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...just wait for the Elac??
On again. Everyone should own a pair of these at this price.
All that said, I'm looking to upgrade to Andrew's Elac Debut line when they come out next month. The only question is: should I go for the B5s or the slightly bigger B6s? The upgrade is not an indictment of the little Pioneers in any way. As has been mentioned, the Elac's while a tremendous bargain, are more expensive than the Pioneers (especially when they go on sale). If you can't afford the $229 price for the Elacs, definitely snag a pair of the Pioneers while they are on sale. I plan to keep one pair of the Pioneers for myself and the other pair will go to my girlfriend's little cabin in the woods. It will be interesting to do an A/B comparison between the modified Pioneers and the Elacs.
Currently $87.99 with free shipping from Amazon. I already have two pair, both with the Dennis Murphy mods I described here. I paid $79.99 and $65.00 for my two pair, plus the cost of the mods. I'm listening to them right now (Death Cab for Cutie's Kintsugi) and they continue to impress me. $87.99 is the lowest price I've see on them since the ridiculous sale prices a year ago when I snagged my second pair for $65.00.Here's what I'm running them with:Top to bottom: BIC Beam Box FM10 Directional Antenna Apple Mac Mini mid-2007 Cambridge Audio Dacmagic 100 Acurus R10 Preamp Magnum Dynalab FT-101A Tuner Sony DVP-NS3100ES SACD Player G.A.S. Son of Ampzilla Power Amp Panamax M5300EX Power Conditioner Speakers - Modified Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Rack - Salamander Synergy S30Since I have just under $1000 in the entire system, including the speaker stands, rack, cables and computer, I think it qualifies for cheap and cheerful status. Actually, I personally have less than $700 in it. The Cambridge Dacmagic 100 is the most expensive piece, and it was a Christmas present. I did not set out with a sub-$1000 budget for this system, but that's where it came out. It wasn't available at the time, but if I was looking to go even cheaper, I'd go got the Schiit ModiII Uber DAC at $149.00. That would bring my system cost down to $850. I got lucky on many of the items. The Magnum Dynalab tuner, Panamax power conditioner, Salamander Synergy rack and speaker stands were all Goodwill finds. The Mac Mini was picked up for $60 off Craigslist, and after upgrades I installed, I still have less than $100 in the computer, including SW. The Sony SACD Player and Acurus R10 Preamp were also local Craigslists finds and very favorable prices. The Son of Ampzilla was picked up from a local vintage audio dealer. It needed some work, so I got it for $125. The work is ongoing, but it's at a listenable state for now. I'll pick up the restoration again this winter.All that said, I'm looking to upgrade to Andrew's Elac Debut line when they come out next month. The only question is: should I go for the B5s or the slightly bigger B6s? The upgrade is not an indictment of the little Pioneers in any way. As has been mentioned, the Elac's while a tremendous bargain, are more expensive than the Pioneers (especially when they go on sale). If you can't afford the $229 price for the Elacs, definitely snag a pair of the Pioneers while they are on sale. I plan to keep one pair of the Pioneers for myself and the other pair will go to my girlfriend's little cabin in the woods. It will be interesting to do an A/B comparison between the modified Pioneers and the Elacs.
That would be great if you could share your comparison thoughts when you get the ELAC speakers. As far as whether to go with the B5 or B6, the B5's were so impressive at Newport I'm not sure the B6's would be all that much better. But the price is not a huge jump and if you have a big room then maybe the B6's would be the choice but I'm thinking if the Pioneers were sufficient then the B5's will be more than enough. I have a pair of B5's on preorder and anticipate getting them in my office shop...
I think a more interesting comparison might be between the Elacs and the newer Affordable Accuracy monitor I'm currently selling. It has a 6.5" woofer and much deeper bass response than the Pioneers. I know I'll be doing that comparison! If I think the Elac is better, I'll probably quietly retreat from the budget market. If I think my monitor is as good or better, I'll probably raise the price.
Dennis,Newer Affordable Accuracy monitor???? Will you have it at CAF this weekend?Ron
Dennis,I look forward to this comparison. Will you be comparing your new Affordable Accuracy monitors to the Elac B5 ($229.99, 5.25" woofer) or B6 ($279.99, 6.5" woofer)? Andrew is a very talented designer, no doubt about it, but he's always working within the budget/profit structure of a large corporation. That can be both good and bad. As you proved with your modifications to his Pioneer SP-BS-22-LR speakers, if you're willing to throw a little more money, and a little sweat equity at these inexpensive speakers, they can be made even better. The good news is that there are some great, affordable speakers getting more and more people, especially young people, interested in great sounding audio on a budget they can afford. Growing the market is something that benefits us all. Kudos to both you and Andrew. Keep up the good work!
Currently $87.99 with free shipping from Amazon.
I've been researching these but I'm thinking my best option is to just wait for the Elac??
