When looking at all of the Simplex datasheet list, I found one that had the name “59AO Series” and got me wondering what it was, it was a new product because the date of the data sheet added was 7/31/15. Here’s the link to the Data sheet: https://simplex-fire.com/en/us/DocumentsandMedia/S59AO-0001.PDF
It sort of has the shape of a SpectrAlert Advance. But in the data sheet, it says nothing about being a mini-horn or small sleeping area appliance, but would this still be a mini-horn?
Also, the VO and AV versions are available, but they are International only but can still have only English wording.
This is the first time Simplex used a LED strobe and not a Xeon strobe, and to me it looks like a competitor to the Wheelock Exceeder LED and EST Genesis LED alarms due to having a close dimension to them.
Thoughts about it?
Comparing the dimensions of both these horns and System Sensor | Honeywell Building Technologies System Sensor’s mini-horns, I’d say they’re pretty close.
There are more things that make competition other than size of the device, however.
size doesn’t matter. power consumption is everything. LED’s use less power, allows more devices on a circuit, less wire pulled, fewer power supplies used. cheaper install.
$ is king.
I didn’t see any mention of LED strobes in the datasheet. Those are audible-only appliances. Are you referring to a different datasheet?
Here’s the LED-strobe one…
https://simplex-fire.com/en/us/DocumentsandMedia/S59AV-0001.PDF
Currently, these products are only available in addressable versions, and thus are very expensive. In my area on any post-2001 addressable Simplex system I see, they never use addressable TrueAlert signals; I only see the conventional ones (these days they’re pretty keen on using either the multi-candela TrueAlert 4906-9127 horn/strobe and the 4906-9151 and 4906-9154 speaker/strobes.)
I think these are my favorite of the LED notification appliances out there. But what’s with the Arabic?
Is there something wrong with Arabic? Something tells me that these devices can be used in bilingual Arabic-English countries, like Egypt.
In my opinion, the off-center horn placement looks asymmetrical and therefore ugly.
Maybe there’s a chance that this is a mini horn, but I think it’s more likely that this is the next generation of TrueAlert devices. At this point, it’s been somewhere around 15 years since the original TrueAlert series was introduced, so Simplex’s N/A’s definitely could be considered due for a design upgrade. It’s also possible that they’re using it in other countries because it hasn’t gained all of the regulatory approval in the United States yet? No idea, really, but these could definitely be a contender for then next generation of Simplex alarms.
I also thought it was interesting to see how they seemed to have possibly dropped their “xxxx-xxxx” model number format.
Yeah, I’m thinking Simplex will soon have both an LED and standard line of TrueAlert ES in the US. Xenon strobes probably won’t go away anytime soon, but I think more and more companies will begin to offer both options.
I must say, that is a very interesting looking unit! 
Considering that Wheelock created their LED Horn/Strobes to have a low-profile, single gang mount design, it doesn’t seem likely that this would be intended for private use (such as a sleeping area, as you described). It’s interesting to see that Simplex has finally developed their LED Horn/Strobe product, I will say that! I like the fact that LEDs are becoming more and more popular for new devices.
My school is going to be annexed, and I have a feeling that they will upgrade to a 4100ES and use these.
It depends on what sort of system they have already. If they have an existing 4100x system, chances are they’ll keep the old panel but maybe add another SLC and signal circuit card, then just use regular TrueAlerts. The reason I say that is because these devices are very new, and to this day I haven’t seen an LED Exceder in an actual installation, but I have seen xenon ones. LED devices probably aren’t common because they’re fairly expensive for a signal.
I found the https://simplex-fire.com/en/us/DocumentsandMedia/S59VO-0001.pdf strobe only model.
Looks like that the US version of the horn only model got taken down and was replaced with the international one.