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Hardware Review Pioneer Andrew Jones 5.1 Speaker System Review (1 Viewer)

Doug Hess

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I sold high-end audio gear back in the ‘80s and loved it. Mirage and JSE speakers, Threshold amps, Nakamichi tape decks, VPI turntables that we set up with a test LP and an oscilloscope--it was a dream job for any 20-something audiophile. Unfortunately, that job also made me a snob. My poor-but-righteous cohorts and I felt strongly that “mid-fi” brands (this should be said with a deriding sneer), though they served the needs of 99 percent of the population, were an abomination and an affront to all that was decent and right in the world.

I’ve grown up (and out) since those days, but the stench of prejudice can still be smelled on me every so often. I was offered the chance to review the new “Andrew Jones[1] Designed 5.1-Channel Speaker Package” from Pioneer and I was both intrigued and put off by the notion of reviewing a speaker package that sells for under $550. That’s the entire package price.

I’m happy to report that the sun still shines, my home is still standing, and my virtue is intact. This is 5/6ths of an impressive system.

Andrew Jones_TAD Reference One_sm.png

The man, the myth, the . . . Okay, I'd never heard of him either. But his $80,000 TAD Reference One speakers make him an interesting choice to design a $560 speaker system.

The speaker system
The package consists of two towers (SP-FS52), two small bookshelf speakers that can also serve as surrounds (SP-BS22-LR), a center speaker (SP-C22), and a sub (SW-8MK2). The stars of this system are absolutely the towers, so let me get the ancillary components out of the way.

Pioneer_Andrew Jones System.png

They're a plain-looking bunch, but you should hear them sing.

The surrounds
The bookshelf speakers, the SP-BS22-LR pair, really are bookshelf speakers. There’s nothing about them that makes them uniquely suited for use as surround speakers. They’re not bipole/dipole switchable, they’re not low-profile, and they don’t have any kind of mounting system on the back. In fact, given their narrower-in-the-back curved cabinets and rear-firing port, they’re not designed to be mounted on the wall at all.

Pioneer Surrounds.png

Bookshelf speakers with an uncanny sonic resemblance to mommy and daddy.

But they do have the one thing a surround speaker really needs to have: a striking sonic resemblance to the main and center speakers. They do this remarkably well. So, if you have tables you can put these on, or bookshelves behind or beside you, these play really well with the other speakers in the system.

The center
I have a small nit to pick when it comes to the center channel, though. It’s a sizable and hefty speaker, so I was surprised to remove the grill and find two 4-inch “woofers.” Why didn’t they use 5.25-inchers, like they did in the towers?

Pioneer Center.png

Man, when this thing hits puberty, it's gonna rock

Back in the ‘90s, when surround sound was first becoming popular, people didn’t know what to do with the idea of a center speaker. Calling it the “dialog speaker” seemed to help people grasp the function it served, since so much of what you heard from it was dialog--talking. But the reality is that the center speaker can play music, explosions, singing--nearly everything the main speakers play on most recordings. All this is to say that the center channel sounded good, though it’s a bit thin and lacks a bit of body.

Sheesh, you’d think I could have said that with fewer words.

The sub
Finally, before the main course, comes the sub. Ugh. It’s the only piece of this system I can’t recommend. I have no idea why it’s in here. According to Pioneer’s specs, this 50-watt, 8-inch beasty plays a grand total of 2Hz lower than the towers (38Hz vs. 40Hz). I played “Also Sprach Zerathustra” (the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the theme from Back to the Future and I thought it was going to rattle itself apart. I don’t believe its defective, just completely outclassed in this setup.

While packing the sub up, I found out that the port tube had come loose and was most likely causing the rattling I was hearing. I maintain that it doesn't add much to the system and that the rest of the speakers deserve better, but I also can't really say I was able to evaluate it fairly.

Pioneer subwoofer.jpg

Damage done presumably in shipping kept me from being able to fairly evaluate the sub.

