Here is info on the mod:[audiokarma.org]
If link doesn't work, do an internet search for "Dennis Murphy Pioneer SP-BS22-LR DIY Modifications" located at audiokarmaDOTorg
1-10-2021 The proceeding was added to assist those not sure what value-based speaker they may want.
Below are reals reviews with real/very expensive testing equipment on other popular value-based small loudspeakers. So, while we all hear what we want to hear, the data is presented here. Measuring instruments don't hear what they prefer to hear. In the end, only you can determine what sound/speaker you like.
Sony SS-CS5 3-way Speaker Review on AudioScienceReviewDOTcom[audiosciencereview.com] Conclusions "Boy, did I go into this review hoping for a great bargain at this price. Around $36 a speaker. Are you kidding me? Alas, that was not meant to be. I don't know what the objective scores are but subjective results are just too annoying for me to tolerate."
"I used to work for Sony and our company Madrona Digital is a dealer for Sony...Needless to say, I cannot recommend the Sony SS-CS5 speaker."
"I like to encourage you to save more money and buy the Pioneer if you can. Despite being much cheaper, I can't justify recommending the Polk T15 even though subjective performance was not horrible."
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Bookshelf Speaker Review (stock/non-modified) on AudioScienceReviewDOTcom[audiosciencereview.com]
Conclusions "I remember meeting Andrew Jones at CES years ago when he had first brought out these (or was it the older generation) ones. I asked him what made them sound good and he said: "people making budget speakers put in 10 cent parts. I spend $1 and that makes a big difference!" Naturally there is more there in the form of a skilled designer than typical budget speaker."
"Overall, the mission is accomplished in designing a speaker that is not offensive despite its low cost. It looks good and seems to perform well."
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Are these actually good? Or are they just good "for the price?" I get very skeptical about hype. I checked out those sony cores and they sounded like doodoo caca and the reviews were glowing
They're good for the price, but you can do better if you shop around.
If you really want to vomit, go look at what people have to say about the Nakamichi sound systems that get shilled on SD all the time.
Please do yourself a favor and do some speaker comparisons before committing to anything.
These used to be set up in my local best buy next to polks, sonys, and then some higher ends stuff like Elac, B&Ws and MartinLogans. Obviously, the higher end stuff would trounce anything in the price range but the Polks and Sony's made these sound like the speaker on your kids Vtech "laptop". They are not good and I have never understood the praise. I swear Andrew Jones is going around paying people to praise his speakers.
Anyways, my BB still carries all those other brands but not these. It's pretty easy to see why.
while i agree with you that you need to listen to make a decision. bestbuy, however, might not to be the best place to do it, especially between, say within a magnolia sound treated room and open store floors.
things in the magnolia are actually positioned and prepared properly. i cannot speak for Sony, but Polk, especially the old Monitor tower series (and by extension the TSI 500 or RTI series), needs power to shine. same goes for klipsch. if you were to look at any speaker's impedance graph vs frequency, you will find low mid range and bass has some of the lowest impedance for a coiled speaker, thus to maintain the same voltage level requires a lot more current. a tower speaker with multiple mid range driver only compound this problem if you drive with an lower power amp. this result is at the same volume level, the treble can sound much more pronounced than lower mids and lower bass, result in "brightness". this can be fatiguing and resembles "laptop sounding".
this matter less for bookshelves (due to number of drivers are less), but most people only associate the amp power with volume levels without realizing there is a lot more to it. luckily the class D amp today only cost and weights one tenth of the class AB amp from a decade or two ago, so at least it is easier to try out the amp before throwing away the speaker
Are these actually good? Or are they just good "for the price?" I get very skeptical about hype. I checked out those sony cores and they sounded like doodoo caca and the reviews were glowing
I had these for a couple years and legitimately liked them, but we moved into a house with a large open concept and high ceilings and they didn't sound as good as they had in a smaller room. I moved to the Klipsch Reference 5-15M and, to me, they sound better and better fill a larger space. For reference, I used the same Sony 7.1 amp for both speakers, so it was the speakers which sounded better in the larger space.
Not to thread crap, I had them years ago and never really understood the rave about them. They sound muddy / muffled, the Infinitys that goes on sale often is much better option.
Unless Andrew Jones is going to come to my house and set them up for me, I couldn't care less that his name is associated with a product.
It's like Beats by Dre levels of lacking humility, but at least Andrew Jones' name is only on the back label.
There are plenty of speakers that don't even have badges on the grilles, which looks far nicer IMO.
The difference is that Andrew Jones personally designed these (not the Atmos speakers, but he absolutely did design the original bookshelf / tower / center speakers).
He came from designing award-winning speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars, created these $170 speakers which revolutionized the sub-$200 market, then followed up with doing the same shake-up at $300 and $500.
