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Pioneer debuts new hi-end speaker line at CES (1 Viewer)

Peter Marcks

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Yes Lance, these look very impressive. They were being demo'd at CES, just a few doors down from us! These speakers are sharing loudspeaker technology with the highly acclaimed TAD loudspeakers.
 

LanceJ

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Peter: it's nice to see Pioneer making some really nice home speakers again. I was just getting into audio when they were selling their HPM series.

And $45K Pioneers?! I didn't know they made such a thing (I don't keep track of pro speakers much).
 

Kenneth Harden

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I can see them selling well in Japan, but as for the rest of the world, most people won't want to spend $9,000 on some 'Pioneer' speakers.
 

John Garcia

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I think the market for $9K speakers is relatively small, but then you don't have to sell a ton of them at that price... The previous Elite speakers weren't terrible.
 

LanceJ

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Peter: thanks for the link.

It seems like more of us would have known about these speakers, but I guess since ::looking for the right words here:: they aren't manufactured by a company with an "acceptable" hi-end background, most of the audiophile publications ignore them.

BTW: on a totally unrelated note, I'm glad you let CompUSA sell your little Ventriloquist system....for awhile anyway. For such a low price I thought it sounded very good (the lack of crossovers in the satellites I'm sure saved a big chunk of $$). But if it's not a secret, do you know why CompUSA stopped selling audio gear after only a year or so?
 

Kenneth Harden

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LanceJ - CompUSA owned and closed down Good Guys, and now they are putting Good Guys inside CompUSA stores - so far, it looks to be like a really weak pathetic attempt (like the one near me)
 

LanceJ

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Kenneth: here in Houston they had a smallish but nice demo section with a slick electronic switching system for their Onkyo, H/K, Sony receivers and Infinity, JBL, HSU and Wharfedale speakers. Dvd players too, including a Pioneer universal. And a bunch of HTiBs & a couple of those Pentium-based media center things that looked like receivers.

Is that what those Good Guy/Comp stores look like?

FYI: EVERY time I went to check out something in that department, I was the only one there. Just like with Best Buy, Circuit and Tweeter all the action is in the video section. They did have a nice H/K & JBL 5.1 demo system but as usual (just like BB and CC), 95% of the time it wasn't on. Rant warning! And at all of these stores, 99.9% of the employees haven't the slightest clue about how to operate a 5.1 system, not even what the "large" or "small" speaker setting even kind of means or what a distance setting does, THAT kind of fundamental knowledge.:frowning: I still remember how amazed one guy was last year at Best Buy when I showed him (after he hooked up a spare RCA video cable) that their $500 Yamaha demo system receiver had an onscreen display. Yep, these receivers are much easier to set up with this little feature hooked up; and maybe the customers would be less intimidated by this piece of gear and might actually buy one...........
 

Alan Pummill

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Funny thing is, my HT consist of all Pioneer Elite equipment. You can look at my Home Theater page here at the HTF and see that my RPTV, receiver, DVD, and CDP are all Pioneer Elite. Why? Well, all of this gear is top notch stuff!! But I didn't even look, or want to look, at Pioneer speakers.

Another reason I lean toward Pioneer Elite gear is that I can get great prices on it due to the fact that my wife has worked for Pioneer for over 17 years and gets employee discounts. But Pioneer speakers?? If I hadn't just gotten those B&W's about a year ago, I may have wanted to audition them. Come to think of it, the dealer where I have bought the majority of my gear for my 2 channel system carries Pioneer plasmas and electronics, but not their speakers, so I don't even know where I would be able to listen to any of the Pioneer or Pioneer Elite speakers. But I will make it a point to try!!
 

Chris Quinn

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The contract was with Good Guys. CompUSA bought Good Guys and the contract with it. CompUSA was not capable of properly setting up and demonstrating the Ventriloquist. So, when the contract expired Hsu did not re-up.

I think CompUSA also found some loop hole in the agreement with Hsu to undercut Hsu's direct price.
 

LanceJ

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Oct 26, 2002
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That's why I only listened to it in stereo.

Though the Comp near me did have true surround demo capability-that switching system was quite sophisticated.
 

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