good sound for little $$$ Go with the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR + mini amp or Fluance Ai40

[Vixenlotus]

I am trying to put together a inexpensive setup to stream music in a small bedroom. The Pioneer SP-BS22-LRs have quite the following and i was thinking of pairing that with a small mini class D amp (Topping MX3?), I could also make it simple and go with the Fluance Ai40.
I have not listened to any of the above.

I did buy a set of Edifier R1700BTs that i had to return. They sounded so bad they made me hate music they were so harsh. ( am spoiled by my Revel F30s in my main system.)

thoughts on the above? or another recommendation?

 

[Ron Texas]

LSR305 MkII, $300 pair including amplification. Elac's are 25% off at Amazon right now.

 

[restorer-john]

Pioneer SP-BS22-LRs have quite the following and i was thinking of pairing that with a small mini class D amp (Topping MX3?)

The Pioneers are truly horrible. I picked up a pair of both the 21s and the 22s and the bigger floorstanders for a few dollars at a yard sale.

They looked nicely made, and they are, but they sound like complete a#s. I gave them away as fast as I could.

LSR305 MkII, $300 pair including amplification. Elac's are 25% off at Amazon right now.

This is an excellent suggestion.

 

[BillG]

Did you forget that you already created a thread for this exact same question?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-is-the-topping-mx3-for-me.9377/#post-246078

 

[Ron Texas]

The Pioneers are truly horrible. I picked up a pair of both the 21s and the 22s and the bigger floorstanders for a few dollars at a yard sale.

They looked nicely made, and they are, but they sound like complete a#s. I gave them away as fast as I could.

I bought a pair of the Pioneers on sale for under $100 and took them back. I have the LSR305 MKII's which I purchased while my LS50's were being repaired. KEF wound up giving me a new pair which was nice of them. The JBL's are in their boxes because I don't know where to put them.

 

[Vixenlotus]

Did you forget that you already created a thread for this exact same question?

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...s-is-the-topping-mx3-for-me.9377/#post-246078

I was asking about amps in that one. This is about speakers.

 

[SMc]

Not to contradict too strongly the hate for the Pioneer BS22, but I have a pair that work well in a tv system where other budget speakers (Infinity Primus 150, Polk R30) didn't. That said, I like NHTs starting at twice the price of the Pioneers. Of course, you'd need an amp and eventually a subwoofer while JBL monitors (+ Chromecast Audio?) would not.

 

[Vixenlotus]

I think the trick is to get a good low cost amp. But not sure any of the small class D amps are any good.

 

[Mtbf]

The Pioneers are truly horrible. I picked up a pair of both the 21s and the 22s and the bigger floorstanders for a few dollars at a yard sale.

They looked nicely made, and they are, but they sound like complete a#s. I gave them away as fast as I could.

Thanks. I was about to buy a pair of the Pioneer SP-BS22-LRs as a gift for my niece, they get a lot of positive reviews on Amazon. Suppose I know now what the BS stands for.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

I don't know...I like the floor standers I have. They sound good afaic...certainly can't see (erm...hear) where they sound like "complete a&s" lol

 

[SMc]

They’ve been measured by Stereophile and NO Audiophile, with the latter offering eq fixes. I recommend a substantial toe-in.

In the price range, I’d be interested in measurements for the competition: Polk, Sony, Yamaha three-way, etc.

 

[restorer-john]

I don't know...I like the floor standers I have. They sound good afaic...certainly can't see (erm...hear) where they sound like "complete a&s" lol

To be fair, in isolation, they sound OK. The ear/brain is very forgiving to speakers if you listen to them long enough. I've found that over the years.

Alongside 5 or 10 other pairs of speakers on a comparator they sound absolutely shocking. I had ~10 other pairs of speakers in my room at the time and no matter whether it was the floorstanders or the standmounters, they made my ears cringe. I took them down to my 86 year old audiophile father to play with, and he actually found they were OK for listening to the cricket broadcasts on FM radio, but for any serious listening, they were unusable.

I made the bold statement they had "no redeeming sonic qualities whatsoever" and ultimately were just a nicely made stand for real speakers to sit on.

Dad still has the two pairs of the original FS and BS ones in his listening room as I simply don't want them back. Next kerbside pickup, he has my full permission to put them out for some foraging kale-munching hipster to 'score' and take back to his festering warehouse apartment. Ideally suited to play that whimpering bint's CD he paid stupid money for at a weekend whole-foods market, where her and her banjo strumming partner were "performing" on a hay bale outside the craft beer tent.

LOL. They aren't that bad.

 

[Sgt. Ear Ache]

OK if you say so. What was it that was so shocking about them? I mean, assuming those other speakers were in a similar price range of course...

 

[restorer-john]

What was it that was so shocking about them? I mean, assuming those other speakers were in a similar price range of course...

OK. I had my fun.

Seriously though, they were raucous, squawky and lacked a massive amount of detail. The subtleties of otherwise well recorded music simply disappeared into an emulsified mess. They were grossly inefficient compared to just about all other speakers in my room. The floor standers had a confused faux bass, clearly caused by the twin ports behaving in an unpredictable manner. Experimenting with positioning/placement or elevation didn't help.

