[avahifi]

They are available at Best Buy for $129 a pair. My prototype designer brought up his set for me to audition yesterday.  His main speakers are Sanders electrostatics and these little speakers impressed him so he gave me the chance for a listen here in my sound room with my best electronics.

These small bookshelf speakers are outstanding values.  They are open, smooth, with a really neutral tonal balance and presentation.  Not that last word in range or transparency, but good enough so that I can enjoy the music listening to them, and that means pretty darn good in the overall scheme of things.  Amazingly listenable with no obvious flaws.

Think about trying a pair of these before spending ten times as much on something else.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[opnly bafld]

I had the previous model (gave them to a youngster needing new speakers) and went into to Best Buy thinking about getting the new ones. They happened to be on sale for $100    and they do sound good. 

[Zero]

Interesting you should bring up these speakers, Frank.

I decided to take the BS21's for a spin a month ago when Newegg was closing em' out for $39.  Shipping included! In short: My walk-away impressions of them mirror your own.  Great tonal balance.  Smooth top end.  Solid imaging.  Not the last word in resolution, but decent enough to get the job done.  Overall, I'm wickedly impressed by em'.  So much so that I plan on using the Pioneer's as a benchmark for what can be accomplished in this particular range. 

Excellent transducers.

[tabrink]

Tiger Direct has these for $89. I gave a pair as a Christmas Gift this year and they were well received....

[Letitroll98]

I recommended them to a non-audiophile friend looking for new speakers, and even his GF was impressed.  He absolutely loves them, got them for $94 on sale at BB.

[srb]

One of the customer reviews at Parts Express was from someone who has also owned both the SP-BS21-LR and SP-BS41-LR.

He said "Andrew Jones has out-done himself with the improved SP-BS22-LR's. He gained 10Hz deeper bass, cleaned up the tweeter issues, and just made the new speaker more musical.  I also have the SP-BS41-LR's, and excepting a 1 or 2 dB sensitivity difference, the new "22's" sound better than them."

With the waveguide tweeter, improved drivers and better looking one-piece removable grill, looks to be another low-priced hit.

Steve

[Zero]

It's kinda funny, while I certainly agree that the BS22's took care of that notorious upper frequency dip in the BS21's, they nonetheless sound a bit 'rougher around the edges' to these ears. 

[werd]

What would they be like on stands? Sound as good?

[Wayner]

I have a pair of these too, hooked up to my high end AVA stuff. It's truly a modern day miracle in my books. Don't like the sound? Try some better electronics to power them. They are not meant for head bangers, but are very pleasing on classical, rock or jazz. There is the occasional "where did that bass come from" moments as well.

Wayner

[orthobiz]

I bought the ones these replaced around Christmas through newegg, 40 dollars shipped! I am putting together a system for my friend's 12 year old daughter, another vinyl nut in the making!

Paul

[raysracing]

is the C22 center a sonic match? Might be a cool budget home theater with a powerful sub.

[avahifi]

I liked my engineer's Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers so much that I ordered a pair for myself from Parts Express (I have a dealer account there).  These and the lowest cost Sanus 24" speaker stands and the results have to be the most cost effective speakers I have ever heard.

There is a bit of a rasp on certain high frequency female vocals sometimes, but overall these are just fantastic speakers for the money and probably a lot better than many $1000 a pair bookshelf speakers.

They are even more open and transparent when used with the grill covers off.

I might even take mine apart for the plasticlay treatment one of these days after I have more listening time.

These speakers along with a cheep Class D power amp and your computer as a source might be all the money you need to spend on audio at all.

Frank Van Alstine

[Meicheng]

I use these as fronts and surrounds in a very modest home theater setup, along with the matching centerchannel speaker.  Bought on sale, all the speakers together were around $100.  Cant beat that.

[bummrush]

I'm happy with the new egg deal of 49.00 for previous sr 21 version around cyber Friday or whatever deal it was the free shipping was icing on the cake.

[avahifi]

The Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers work just fine on Sanus BF24-B1 24" tall stands.  The stands retail for about $50 a pair.  They are an exact match of black on black and reasonably solid and sturdy.  Don't place the rear top rubber corners at the back corners of the stands.  Move these in quite a lot or you will miss the bottom of the speakers, which taper inward.

I am running mine with an Ultimate 70 amplifier today and the more I listen the more I like this little wonders.

They are only 85 dB efficient, so they are not for 5 watt SET amplifiers.  The 35W/Ch Ultimate 70 drives them just fine and quite loud.  Any time we find a decent stock used ST-70 chassis we build it into an Ultimate 70 and sell it for $995 depending upon chassis condition.  The combination is pretty special.

Frank Van Alstine

[avahifi]

So two of my guys were here today, my other EE and my ace amplifier builder.  Both heard the little Pioneer speakers for the first time and both thought one of my big speaker pairs were playing at first (Salk HT3s and B&W 801s).

Jaws dropped when they realized the were listening to the little Pioneer speakers that cost 30 times less than either of the big pairs.  They are capable of a huge, involving, and utterly natural sonic presentation!

Both asked me to order them a set!

If you are thinking of new speakers under $1000 or so, you are doing yourself a big disservice if you don't audition these astonishing little speakers first.

I think Pioneer's problem is that these are sold by their home theater division as part of a 5 speaker surround sound set and nobody at Pioneer knows what they sound like, or if they do they have no venue to promote them as they don't even sell consumer high fidelity equipment any more.  Their black hole of marketing is your gain.  Get a pair!

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine

[srb]

I think Panasonic's problem is that these are sold by their home theater division as part of a 5 speaker surround sound set and nobody at Panasonic knows what they sound like, or if they do they have no venue to promote them as they don't even sell consumer high fidelity equipment any more.  Their black hole of marketing is your gain.  Get a pair!

Panasonic may not sell consumer high fidelity equipment any more, but Pioneer does, who is the manufacturer of these speakers!  Good to know they sound exceptional for the money, though.

Steve 

[opnly bafld]

I think Panasonic's Pioneer's problem is that these are sold by their home theater division as part of a 5 speaker surround sound set and nobody at Panasonic knows what they sound like, or if they do they have no venue to promote them as they don't even sell consumer high fidelity equipment any more.  Their black hole of marketing is your gain.  Get a pair!

PIONEER knows exactly what they have (Andrew Jones/TAD) and they do have a few nice hi fi pieces.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/Audio-Components/Hi-Fi+Audio

[avahifi]

Whoops, Pioneer, not Panasonic, I fixed my previous post.

Frank

[jtwrace]

So two of my guys were here today, my other EE and my ace amplifier builder.  Both heard the little Pioneer speakers for the first time and both thought one of my big speaker pairs were playing at first (Salk HT3s and B&W 801s).

I'm intrigued for sure on these little guys.  If your guys thought that the 30x more costly speakers were playing, that's something to think about.  That says a lot considering how much they have heard both the HT3's & 801s. 

If Andrew Jones had anything to do with these it certainly doesn't surprise me whatsoever though.  The man is truly brilliant.