It’s clear that Sony had a lot of audio products to show off at its booth at IFA 2019. Of all the devices announced on stage, the one product that seemed to stand out was its new Signature Series SA-Z1 near-field speakers.
The near SA-Z1 is designed for compact studio monitoring and, as Sony describes it, advances sound to an entirely new realm of audio engaging. The speakers are built using a resonance-free body structure, with the enclosure made out of six pieces of aluminium plate. On top of that, the plates are joined in a special way inspired by Japanese traditional construction methods.
On paper, the SA-Z1 seems relatively easy to set up; its input options include RCA, Stereo mini, and balance XLR. for analog-in connectivity. While digital inputs include USB-B, optical, and micro USB connectivity for Sony’s Walkman. As for supported sound formats, the speakers support up to PCM 32-bit/768kHz and DSD 22.4MHz.
More importantly, users will also be able to customise the SA-Z1 with four sound tuning settings that can be changed based on the ratio of the digital and analogue amplifier, controlling of the assist woofer motion, the cut-off frequency of the assist woofer, and also adjusting the assist tweeter time alignment.
The SA-Z1 speaker is expected to be available from February 2020 onwards, with its official pricing expected to be confirmed in the near future.