It was a pity because they have lovely looking, solid, well made cabinets, drivers that look the goods and a decent 'looking' crossover. Sadly, that's all in vain. After hearing them (and the centre speaker), I came to the conclusion AJ may have been taking the p#ss of audiophiles. These days, the internet regurgitates glowing reviews and things take on a life of their own.

The 22s were marginally better but I gave them away a few years back telling them to use only temporarily until they could afford better speakers. It really doesn't matter how cheap they are- they throw away too much detail and greatly undersell the joy good audio can bring.

When there are some fantastic small speakers out there for not a whole lot of money, it pains me to see people clamoring for these absolute horrors year after year. Do yourself and your ears a favour- take them to a real HiFi store and compare them side by side with some mid level speakers from a respected brand. Don't read glowing reviews, don't buy sight unseen off the internet, there's no substitute for a side by side comparison.

Your ears will thank me.

 

[Mtbf]

I have the LSR305 MKII's which I purchased while my LS50's were being repaired.

Did you experience any problems with hissing of the JBL's? And could you tell me how they compare to the KEF’s in your opinion? I am only familiar with the sound of the KEF’s.

 

[StevenEleven]

This is why it would be so great if we had speaker measurements.

A strong +1 here for the Pioneers FS52, BS22, C22, BTW, floorstanders, bookshelves, and center, for home theater or music. They sound like ambrosia, lilacs, a strawberry Sunday, a good steak and an expensive new car to me. IMHO they deserve a better sub or two though, but that would have added a ton of cost to the package.

Of course I am expressing my preference. And those criticizing them seem to be dissenting from a decent amount of data (well-done or not I couldn’t say, but it looks credible), and a strong preference among mainstream consumers. I could go on and add more references, but I have other things to do.

I can hear the rhetorical barbs in response now. But this, But that. Have fun. I have documented and supported my opinion. This is all I have to say on the subject.

Reviews, measurements, etc.:

https://www.audioholics.com/tower-speaker-reviews/pioneer-sp-pk52fs

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

https://hometheaterreview.com/pioneer-sp-fs52-floor-standing-loudspeaker-reviewed/

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/pioneer-sp-bs22-lr-loudspeaker/

https://www.lifewire.com/best-center-channel-speakers-4142697

Consumer Preferences:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/884049-REG/Pioneer_SP_BS22_LR_Andrew_Jones_Designed.html

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-F...ywords=Pioneer+speakers&qid=1571228961&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-BS22-LR-Designed-Bookshelf-Loudspeakers/dp/B008NCD2LG/ref=sxin_1_ac_d_rm?ac_md=0-0-cGlvbmVlciBzcGVha2Vycw==-ac_d_rm&keywords=Pioneer+speakers&pd_rd_i=B008NCD2LG&pd_rd_r=53e45fe0-a82c-4579-99fc-5483ff53600e&pd_rd_w=s0QiT&pd_rd_wg=JrIfj&pf_rd_p=2938a786-9bec-4d37-8c06-456e3edce5d1&pf_rd_r=PJEHJBA63ZP5D2H9J3BR&psc=1&qid=1571229109

https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-SP-C22-Designed-Channel-Speaker/dp/B008NCD2EI

I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be around—they’ve been out since about 2012, for 7 years.

 

[Ron Texas]

Did you experience any problems with hissing of the JBL's? And could you tell me how they compare to the KEF’s in your opinion? I am only familiar with the sound of the KEF’s.

At mid field distances there is no hiss. The LS50's are a lot better, particularly with imaging and detail.

 

[TimW]

I picked up the BS21's for $20. For speakers that sold for less than $100 new I thought they were pretty good. They are dark with an uneven bass that doesn't reach very low but they aren't as harsh as other cheap speakers I have heard. They are definitly not a match for 305P's or Ai40's though.

I have LSR305's on my desk right now and they are great for that purpose. I have also had them setup in a couple different living rooms and they worked quite well there too. Their frequency response on and off axis leads to a pretty neutral sound to my ears. With a great soundstage and pretty good imaging. Excellent performance for their price. The hiss from their tweeters is noticeable from at least 6ft away and I find it annoying. They outperform the Ai40's in my opinion but these are two very different kinds of speakers.

First of all the $200 a pair Ai40's are significantly cheaper than the $150 per speaker 305P's. And the Ai40's have a volume knob, bluetooth, tone controls, and a remote. The 305P's have a volume knob on each speaker and require signal and power connections at each speaker. If I wanted to hook those up to my bedroom TV, like I did with my Ai40's, I would need a DAC with a volume control which adds cost. I found the Ai40s much more user friendly and attractive for a setup like that.

I was really impressed with the bass response of the Ai40's. They have that tight punchy sealed bass but also surprising extension. And the mids and highs were very smooth. Not as accurate as the LSR305's and not as large sounding, but not too far off. And they have less tweeter hiss! For you I would really recommend a pair of Fluance Ai40's. Just get them and stop worrying about finding a high performance mini amp. Amir hasn't found a cheap but excellent amplifier for us all to recommend yet.

 

[BillG]

or another recommendation?

These will dig deeper into the bass than those Pioneers:

https://www.harmanaudio.com/speakers/REFERENCE+152.html

I don't know what your budget is, but they're often on sale at 50% off.

A review with measurements:

http://averagejoeaudiophile.blogspot.com/2015/12/infinity-reference-r152-infinitys-high.html