The towers
Okay, now for the towers. Thank you for your patience. Unless you just skipped all that and jumped right to here, in which case you’re a cheater.

Pioneer Andew Jones_52 Towers.png

Captain and Maria Von Trapp--the stars of the show.

The towers are smaller than I expected, though they’re just about 3 inches taller than their predecessor, the SP-FS51. Andrew Jones says this was to put the tweeters up higher, closer to the listener’s ears--an admirable goal. The SP-FS52s are also much better looking, in my opinion, though I’ll let you be the judge.

Pioneer Andew Jones_51 Towers.png

Last year's towers were shorter (and uglier). The Danny DeVitos of the speaker world.

Like the bookshelf and center speakers, the towers are ported (dual, in this case), feature 5-way binding posts that at least look gold-plated, and have curved cabinets that give them a bit of style over the standard boxes normally available at this price. They’re wrapped in the standard-issue black woodgrain vinyl, which is definitely the smart choice for speakers costing $260/pr. Attempting anything more ambitious, I’m sure, would turn out badly.

Pull the grill off a tower and you’ll find a soft-dome tweeter, a 5.25-inch mid, and dualing 5.25-inch woofers. Yeah, it looks like a 2-way system with three woofers, but there are crossover points at 250Hz and 3kHz.

The sound
I played my usual music demos, from:

[*]David Benoit
[*]The Wailin’ Jennys
[*]Jennifer Warnes
[*]Michael Bublé
[/list]
And I also played several orchestral pieces that really challenged the speakers, including the aforementioned theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey and the theme from Back to the Future.

Michael Buble--its time.jpg

"Save the Last Dance for Me" is a great demo that also has some unexpected bass about 2/3 of the way in. The towers sounded great; the Pioneer sub mumbled quietly to itself in the corner.

The first thing that struck me was their openness. You just don’t get that kind of open sound from speakers in this price range. If there are any competitors at this price, I haven’t heard them, and I’ve heard a lot of speakers. Michael Bublé sounded rich and warm, Jennifer Warnes’ title track from Famous Blue Raincoat sounded jazz-club intimate and three-dimensional [2], and many Wailin’ Jennys songs sounded airy, bordering on ethereal.

Wait, did I just say “many Wailin’ Jennys songs”? I did. Here’s the deal.

On the CD 40 Days, songs sung by their soprano Ruth Moody, like “One Voice,” the speakers sounded oddly boxy. But on “Arlington,” sung by Cara Luft, the towers sounded remarkably open. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that Ruth’s voice hits the resonant frequency of the cabinets and Cara's does not.

The funny thing is that this is exactly the opposite problem I faced with the $2,000/pr. Aperion Grand Verus towers. Huh.

Invoking the name of the vaunted Aperions seems like a good segue to level-setting and a conversation about value. Do the Pioneer speakers sound like they should cost two grand? No. But I seriously thought about starting this review by saying that they are an excellent value at $500, nearly twice the price of the system, and a good value at $800. Throw in the bookshelf and center speakers and you’re still well under 500 bones, so these offer some pretty amazing sound for the dollar.

So what aren’t you getting here? Well, while I don’t think they’re ugly, they’re also not what I’d call beautiful. They’re plain. The towers are short and unimpressive-looking. I think the top-end is a tad strident on some recordings, and bad recordings make that worse. And I have to address the elephant in the room: the name on the grills. If you’re willing to shell out $300 for headphones because they look cool, these speakers are not for you.

But if you have just $489 to spend on speakers (and another $300-$500 or so for a good subwoofer), and you don’t mind sharing your home with speakers that don’t have supermodel good-looks or a fancy-schmancy name, I’ve got a deal you may not be able to pass up.




Pioneer_Andrew Jones_Family Portrait.png

Note the lack of tolerance specs (e.g., +/-3dB) for frequency response and some pretty demanding sensitivity ratings. I will draw no conclusions here, but thought they were noteworthy. I also thought that making theme all 6 ohms was an interesting choice.


