The S-4EX bookshelf speaker uses drivers designed by the company's ProAudio division TAD (Technical Audio Devices) and are built in Japan.
While the speakers are actually built in China, most of the design work is done in France, assisted by US-based Welsh engineer Andrew Jones, while Britain chips in with evaluation at Air Studios!
Put an S-4EX in a different room from an S-2EX and you'd be hard pressed to say which was which.
Only direct side-by-side comparison makes it obvious that this is the petit pois and the other the cannonball, so similar do they appear at first sight. Although the shape and proportions of these two hefty standmounts are indeed very similar, there are also some substantial differences, as a consequence of which this smaller model costs £3,000 per pair, while its bigger brother carries a rather more eyewatering £5,200 price tag.
The reasons are several. Pioneer's EX-series of top-quality speakers comprise six basic models (or twelve, if you count the beech and teak-veneered variations as different). Those six actually consist of two ranges of three, each consisting of a floorstander, a standmount, and a horizontal centre-front, AV-oriented model.
The S-1/2/7EX threesome came first, and are all somewhat larger and heavier than the S-3/4/8EX models and also use costly beryllium tweeter diaphragms. however, the newer, slightly 'lower tech' and significantly less expensive S-3/4/8EX series has to make do with tweeter diaphragms made from something called 'ceramic graphite'.
The core question that this review should therefore be addressing, is to try and establish to what extent the economies introduced for the newer, less costly S-4EX compromise its performance vis-a-vis the senior S-2EX.
While some of the price difference between the two models is down to a slightly larger enclosure, bass driver and (presumably) heftier construction, the most important difference concerns the tweeter. Exactly what 'ceramic graphite' consists of remains something of a mystery, though Pioneer describes it as: 'one of the lightest and most rigid materials available for diaphragms', and supplied some data comparing it to other tweeter diaphragm materials.
Naturally enough these showed it in a favourable light, probably only bettered by diamond and beryllium, both of which are presumably much more costly to acquire and fabricate. Furthermore, beryllium has environmental issues that some may find objectionable: it's highly poisonous, so although this is unlikely to affect the end-user, one might question whether the mining and processing involved should be condoned.
The S-4EX might be 8Kg lighter than its senior sibling, but it still weighs a considerable 20Kg, which is more than most floorstanders manage, as well as a testament to the sheer quantity of solid engineering that has gone into the enclosure.
The curved sides and back are made by laminating together thin layers of MDF and the total thickness apparently varies between 40mm and 100mm to ensure both high inertia and inert behaviour.
CERAMIC GRAPHITE: We're not sure what it is either but it sounds good
The front panel is sculpted into a concave curve, to better time-align the diaphragms. Although the top and base are flat and parallel, the design takes account of, and cancels the effects of, internal vertical standing waves. The surface is covered in good-quality, satin-finish, real-wood veneer – very dark, almost black, on beech is also available.
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