Pioneer S-1EX Loudspeaker

I went ahead and bought the S-2EX, which are exceptionally well-built speakers. I am not currently satisfied with their sound though and I fear it is the beryllium dome tweeter that is the culprit. I have about 75-hours on them and I sure hope that, with another 200-hours or so, they will "mellow out."

They are indeed very revealing speakers and they certainly present a lot of information - very resolving. They do measure pretty flat across the spectrum, but the upper treble is just too dry for me at present. Right now, I miss my old Krell Resolution IIs, but they were a bit too rolled off in the upper treble (I've gone from one extreme to the next!).

I haven't made my final analysis yet and I hope that with additional hours on them, these speakers turn out to be keepers. They're quick, detailed and highly resolving, yet at this point they are just too thin and dry - lacking the needed air around the upper treble... I hope this isn't indicative of beryllium tweeters in general...

I have my S3-EX 16 inches from the back wall and 30 inches from the sides. They have warmed up a bit since I got them, I still don't think I have them in the right place for the best sound.

Zeal:

Have you tried experimenting with the amount of toe-in (both away from and toward the listening position) as well as the amount of rake (the way the speaker leans forward or backward - which affects the direction the tweeter fires; either directly at or above the level of your ears)...?

What exactly do you not like about the current sound; too thin, too boomy, not resolving enough, sound-staging issues...?

I have them toed in but not all the way and I put some rubber and cork footers under the back legs of the speaker. I wish that 5th foot was a little longer as I put the cork flats that came with the speakers under that too. It sounds very good but I think it could sound better.

Have you tried toeing in the speakers so the drivers axis cross well in front of you? That is Andrew Jones' suggestion of how the TAD's should be set up. When the focus is right the concentric drivers should present a holographic image that comes a bit forward as opposed to imaging behind the speakers, is highly focused with great inner detail, but shouldn't be "dry".

I never heard the Pioneer's but some people hear the TAD as sounding a bit "bright," and I totally understand that description.

However when I had the TAD's and used to listen to them directly after hearing un-amplified live music from up close (as opposed to from the audience) I found the speakers presented a balance very close to the real thing, which in some instances can sound forward and detailed. But I never heard any of the magnesium mid range models, just the beryllium, so I can't speak as to their tonality.