[1] Andrew Jones is a well-known high-end speaker designer and the man behind the $80,000 TAD Reference One towers/pylons.

[2] I find it odd that speakers so short are able to project such a full-size image, and with such pin-point precision. They're not just open and airy, they're able to paint a sonic soundstage that I find astonishing at the pricepoint.
 

RolandL

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I have "Last year's towers were shorter (and uglier)." and the previous version center and surround/bookshelf speakers in my family room. I just wanted better sound than what was coming out of the speakers in my Sony 55 inch LED tv. I bought them on Newegg and they were only about $250 for all five speakers. They sound great for such a low price.

If I want better sound and a larger image, I go to my home theatre room with Panasonic AE8000 front projector, five Defintive Tech speakers and Velodyne subwoofer.
 

David_B_K

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RolandL said:
I have "Last year's towers were shorter (and uglier)." and the previous version center and surround/bookshelf speakers in my family room. I just wanted better sound than what was coming out of the speakers in my Sony 55 inch LED tv. I bought them on Newegg and they were only about $250 for all five speakers. They sound great for such a low price.
I have the earlier set of the speakers as well. I also got good pricing from Newegg on the fronts and surrounds, and picked up the center @ BB. The previous subwoofer did not get good reviews either, so I use a BIC F12. They definitely sound better and have more presence than my old HTIB speaker set. I did manage to mount the surrounds on the wall. The rears don't face the wall directly, but are behind the viewer/listener and angled toward the front. They required a strong bracket screwed into studs as they are quite heavy. The curved box design doesn't help either.
 

Doug Hess

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Sounds like both of you got a great deal on a set of speakers that were already a great deal. That's awesome. I really was impressed with these, and stunned at what they could do at the price. My memory of them (over two months old by now) is that they were remarkably transparent and open. I really don't think I've heard their equal in the price range.

-Doug
 

DavidJ

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The bookshelf speakers that are used as surrounds in this set are quite highly thought of by many professional reviewers especially considering what they cost. I've been thinking of picking up a pair to use in my office with one of my older receivers.
 

John Garcia

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Other than the looks, I love these speakers. I've owned the BS22s for quite some time and just recently sold them when I picked up the FS52s. If you want to save a few bucks on the bookshelf speakers, wait for a sale as they generally go as low as about $80/pr. I managed to score my towers for that price :D These speakers are an easy no brainer even at the average street price though.
 

Alanb7

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For the money they are hard to beat, especially the towers. The subwoofer is a not worth it, especially if one has the SP-FS52's as the sub only goes down an additional 2 hz. I initially purchased the towers, bookshelf pair, and center channel speaker after attending the 2013 RMAF. At the show I was able to briefly meet and talk to Mr. Andrew Jones. Besides being a top notch speakers designer he is a real gentleman. Curious, do the towers ever go on sale at Amazon or Best Buy? Would like to get another set as a gift.
 

David_B_K

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I bought the surrounds and towers (previous version) from Newegg. They were often on sale. I suggest signing up for their email blasts.
 

John Garcia

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TigerDirect and Newegg usually have the best prices, but Amazon and Best Buy also match them when they do have them on sale. I got mine as a price match to Frys who had the 52s for half regular price. They sold out in maybe 2hrs at all of the local Frys.
 

Josh Steinberg

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I'm thinking about getting a set of these…. decisions, decisions :)
 

Doug Hess

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Hi, Josh. So, what are the other speakers you're considering? These have a lot going for them, but there really are a lot of good speakers out there right now.

