Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers are really nice.

DMurphy · « **Reply #840 on:** 9 Sep 2014, 04:48 pm »

I'm glad they turned out well and without a disaster. It's a lot of work the first few times. Although the sound treatment will help the bass a little, there's really nothing in the crossover that would fix boomy bass. All of the changes go to cleaning up the upper midrange and lower treble.

MCM_Fan · « **Reply #841 on:** 9 Sep 2014, 05:21 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 9 Sep 2014, 04:48 pm

All of the changes go to cleaning up the upper midrange and lower treble.

That's where I immediately noticed the improvement - much smoother upper mids and highs.

When I was doing my A/B comparison of the modded and unmodded speakers I tried stacking them (unmodified speakers up-side-down on top of modified speakers) and that didn't sound good at all. There was just too much of a mismatch in the upper midrange and high frequencies. I may try the stacking experiment again after I finish modding the second pair.

DMurphy · « **Reply #842 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 04:32 pm »

I had an interesting experience this morning. Someone who owned a pair of the stock 22's and my modded version sent me his stocks for a mod job. They are very early versions from 2012. I could tell from just listening to the chirp signal from my measuring software that these were better than any I've encountered from later runs. And the measurements were by a considerable margin the best I've seen. When I opened them up and checked the wiring and crossover, everything was much neater and cleaner than the ones I've ordered. I think this is the speaker Andrew had in mind, and production must have been sourced to a different factory (factories) subsequently.

macnoob · « **Reply #843 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 06:45 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 1 Oct 2014, 04:32 pm

They are very early versions from 2012. I could tell from just listening to the chirp signal from my measuring software that these were better than any I've encountered from later runs. And the measurements were by a considerable margin the best I've seen. When I opened them up and checked the wiring and crossover, everything was much neater and cleaner than the ones I've ordered. I think this is the speaker Andrew had in mind, and production must have been sourced to a different factory (factories) subsequently.

Would be interesting to see a photo comparison....

DMurphy · « **Reply #844 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 07:44 pm »

Quote from: macnoob on 1 Oct 2014, 06:45 pm

Would be interesting to see a photo comparison....

Of the workmanship, or of the frequency response?

macnoob · « **Reply #845 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 07:51 pm »

Sorry, I meant a photo of the differences in the crossovers early vs. recent.

dlparker · « **Reply #846 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 08:16 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 1 Oct 2014, 07:44 pm

Of the workmanship, or of the frequency response?

Both!

DMurphy · « **Reply #847 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 08:52 pm »

Well, it's too late to show you the stock fit and finish--I've revised the crossovers and redone the innards. But I'll see if I can post the FR and a representative one of later samples.

dlparker · « **Reply #848 on:** 1 Oct 2014, 11:37 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 1 Oct 2014, 08:52 pm

Well, it's too late to show you the stock fit and finish--I've revised the crossovers and redone the innards. But I'll see if I can post the FR and a representative one of later samples.

xovers and innards are all that really matter to me. I've been using a pair that I modded myself with the recommended tweeters and the .04(p?m?)f cap. They've become my main speakers. I really want to get a pair with your mods, but it's going to have to wait a while. I figure the absolute worst case scenario would be I'd like yours so much I'd just have to get your center channel modded one, use the old ones for the surrounds, and go to a 5.1 setup. Come to think of it, that's probably the best case scenario, too.

DMurphy · « **Reply #849 on:** 2 Oct 2014, 12:55 am »

Here are some plots I took of the earliest sample, which I just received, a fairly typical plot for the later ones, and a plot of a way-out-of-spec tweeter that occurred
maybe 5 - 10% of the time on one run of monitors. The frequency scale of the first plot ends at 20 kHz, rather than 30 kHz for the last two, but that doesn't really change anything.

afterlife2 · « **Reply #850 on:** 8 Oct 2014, 05:07 pm »

Here are some of my favorite go to high quality CD's I used to test my 52's Murphy - Under The Dome - Crossover.

My main problem with these speakers was the sibilance it caused on some material. It really made me irritated to hear it, so I contacted Mr. Murphy after seeing Z's glowing review http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/87887-murphyblaster-pioneer-bs22-dna-speaker.html to see if he could do something about it. Yeah I know some recordings are just recorded this way. He said no promises but I will take a look. He kept in contact via email with me as everything progressed and also sent me stats sheets before and after. I got them back in less than 2 weeks. Right away I noticed more Clarity and Sibilance not as aggravating as before. It was really toned down. The new Dome Tweeter and Crossover did the trick. Mr. Murphy also sent me a demo of various songs, which I really liked. I'm hoping he can share the artists. Sorry I'm not very technical, so I can go as deep as Z(AH forum) and the others here. All I know is that I'm happy and I highly recommend you get these or the 22's at his site: Philharmonic Audio or email: info@philharmonicaudio.com
Thank you Mr. Murphy it was a pleasure corresponding with you. I'm hoping to get a pair of Murphy's bookshelf one day...hopefully if my luck turns around.

