[trackball02]

I had to give into temptation today, and I picked up a pair from Frys. Can not beat the $77 price.

I have been playing them for about 30 mins, so far nothing that special about them. Do they need to be broken in? If so, how many hours?

[charmerci]

I had to give into temptation today, and I picked up a pair from Frys. Can not beat the $77 price.

I have been playing them for about 30 mins, so far nothing that special about them. Do they need to be broken in? If so, how many hours?

How large is the room that you're playing them in? If it's a large-ish room, pairing them with a sub helps. Also, I damped them (see my post on p.10 - though internally bracing them will have the same effect) which definitely improves the sound.

[OzarkTom]

I had to give into temptation today, and I picked up a pair from Frys. Can not beat the $77 price.

I have been playing them for about 30 mins, so far nothing that special about them. Do they need to be broken in? If so, how many hours?

Mine didn't open up for at least 60-80 hours. Until then, I was like you, nothing special. I kept wondering why my buddy Rex was going so ape over these.

The amp that is sounding the best at the moment is the battery operated $500 TBI Millenia MkII. TBI even sounds better than the $1500 Job and the $6500 Stello.

[trackball02]

I'm going to let them play over the weekend and see what happens. I'm in a moderately sized room, but turned off the sub to get an idea how the bass sounds. So far, nothing really offensive about them. Kind of laid back sound. They get out of the way and disappear. Not bad.

[FireGuy]

Mine didn't open up for at least 60-80 hours. Until then, I was like you, nothing special. I kept wondering why my buddy Rex was going so ape over these.

The amp that is sounding the best at the moment is the battery operated $500 TBI Millenia MkII. TBI even sounds better than the $1500 Job and the $6500 Stello.

Given how great these Pioneers are and (now) how the pricey Stello is out performed,  is there any need to sell your Honus Wagner card and upgrade?

[gregfisk]

Mine didn't open up for at least 60-80 hours. Until then, I was like you, nothing special. I kept wondering why my buddy Rex was going so ape over these.

The amp that is sounding the best at the moment is the battery operated $500 TBI Millenia MkII. TBI even sounds better than the $1500 Job and the $6500 Stello.

All this hoopla makes more sense to me now, I bought a pair for a friend of mine for his motor home, a pure i20 and one the the T amps also on a thread here. I was not impressed at all with the speakers in my main system, but my room is huge and has a lot of hard surfaces "tile and glass". My Ariel 7B's are even bass shy for my room. Then I installed them in the motor home with the T amp and still wasn't very impressed, too much upper mid and treble and a little harsh for my liking. Anyway, maybe they just need to break in, and my guess is the T amp is a little hot in the treble area. My friend is really happy thou, not an audiophile but he likes music so I guess all is good.

[jackman]

I'm not convinced these speakers sound any different after the first five or ten hours.  Heck, they sounded pretty good to me right out of the box.  Honestly, and this is just my opinion, if you don't like the sound after the first few hours, don't expect miracles after fifty or one hundred hours of break in.

Check your placement and make sure your amp is happy with the load, etc.  I've tried these speakers with inexpensive gear like the old Outlaw receiver and a panasonic receiver and they sound very good.  They sound very good with NCore amps but this is overkill for such an inexpensive speaker. 

[Donald]

Agree with Jackman. I believe we have to put this into proper prospective. Many on this board have speakers that cost multiple thousand dollars in their main listening room. These obviously are not going to be replacing many, if any of those. However, believe what many of us are communicating, for the paltry price of what these cost, there is not much, if any competition in their size and price range. They certainly communicate the music surprisingly well, but don't expect miracles. Paired with a sub, they are very good for many a secondary systems. IMHO, if just getting into the audio hobby on a limited budget, these would make a very good starter system paired in the right size room. 

[Kurtamus]

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

The  SP-BS22-LR are reviewed in Stereophile Magazine this month (right next to a review for the $30K Andrew Jones designed TAD Eveloution One)

[RCduck7]

I can't find these speakers in Europe, i guess they were either not sold over here or maybe under a different name??? The closest resembling speaker i found on Pioneers website was the S-31B-LR-K  http://www.pioneer.eu/nl/products/42/99/161/S-31B-LR-K/page.html It still has a 4" driver but the spec sheet is slightly different. And i guess these were not designed by Andrew Jones. Does anyone compared the SP-BS22-LR with the S-31B-LR-K?

[srb]

The S-31B-LR-K was apparently also available in the U.S., listed on the Pioneer U.S. site under Previous Models. They look more similar to the previous version SP-BS21-LR with dual round grills.

The biggest differences I see are

S-31B-LR-K  vs.  SP-BS21-LR

-  4" fiberglass vs. 4" paper woofer cone
-  82dB vs. 84dB sensitivity
-  3KHz vs. 2kHz crossover frequency
-  flush metal binding post plate vs recessed plastic terminal cup
-  pin and socket attached cloth grills vs. semi-permanently attached metal grills (can be pried off)
-  MSRP of $349/pair vs. $129/pair

Quite a difference in retail price.  And no mention of Andrew Jones as designer.

