20 years ago JVC prototyped a wooden woofer. However, they ran into a problem… the wood would crack. They tried soaking them in water, but nothing seemed to work. Years into the project, a JVC engineer went to a Japanese Pub and was served a soft squid. He discovered that the reason why the squid was so soft was because it had been soaked in Japanese rice wine (sake) overnight. To keep this post short, they tried using sake to moisturize the wood while they stamp the woofer. Success! And that’s how they make the speakers on the new EX-A1. I’m thinking about buying one just so I can explain the story to people that come over… the EX-A1 will cost you about $550.