Are these actually good? Or are they just good "for the price?" I get very skeptical about hype. I checked out those sony cores and they sounded like doodoo caca and the reviews were glowing
That really depends on your threshold for "really good". When I first got them and they had broken in (and the break-in is real), even on a thirty-dollar mini amplifier they were a revelation. That combination was good enough to be able to tell the difference between, say, Amazon Music and Tidal, and to clearly differentiate between different DACs even under $100.
If you're accustomed to speakers in the next level up, or to decent headphones, then there might not satisfy you. If you're coming from Bluetooth speakers, then they are good enough to justify proper *listening * sessions, and to compare your current music to better sources like Tidal - you may find you can suddenly hear the difference.
Are any of these AJ Pioneer speakers for you?
Anything relating to our senses becomes very subjective regarding overall impressions. Sound is very very subjective. There is no such loudspeaker in this world that everyone loves. When someone posts that something is bad but provides no reasoning for it with further details, then that is a very subjective opinion. When someone posts "this sucks" but provides no comparable alternatives, then what they said really doesn't have much standing. For example, buying the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $80 has minimal risk. Unfortunately, there is no where to listen to these before buying because they are a discontinued speaker. But, if you bought and things did not suit your auditory tastes, then you can get your money back on CL, etc. Are there other $80 speaker pairs that can do this? If yes, post them because having some choices is a good thing.
I received my Pioneer SP-BS22-LR pair today from the Jan 2nd WOOT deal. For $80, I have zero complaints, though I feel they can be better after breaking-in. I bought another pair today, and when I have time I will do the Murphy mods. All in, depending what sound deadening/absorption materials used, I should be about $150-170/pair. I will have to seriously consider the vinyl wrap mod later on. Then I can satisfy my own curiosity. However, the detailed review of the modified version on AudioScienceReview (link in OP) presents the end result clearly. If there are other $80/pair (plus <$100 in mods) speakers out there that are on par, then someone please present them (choices are always good). The mods for this speaker may seem intense if your skill set is "plug-n-play". If you can handle a soldering iron (not soldering gun), can take your time, and are detail oriented, then curiosity alone could be a purchasing push. If you have $1,000 expectations from these speakers, then these are not for you. At $80, I'm not complaining. If I paid $120, I'd still be happy. I am using this pair in a 3 full wall room app 14'x15' w/7ft ceilings. If I had them in a catherdral ceiling large room, they would not do so well, not alone at least. I think some break-in time with a small sub would do wonders.
Are these actually good? Or are they just good "for the price?" I get very skeptical about hype. I checked out those sony cores and they sounded like doodoo caca and the reviews were glowing
Keep in mind everyone defines "good" and or "good for the price" differently.
Just look in this thread some believe just because AJ designed them, must be good. On the other side some believe they are like vtech laptop good(or bad).
At the end of all this debate you are at the same place you started, you still don't really know how anything sounds or compares to you.
It comes down to a popularity contest, as you found out with the Sony Cores that's not a very good way of choosing a speaker.
Listening for yourself is truly the only way to actually answer those questions. If you can't do that an educated gamble will have to do, just make sure they have a good return policy.
He's really a good YouTuber just starting out 2 weeks ago. I'm sure he's going to get some dmac takedowns sooner or later, as popularity increases.
For me I switched over to the Sony's, and set my receiver to a warmer setting.
Then I got another set and paired them up with a tube amp for a warmer but still clear amazing sounding speaker.
Then I got a not so warm sounding mini amp and they sound great with the pioneers, but it was too harsh for the Sony's. But overall I like the Sony's a little bit more.
Are any of these AJ Pioneer speakers for you?
Anything relating to our senses becomes very subjective regarding overall impressions. Sound is very very subjective. There is no such loudspeaker in this world that everyone loves. When someone posts that something is bad but provides no reasoning for it with further details, then that is a very subjective opinion. When someone posts "this sucks" but provides no comparable alternatives, then what they said really doesn't have much standing. For example, buying the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $80 has minimal risk. Unfortunately, there is no where to listen to these before buying because they are a discontinued speaker. But, if you bought and things did not suit your auditory tastes, then you can get your money back on CL, etc. Are there other $80 speaker pairs that can do this? If yes, post them because having some choices is a good thing.
I received my Pioneer SP-BS22-LR pair today from the Jan 2nd WOOT deal. For $80, I have zero complaints, though I feel they can be better after breaking-in. I bought another pair today, and when I have time I will do the Murphy mods. All in, depending what sound deadening/absorption materials used, I should be about $150-170/pair. I will have to seriously consider the vinyl wrap mod later on. Then I can satisfy my own curiosity. However, the detailed review of the modified version on AudioScienceReview (link in OP) presents the end result clearly. If there are other $80/pair (plus <$100 in mods) speakers out there that are on par, then someone please present them (choices are always good). The mods for this speaker may seem intense if your skill set is "plug-n-play". If you can handle a soldering iron (not soldering gun), can take your time, and are detail oriented, then curiosity alone could be a purchasing push. If you have $1,000 expectations from these speakers, then these are not for you. At $80, I'm not complaining. If I paid $120, I'd still be happy. I am using this pair in a 3 full wall room app 14'x15' w/7ft ceilings. If I had them in a catherdral ceiling large room, they would not do so well, not alone at least. I think some break-in time with a small sub would do wonders.
