning listener! ;)

Marco.

[purite audio]

No they are an extremely natural sounding loudspeaker, just really beautifully balanced, treble is there but
it is not exaggerated, tonally they are rich to at all thin, there is plenty of bass, I think you would have to site them a little way from corners, there is a review in Stereophile that really says it all far more eloquently than me.
I will post a link,
Keith.

[Marco]

Hi Keith,

Nice one - sounds like they've avoided the usual 'hyped-up' tonal balance of many modern loudspeakers. Link would be good :)

Marco.

[YNWaN]

The Stereophile review:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/sony-ss-ar1-loudspeaker

[purite audio]

Thanks Mark, if I recollect they measure pretty welll, and certainly don't have the 'smiley'Frequency response of some contemporary loudspeakers.
Are you well ,hopefully see you soon.
Kind regards,
Keith.

[purite audio]

Elegant or what?
Sorry about the photo but when you live in Eeyores gloomy patch.http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb255/coopie_photo/P6113666_zpse25cb935.jpg (http://s206.photobucket.com/user/coopie_photo/media/P6113666_zpse25cb935.jpg.html)

[chelsea]

Sorry keith,but they look like a bog standard modern speaker to me.

[realysm42]

I don't buy HiFi for looks.

[YNWaN]

Thanks Mark, if I recollect they measure pretty well, and certainly don't have the 'smiley'Frequency response of some contemporary loudspeakers.

Yes, they do seem to measure pretty well - essentially flat through the mid and treble but with a bit of an uplift in the mid/bass. They aren't really a valve friendly design though - whilst being a reasonably high sensitivity design the impedance does vary significantly and spends some time at 2 ohms.


Are you well ,hopefully see you soon.

Fair to middling thanks :).

EDIT: Not much is said with regard to crossover specifics, but the fact that the tweeter phase is inverted compared to that of the mid and bass suggests a second order crossover.

[purite audio]

I shall ponder JA's review this evening, I guess they are a modern speaker design, just physically very well made and they sound extremely well balanced.
Keith.