Sonys new Core Series speakers

felipe

Ever since I've put together my HT setup my Pops has found another reason to come visit. Being a techy himself, he enjoys watching TV and movies with the added theater sound lol. Since his bday is approaching, I've decided to get him his own HT setup. That way he can enjoy it at his home as well. I went to BB to see what's on the shelves to audition..so to speak. He likedcthe sound of my pios, so I was looking at those at first. Then, I see that Sony has come up with some new speakers...known as the core series. The BB salesperson brought me up to speed on these new sonys...very interesting. I gave them a listen..VERY surprised. Very detailed,clear,dynamic sound :-). I didn't think Sony had it in them to produce speakers that sounded like this. IMO, these will give the AJ pios run for_their money. I'm thinking I might just hand down my pios to him and just purchase the AVR for his setup....and pick these sonys up. I can always return them. I'm thinking if they sound this good at BB, they'll probably sound even better at home. Im going to research these sonys more..these certainly got my attention.

erniejade

Check out the Sony SS-AR1 ( $27,000!!!!!!!!!) or the Sony ES ( 10K for the floor standing ones) speakers. They will surprise the heck out of you.

Pioneer with the help of Andrew Jones speakers for the $ are amazing!

cnh

I've heard these new lower priced Sonys.

Several things to watch out for in comparison to the Pioneers.

1. They are more "efficient" so they will sound louder at the same volume.
2. They have a combo tweeter/super tweeter and slightly larger bass driver which highlight mid-range sound, make it more "forward" than the Pioneers so they give the "illusion" of cleaner sound at lower volumes.
3. Even though they have slightly bigger cabs and drivers, the Pios still seem to put out MORE bass to me?
4. When one adjusts volume for the difference in efficiency one will see that the crossovers in the Pios are still superior and present a better more defined sense of space, and stereo imaging.
5. The Pios, on sale, are less than half the price of the Sonys and are still the better speaker IMO. Although the Sonys are not bad: They cannot beat the price point to value that the A. Jones speakers represent.

cnh

erniejade

100000000% with you. The Pioneer is one of the best values on the market right now. The little sp21 & 22 when teamed up with a sub sound way better then they should at that price.

F1nut

cnh wrote: »

I've heard these new lower priced Sonys.

Several things to watch out for in comparison to the Pioneers.

1. They are more "efficient" so they will sound louder at the same volume.
2. They have a combo tweeter/super tweeter and slightly larger bass driver which highlight mid-range sound, make it more "forward" than the Pioneers so they give the "illusion" of cleaner sound at lower volumes.
3. Even though they have slightly bigger cabs and drivers, the Pios still seem to put out MORE bass to me?
4. When one adjusts volume for the difference in efficiency one will see that the crossovers in the Pios are still superior and present a better more defined sense of space, and stereo imaging.
5. The Pios, on sale, are less than half the price of the Sonys and are still the better speaker IMO. Although the Sonys are not bad: They cannot beat the price point to value that the A. Jones speakers represent.

cnh

I recently read comments on another forum comparing the two speakers, which pretty much mirrored yours.

felipe

I purchased the Sony bookies and center channel to give a listen at home. Here are my observations...
1. The enclosures seem well built..no hollow knock. The tweeter/super tweeter have good motor structures. The bass driver to me seems to be the weak link..rubber surrounds seem very thin and a cloth dust cap? The cone material looks and feels kinda cheap as well. I do like the heavy duty binding posts.
2. Interesting how the center channel has no super tweeter..guess its not needed for dialog. How_do they sound? Similar to the way they did at the BB, but with acceptions. To me, these speakers try to make non high res sources sound high res by over accentuating the upper ranges instead of keeping it natural..something I did not notice at BB. Also, at louder volumes the overall sound starts to lose its composer. At low to moderate volumes, to me, is where these sound their best.

In comparison to the AJ pios, y'all were correct..the pios overall are the better speaker. At lower volumes, I'd have to give it to the sonys. But, once you turn up the volume, the pios turn that power into awesome sound whereas the sonys run out of steam.

The sonys aren't bad speakers at all, but for the price there are better choices. These will be going back.

WLDock

erniejade wrote: »

Check out the Sony SS-AR1 ( $27,000!!!!!!!!!) or the Sony ES ( 10K for the floor standing ones) speakers. They will surprise the heck out of you.

I heard the AR1's and Oh boy could I live with the wonderful music those play. I was suprised by how nice they were...but why are we suprised??? Sony has a wealth of resources and they are $20K+ speakers....there is no reason for them NOT to sound great.

felipe

Your right about that...Sony does have resources and wealth. I say this b/c for the heck of it I further researched the core series speakers. They seem to be kinda the rage overseas. A lot of the online content is in either chinese or Japanese.. But judging from the photos Sony seem to put more attention to the design. Specific cabinet bracing and borrowed ar-es series tech..meaning the tweeter design just of name a couple...interesting.

felipe

I went to BB today to pick up some itunes cards for my mom ( using a BB gift card ). While I was there I browsed a bit, and ran into a friend of mine that works there. Cut the story short, my friend got me to do a home audition of the Sony floorstanders with the center speaker. I didnt want to at first considering my recent experience with the bookies and center, but then i figured what the heck..I got nothing to lose.

I set them up and reran auto cal. right now I'm watching Star Wars Epi 1 to test..right now I cant believe what Im hearing! WOW! I thought I was going to have a rerun of the sony bookies..boy am I wrong. to be honest, these are giving my pios some serious competition. I havent tried music yet, but for movies these easily compete with the AJ pios.

If your on a tight budget, dont rule these Sonys out...at least the floorstanders with the center. Im thinking now that I just got a bad pair of bookies at the time. To me, it looks like Sony just joined the " inexpensive but great performing" loudspeaker department. Look out Pioneer..

P.S. As far as price/performace ratio..AJ pio is still #1...but Sonys Core series is just an inch behind..IMO.

felipe

Update...I'm going to keep the sonys. For movies, these edge out my AJ pios...more dynamic and more detail. I've moved my AJ pio floorstanders to my 2ch setup as Ifeel that for music the AJ pios are better suited. surprisingly this little 25 watt/channel unit can bring some good volume out of the floorstanders :-). If you ever have the chance that Ihave, give the sonys a good listen. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

cnh

I've only heard the Sony towers once and can't really comment one way or the other, than to say, efficiency is probably still operative for the Sonys over the Pioneers. You have to PUSH those Pio. towers with some power to hear them well enough. They don't sound as good at "lower" volumes.

On paper they look pretty similar with the Sonys adding 5 lbs or so in cab weight which may or may not be a factor. The Pios have an extra 5+" driver, whereas the Sonys retain that tweeter super-tweeter configuration.

The other BIG problem is "value". A pair of Sonys are $480 and a pair of A.J.s are $260 MSRP. And that's HUGE. Over $200 there? I'd also probably give the Pioneer center channel the "nod" over the Sony center.

Other than that. I would need to hear the Sony towers more. Glad you're happy with them!

cnh