Sony announced the $23,000 ES series 5.1 home theater speaker system which includes the SS-NA2ES floorstander, SS-NA5ES bookshelf, SS-NA8ES center channel and SA-NA9ES subwoofer. The new ES natural acoustic speaker systems further the line established the last two years with the introduction of the SS-AR1 and SS-AR2 Loudspeakers.
Like the AR-series, the natural acoustic ES-series features a solid enclosure utilizing the same Scandinavian birch, even for its internal bracings, a wood highly regarded for its acoustic resonance and performance consistent with the AR-series. The crafting and assembly of the materials is done entirely by hand by Japan’s finest woodworking artisans to ensure precision.
The SS-NA2ES and SS-NA5ES two-way speaker systems adopt the AR-series design which partitions the woofer in a sub-enclosure to isolate the mid-range and minimize the effects of woofer back-radiation, reproducing the most fundamental frequencies clear, crisp and undistorted.
Sony’s unique I-Array tweeter system addresses the challenge of combining multiple sound sources, while avoiding peaks and dips that change sound coloration and create unnatural tones. The I-Array design and layout allows the tweeters (one tweeter coupled with two super tweeters) to function like a single tweeter with very wide dispersion. Expanding the dispersion of the sound creates a natural balance across frequencies, providing a sense of vividness and real naturalness the human ear can appreciate.
Pricing and Specifications
- $10,000/pr → Sony SS-NA2ES 3-way, 6-driver, bass reflex floorstanding speaker with a 25 mm soft-dome tweeter, two 19 mm soft-dome tweeters, a 130 mm paper cone midrange, and two double-drive 165 mm aluminum-cone woofers.
- $6,000/pr → Sony SS-NA5ES 2-way, 4-driver, bass reflex bookshelf speaker system with a 25 mm soft-dome tweeter, two 19 mm soft-dome tweeters, and a 130 mm aluminum-cone woofer.
- $3,000 → Sony SS-NA8ES 2-way, 5-driver, bass reflex center channel speaker system with a 25 mm soft-dome tweeter, two 19 mm soft-dome tweeters and two 130 aluminum-cone woofers.
- $4,000 → Sony SA-NA9ES active subwoofer system with two 250 mm aluminum-cone woofers.
All of the new ES speaker systems are handcrafted in Japan.