-Doug
 

Wayne_j

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I have this system but with the bookshelves all around instead of the towers for mains. The sub isn't great, but no rattling here. I actually just picked up a 2nd sub (only $111 at Best Buy this week) and put it next to the first one in the front of the system. I then put a BIC Accoustech PL-200 an inch behind my chair, the overall effect is a lot of good bass.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Hi Doug, thanks for asking, I appreciate the advice. It's wide open for selection at the moment. I won't be moving into the place for a few weeks, so I don't have final measurements and placement ideas yet, so can't really do anything at the moment anyway. And honestly, I'm not very knowledgable about speakers. I've been living with the built in TV speakers for quite a while so anything will be a step up at this point. My issue or challenge in picking my next round of gear is this - I'm not going to be in this next place for more than a year or two. It's NYC apartment living. I'm lucky in that I've got a big room (for the city) to play with here, and that based on the location in the building, I don't have neighbors on the other sides of any of my living room walls or below me. So I can have a bit more volume than I might have in other apartments. My feeling is rather than getting low quality inexpensive gear or any HTIB system, to get stuff that will last a good while, and that can work reasonably well in not the perfect room now, but maybe three or four years in the future will be placed in a dedicated home theater room and do pretty well in that environment too. So I'm generally pretty open to suggestion. As a starting point, from what I've read about these, it seemed like a good start, but this isn't my area of expertise.
 

Doug Hess

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Hi, Josh. It sounds like you may have the means to get something better than these, which is great. These are a great value, which is why they've gotten as much attention as they have. They're remarkable sounding for their price. But there is better out there. The real question, then, is whether you think you'll care.

In a sense, buying audio gear is a bit like buying workout equipment. Should you go inexpensive and see if you use it enough to justify the cost of better stuff? Will you use better stuff more? Would it be better to buy the really good stuff in the hopes that you'll be able to appreciate it fully? This is the conundrum we all face when we're just starting out, and only you have the answers.

[*]On a scale from 1-10, what level of audiophile are you? What level do you want to become?
[*]Is sound quality the most important thing to you, or are looks/size important too?
[*]What will you be listening to most, music or movies?
[/list]
My specialty is reviewing speakers you can't buy in stores. Ironically, these Pioneers are the only speakers I've reviewed (for this site) that you can. If possible, I'd recommend buying speakers you can hear. Take your own music with you and listen to a bunch of speakers, as many as you can. Then, do it all over again. Go from shop to shop and be a pain in the butt. That's really the best way to go about this.

You may find out during this process that you care more than you think, or less. That you have a better ear than you thought, or not. But there really is no replacement for hearing your music on a pair of speakers. Preference for sound quality and character is a shockingly personal and individual thing. Go explore and let us know what you find.

Oh, and don't forget to have fun. :)

-Doug

P.S. I'd love to answer any questions you have as you take this journey.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Doug,

That's a lot to consider, and I appreciate everything you said and your offer -- I'm sure I will continue to pop up with (hopefully non-annoying) questions from time to time.

It might be easier to answer your questions backward:

- These will most likely be used for movies first, with some music secondary. Most likely will be paired with a projector for nighttime watching. For music, it'll be mostly MP3s encoded at 320kpbs, but I do have a record player I'd like to use. But let's put it this way… I'll probably watch a movie a night, or every other night at least. Music might get listened to an hour or less most days. So it should sound decent enough for listening to a Springsteen record, but it'll be more likely that I'll be watching a Springsteen concert Blu-ray (if that makes any sense).

- I tend to be function over form. I'll be sharing the apartment with my girlfriend, I think for the most part she's good with whatever I decide, but she'd probably prefer something that wasn't ginormous or some awful shade of beige :) These speakers will most likely be sitting on bookshelves or the like, as opposed to wall mounting (if that makes a difference). One day I'd like to have the perfect room to mount stuff, but I think for now I'm going to have to work with carefully concealed wires and such, and not get to really customize or properly install anything.

- I don't know how to really quantify the audiophile question. I've been around people who would have considered themselves to be hardcore audiophiles and I've noticed some of the differences, but I don't know if I noticed to the degree they did, or that it was worth as much to me. The best speakers I ever had weren't much, they were hand-me-downs that I was given when I got my first apartment out of college, and I was pretty happy with them.. some of that happiness was tied into, "I'm getting decent sound for free" but I'm also not hugely picky. These speakers, for instance, would instantly be the best I've ever had. I've always been much more of a picture guy than a sound guy, so I'll end up spending more on the video than the audio for sure.

