Sony SS-GR1
(1991 - c.1995)

The original (and only) R1 loudspeaker: massive yet extremely refined.
Refined because hidden at the back of the top horn load is a Bio-Cellulose super-tweeter ; the tweeter and mid drivers are based on silicon carbide (SiC) as used in the x-rare SS-G777ES while the woofer and mid drivers are based on a carefully matched mix of polyamide fibers and pulp, as first used in the abovementioned G777ES. SiC was btw really first used by Sony on the SH-500 x-rare headshell in 1981.

Bio-Cellulose is an extremly thin material with superior stiffness and a resonance peak placed extremmely high above its frequency range of use. It is technically better than Beryllium or anything else. Bio-Cellulose is threaded by bacteriae and was originally used in the SS-A series (1989), the ultimate SS-G55 series as well as in the MDR-R10 reference headphones.
In fact the GR1 can be seen as the cost-no-object result of the efforts spent on the late 1980s Voce and "G" series. Unfortunately, at 2,200,000¥, a pair of SS-GR1 was a luxury only the outrageously rich could afford.

It took the engineers almost four years to finish the SS-GR1. And then it got a Coty Award, the highest in Japan.

Although I have a preference for sealed designs (acoustic suspension à la AR-3a or NS-1000), the SS-GR1 is my dream loudspeaker. But I do own a pair of SS-A5S so I'm halfway there :)