Also Dennis do you mind giving me the name of the artists on the Demo CD? Thanks!
My Demo Go To's:
Nilson Matta - Playing With My Bass
Ndea Davenport Solo CD
Al Green - Lay It Down
Isley Meets Bacharah
Luis Miguel - Romance
Charlie Hagan - Nocturne
Jose Roberto Bertrami - Things Are Different
Nilson Matta & Roni Ben-Hur - Mojave
Elvis Presley - Elvis Is Back and From Elvis In Memphis.

pinkfloyd4ever · « **Reply #851 on:** 8 Oct 2014, 09:38 pm »

Anyone compared these to a GR-Research modified pair of Insignia NS-B2111 bookshelfs? I have a pair of those I've been thinking about getting the mod kit for, but if these Pioneer BS22s are better than modded NS-B2111s I'll save my time and money and just get the Pioneers.

Zephyr99 · « **Reply #852 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 07:57 pm »

Quote from: DMurphy on 1 Oct 2014, 04:32 pm

I had an interesting experience this morning. Someone who owned a pair of the stock 22's and my modded version sent me his stocks for a mod job. They are very early versions from 2012. I could tell from just listening to the chirp signal from my measuring software that these were better than any I've encountered from later runs. And the measurements were by a considerable margin the best I've seen. When I opened them up and checked the wiring and crossover, everything was much neater and cleaner than the ones I've ordered. I think this is the speaker Andrew had in mind, and production must have been sourced to a different factory (factories) subsequently.

I've come across this thread while looking for bs-22 reviews..I heard those some while back and sounded very nice. I'm going to use the Pioneers in a desktop setup using a nad amp. I can't have it modded for now
Are the change in fr from the early 2012 units audible to the casual listener? Should I look for an early production unit?
Thanks

DMurphy · « **Reply #853 on:** 11 Oct 2014, 03:59 pm »

Quote from: Zephyr99 on 10 Oct 2014, 07:57 pm

I've come across this thread while looking for bs-22 reviews..I heard those some while back and sounded very nice. I'm going to use the Pioneers in a desktop setup using a nad amp. I can't have it modded for now
Are the change in fr from the early 2012 units audible to the casual listener? Should I look for an early production unit?
Thanks

The difference is definitely audible--the mid-treble will have more presence on the early run. However, all the stock units have the same moderate coloration--a murky kind of horn-like quality to the lower treble. For awhile I thought it might be harmonic distortion from the tweeter, but now I think it's caused by the wave guide that's built into the shape of the tweeter baffle. I think that's the source of the coloration.

macnoob · « **Reply #854 on:** 16 Oct 2014, 04:52 pm »

What do you suppose would be the effect of just swapping the stock tweeters for the Vifa units used in the DMurphy mod? No other changes?

bummrush · « **Reply #855 on:** 16 Oct 2014, 06:11 pm »

My pair is April 2012.They sound vey good.

DMurphy · « **Reply #856 on:** 19 Oct 2014, 10:34 pm »

Quote from: bummrush on 16 Oct 2014, 06:11 pm

My pair is April 2012.They sound vey good.

You would get a deep suckout between 2500 Hz and 4500 Hz. You need to add a 3.9 uf capacitor in series with the Vifa's positive input terminal when you make the change. You would still need the full mod to get a truly flat response, but I think the new tweet with the cap would be an improvement over the stock.

macnoob · « **Reply #857 on:** 20 Oct 2014, 01:02 am »

Quote from: DMurphy on 19 Oct 2014, 10:34 pm

You would get a deep suckout between 2500 Hz and 4500 Hz. You need to add a 3.9 uf capacitor in series with the Vifa's positive input terminal when you make the change. You would still need the full mod to get a truly flat response, but I think the new tweet with the cap would be an improvement over the stock.

Thanks! I was wondering if it was worthwhile installing just the tweets until I can build the crossovers.

macnoob · « **Reply #858 on:** 27 Nov 2014, 04:22 am »

I went ahead and did the whole mod. Wow, nice difference. I put them in the family room and had a tough time getting them back... I had to swap my wife a set of nice Boston A70s so I could put the SP-BS22s in the computer room as originally intended. First one took me a couple hours, second was a lot faster. Still it's a fair bit of work - Dennis was not getting rich modifying these for sale.

Thanks to DMurphy and MCM_Fan!

DMurphy · « **Reply #859 on:** 29 Nov 2014, 01:59 am »

Quote from: macnoob on 27 Nov 2014, 04:22 am

I went ahead and did the whole mod. Wow, nice difference. I put them in the family room and had a tough time getting them back... I had to swap my wife a set of nice Boston A70s so I could put the SP-BS22s in the computer room as originally intended. First one took me a couple hours, second was a lot faster. Still it's a fair bit of work - Dennis was not getting rich modifying these for sale.

Thanks to DMurphy and MCM_Fan!

Thanks for the report. With the exception of the deepest bass and extreme highs above 15 kHz, the modded Pioneers actually measure flatter than some of my other speakers. They are a lot of work, though. Definitely not for the inexperienced or impatient.