To sum up, these speakers -- and I'm not sold on them yet, but definitely will try to find a place I can hear them in person -- seemed to kind of hit that sweet spot of size that I could get away with, reasonable sound quality, and at a price I could live with. I also liked that it seemed simple enough to add extra speakers to make a system 7.1 in the future, if I decided I wanted that in a couple years. There's really not much more in the speaker budget than what these go for, so maybe I overstated the paying more now for performance later - I'm more likely to do that on the projector than the speakers. "Remarkable for their price" may be what the doctor is ordering for me.
 

John Garcia

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If these hit the price sweet spot, I'd say they are going to be a solid bet. I haven't found any that easily best them for the price IMO. Some may do one thing or another better, at which point you'd need to listen to all of them and decide which gave you more of what you're looking for. Based on what you're saying though, I'd call these guys a safe choice, and I'd still go listen to them or pick up one pair to be sure first.
 

Josh Steinberg

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John Garcia said:
If these hit the price sweet spot, I'd say they are going to be a solid bet. I haven't found any that easily best them for the price IMO. Some may do one thing or another better, at which point you'd need to listen to all of them and decide which gave you more of what you're looking for. Based on what you're saying though, I'd call these guys a safe choice, and I'd still go listen to them or pick up one pair to be sure first.
Thanks John -- once I get the new apartment thing settled, hopefully I can find a place nearby that's got a pair on display that I can demo. Appreciate the words of wisdom!
 

Josh Steinberg

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Amazon had the set for around $300 last night, so I ended up going ahead and ordering in advance of the move-in... I figured if I had been looking at these for months, that everything else I saw made me re-look at these, and then to see them at that price was probably some kind of a sign to just do it already.

Thanks to Doug for the great review and the follow-up posts with advice, and thanks to John for the same, and everyone else here too.

I imagine I'll be coming back for some advice on receivers pretty soon!
 

Doug Hess

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More than happy to help, Josh. Sounds like you made a smart and economical choice and I'm sure you'll love 'em. Enjoy!

Also, since you read this review before buying the speakers, you're legally required* to post a review after you've broken them in.

-Doug



*Okay, so it's less of a "legal requirement" and more of a request.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Absolutely, Doug, it would be my pleasure to do so. If all goes to plan, in about a month from now, I should finally get to plug them in! I don't have a receiver yet, so nothing to plug them into whenever they show up at the old place, so I'm thinking I'll just do a quick spot check for damage when they arrive, and otherwise let them sit in their boxes until it's moving time. Amazon offered a three year warranty for about $20, and usually I'm not one to purchase the extra warranties, but for so little it seemed worthwhile.

Coincidentally, as I was buying the speakers, my girlfriend was simultaneously (unbeknownst to each other) picking out the bookshelf on which the bookshelf rear surrounds will sit!

Do you have any advice on a receiver? I don't need anything too fancy... I was hoping for something that had multiple HDMI inputs - last I counted, there could be at least 5 HDMI devices going in (cable box, Apple TV, PS3, Xbox 360, Oppo DVD player that will eventually be upgraded to an Oppo BD player), one component for the Nintendo Wii (though I could always go directly to the TV and forgo surround sound on that one), as well as two HDMI outputs (one for the TV, one for the projector).

I'd also like something - and I don't know what the correct technical term would be - that had some kind of passthrough, so that I could watch something from the cable box (or PS3 or whatever) on the TV, using the TV's built-in speakers instead of the surround sound speakers. I do a good amount of late night viewing while my girlfriend is sleeping, as well as of things that I frankly have no interest in hearing on the bigger speakers, like the nightly news and that sort of thing. (My brother at one point had a receiver -- no idea which one -- that didn't allow this, so that the receiver wouldn't send the audio via the HDMI to the TV no matter what he did. I'd like to avoid a situation like that.)
 

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