Pioneer has released a range of wireless speakers that will manage music dynamically throughout the home.
Speaker systems of yesteryear were big, clunky contraptions condemned to the one corner of a home that could conceal their tangled wiring. No matter how many speakers they had, the sound was always front facing and never actually enveloped us.
Modern systems are following Sonos’ example by ditching restricting wires to deliver a multi-dimensional sound experience available to each room of the house. The latest company to release such a solution is Pioneer.
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| The XW-SMA family |
Their XW series of wireless speakers can be controlled wirelessly from a smartphone, tablet or computer (Mac and PC) in unison or independently. They can connect wirelessly to your home network or directly by using WiFi Direct, and this allows you to control music playback from anywhere in the home.
Pioneer affirms these speakers are agnostic as they “cater for every smartphone on the market today,” and they manage to do so by harbouring a variety of connectivity options. These include the 3.5mm auxiliary input, USB port and wireless connectivity for Android and Apple devices through DLNA and AirPlay respectively.
A remote application is available for iPhones, iPods and iPads, and allows you to independently adjust the volume or power of each XW speaker in the home. Alternatively they can be controlled through discreet touch sensitive controls or through an included IR remote.
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Members of the XW range include the splash-proof XW-SMA3, the larger and more powerful XW-SMA4 and the compact XW-SMA1. Beneath their solid enclosure are two 3-inch mid-range drivers, a 1-inch tweeter and a central bass reflex port. The larger XW-SMA4 adds an extra tweeter and a 4 inch subwoofer for deeper sound.
Curious as to why Pioneer omitted Bluetooth music streaming, we reached out to Pioneer’s spokesperson, Michael Broadhurst. He replied via email saying:
“Pioneer chose not to include Bluetooth audio streaming. The audio quality on these speakers are wonderful and Bluetooth wouldn’t do it justice.
“Apart from audio quality, Bluetooth can’t achieve multi-room entertainment.
“As you know, WiFi Direct allows you to wirelessly stream music to an A1, A3 or A4 speaker anywhere, such as the park, on a boat, etc.”
Pioneer’s new wireless speakers will be available from mid-September with the following recommended retail prices: XW-SMA4 ($499), XW-SMA3 ($499) and XW-SMA1 ($399) will be available from mid-September 2012.
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