 

Steve

[RCduck7]

The S-31B-LR-K was apparently also available in the U.S., listed on the Pioneer U.S. site under Previous Models. They look more similar to the previous version SP-BS21-LR with dual round grills.

The biggest differences I see are

S-31B-LR-K  vs.  SP-BS21-LR

-  4" fiberglass vs. 4" paper woofer cone
-  82dB vs. 84dB sensitivity
-  3KHz vs. 2kHz crossover frequency
-  flush metal binding post plate vs recessed plastic terminal cup
-  pin and socket attached cloth grills vs. semi-permanently attached metal grills (can be pried off)
-  MSRP of $349/pair vs. $129/pair

Quite a difference in retail price.  And no mention of Andrew Jones as designer.

 

Steve

Thanks! I usually like the sound of a speaker with a low crossover frequency, at 2khz or lower as i heard with some Dynaudio models. The SP-BS-21-LR is at 2khz but it doesn't go as low (65hz) as the SP-BS-22-LR (55hz). Since the the SP-SB-21-LR is older and all the "wows" goes to the SP-BS-22-LR model i guess the "22" sounds better the the "21"?? Allthough i like the idea of having a low crossoverpoint of the "21". Integrations of driver and tweeter is that bit less critical at a low crossover point (or a very high one like 6 kHz). Becausse it is out of the range of what the ear is most sensitive to. But i guess the European models are no go as they were not optimised by Andrew Jones.

Anyone compared the SP-BS-21-LR to the SP-BS-22-LR??

[jarcher]

Anyone compared the SP-BS-21-LR to the SP-BS-22-LR??

In Robert Reina's full review in this month's Stereophile he does just that :  "similar tonal balance", 21 "was somewhat mellower, with a bit less detail", the 22 "went a little deeper [bass]", "more refined highs, superior high level dynamics, and greater sense of decay". 

Earlier in the review he mentions the differences in the drivers in the 22 vs the 21, among other things.

Still seems like an even greater bargain @ $129.  If I wasn't happy w/ my Totems for office use, I'd get myself a pair.

[OzarkTom]

I saw the 21's at Walmart this week for $79.97, 22's are at Tiger Direct for $89.99 plus shipping.

[apollophono]

Are they on sale again this week  (6/21 - 6/27) at Fry's?   They have another add that looks
like last weeks.  $77  Major Name Brand Floorstanders with Bookshelf for $77. 

[RCduck7]

These are also sold where i live and are designed by andrew Jones, they also has a 4" driver but are more expensive.
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/42/99/161/S-CN301-LR/page.html

[OzarkTom]

I took my Pioneers to my buddy Rex's place in St. Louis this weekend. Rex has modded his Pioneers and they clearly sounded better. Rex had clipped the push-on connector on his woofer and soldered the wire direct. He also changed the binding posts to Superior Electric  BP-30-2BR binding posts and inserted some dampening pads that he had bought from Madisound.

His speakers was smoother, more open, and had a better focus than mine did. Rex had an extra pair of the binding posts, so he modded mine with the re-soldering of the wire and the Superior Electric binding posts. Mine did not get the dampening mod. In that shoot-out, the speakers were dead even. So the dampening mod is not necessary and the binding post mod looks like it could cost 20 bucks at the most. This is what I found on Ebay as the best deal..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-NEW-MONSTER-CABLE-SUPERIOR-ELECTRIC-5-WAY-GOLD-BINDING-POST-BANANA-JACK-/150986043029?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2327782e95

[Mark Korda]

OzarkTom, great review! you addressed the problems, improvised and overcame like a Marine...great work you master tweeker! I like to learn from guys like you,and I hope Andrew Jones sends you a note ...Mark Korda

[Wayner]

I took my Pioneers to my buddy Rex's place in St. Louis this weekend. Rex has modded his Pioneers and they clearly sounded better. Rex had clipped the push-on connector on his woofer and soldered the wire direct. He also changed the binding posts to Superior Electric  BP-30-2BR binding posts and inserted some dampening pads that he had bought from Madisound.

His speakers was smoother, more open, and had a better focus than mine did. Rex had an extra pair of the binding posts, so he modded mine with the re-soldering of the wire and the Superior Electric binding posts. Mine did not get the dampening mod. In that shoot-out, the speakers were dead even. So the dampening mod is not necessary and the binding post mod looks like it could cost 20 bucks at the most. This is what I found on Ebay as the best deal..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-NEW-MONSTER-CABLE-SUPERIOR-ELECTRIC-5-WAY-GOLD-BINDING-POST-BANANA-JACK-/150986043029?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item2327782e95

Or you could get these for way less:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=090-475

I too, think the speaker terminals on the Pioneer speakers are very poor.

Wayner

[Doublej]

The Stereophile review is now up on their website:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/pioneer-sp-bs22-lr-loudspeaker