I always assume that any large company like Pioneer is at least covering their (and the distributor's) costs!
I can't imagine they are willing to lose even $1 per unit sold.
At this point it is safe that Pioneer has paid off the R&D cost of developing these speakers (including A. Jones salary). So pricing can be based more on production/distribution costs alone.
So deals like this always beg the question of "just how low can they go?"
I will always view these Pioneer/A. Jones speakers as challenging the debate of how well DIY can compete with the mass production advantages of large scale production afforded a large company like Pioneer.
I think Dennis Murphy's use of this speaker as his base for the original AA's tells the tale. He felt the cabinet and the woofer were a deal (at the volume discount PE gave him) even if he replaced the tweeter and crossover (I don't remember how much of the original crossover he could re-use).
I always wonder if the inability of Dennis to continue getting the Pioneers at a discounted price was specifically targeted at Dennis or not. From a marketing stand-point I'm not sure I would want our "special AA. Jones designed speaker" to have the reputation as a great foundation for a redesigned and better speaker by some "young upstart" out of his basement!
Of course a speaker like the A. Jones Pioneers are about as good as it gets for high volume sales and this was the only product where Dennis took full advantage of another company's ability to get parts at super high quantities!