I used these for about 6-years and loved them. In fact, I have the full set sitting in a closet in case my girlfriend moves in and I have to convert a room to a man cave.
I moved into one of those houses with 20-foot high ceilings, and an open floor plan, and these just couldn't fill that space adequately. However, in my old houses with traditional 8-10 foot high ceilings and more of a closed off living room, they were absolutely beautiful.
One pair in the kitchen and I have a pair in the box just in case one of my kids start to love stereo equipment!!
He's really a good YouTuber just starting out 2 weeks ago. I'm sure he's going to get some dmac takedowns sooner or later, as popularity increases.
For me I switched over to the Sony's, and set my receiver to a warmer setting.
Then I got another set and paired them up with a tube amp for a warmer but still clear amazing sounding speaker.
Then I got a not so warm sounding mini amp and they sound great with the pioneers, but it was too harsh for the Sony's. But overall I like the Sony's a little bit more.
Does anyone recommend any amps to pair up with either the Pioneer or Sony's?
warm amp for Sony or cooler amp for Pioneer? Thanks
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They're good for the price, but you can do better if you shop around.
If you really want to vomit, go look at what people have to say about the Nakamichi sound systems that get shilled on SD all the time.
These used to be set up in my local best buy next to polks, sonys, and then some higher ends stuff like Elac, B&Ws and MartinLogans. Obviously, the higher end stuff would trounce anything in the price range but the Polks and Sony's made these sound like the speaker on your kids Vtech "laptop". They are not good and I have never understood the praise. I swear Andrew Jones is going around paying people to praise his speakers.
Anyways, my BB still carries all those other brands but not these. It's pretty easy to see why.
things in the magnolia are actually positioned and prepared properly. i cannot speak for Sony, but Polk, especially the old Monitor tower series (and by extension the TSI 500 or RTI series), needs power to shine. same goes for klipsch. if you were to look at any speaker's impedance graph vs frequency, you will find low mid range and bass has some of the lowest impedance for a coiled speaker, thus to maintain the same voltage level requires a lot more current. a tower speaker with multiple mid range driver only compound this problem if you drive with an lower power amp. this result is at the same volume level, the treble can sound much more pronounced than lower mids and lower bass, result in "brightness". this can be fatiguing and resembles "laptop sounding".
this matter less for bookshelves (due to number of drivers are less), but most people only associate the amp power with volume levels without realizing there is a lot more to it. luckily the class D amp today only cost and weights one tenth of the class AB amp from a decade or two ago, so at least it is easier to try out the amp before throwing away the speaker
It's like Beats by Dre levels of lacking humility, but at least Andrew Jones' name is only on the back label.
There are plenty of speakers that don't even have badges on the grilles, which looks far nicer IMO.
The difference is that Andrew Jones personally designed these (not the Atmos speakers, but he absolutely did design the original bookshelf / tower / center speakers).
He came from designing award-winning speakers costing tens of thousands of dollars, created these $170 speakers which revolutionized the sub-$200 market, then followed up with doing the same shake-up at $300 and $500.
That really depends on your threshold for "really good". When I first got them and they had broken in (and the break-in is real), even on a thirty-dollar mini amplifier they were a revelation. That combination was good enough to be able to tell the difference between, say, Amazon Music and Tidal, and to clearly differentiate between different DACs even under $100.
If you're accustomed to speakers in the next level up, or to decent headphones, then there might not satisfy you. If you're coming from Bluetooth speakers, then they are good enough to justify proper *listening * sessions, and to compare your current music to better sources like Tidal - you may find you can suddenly hear the difference.
Anything relating to our senses becomes very subjective regarding overall impressions. Sound is very very subjective. There is no such loudspeaker in this world that everyone loves. When someone posts that something is bad but provides no reasoning for it with further details, then that is a very subjective opinion. When someone posts "this sucks" but provides no comparable alternatives, then what they said really doesn't have much standing. For example, buying the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $80 has minimal risk. Unfortunately, there is no where to listen to these before buying because they are a discontinued speaker. But, if you bought and things did not suit your auditory tastes, then you can get your money back on CL, etc. Are there other $80 speaker pairs that can do this? If yes, post them because having some choices is a good thing.
I received my Pioneer SP-BS22-LR pair today from the Jan 2nd WOOT deal. For $80, I have zero complaints, though I feel they can be better after breaking-in. I bought another pair today, and when I have time I will do the Murphy mods. All in, depending what sound deadening/absorption materials used, I should be about $150-170/pair. I will have to seriously consider the vinyl wrap mod later on. Then I can satisfy my own curiosity. However, the detailed review of the modified version on AudioScienceReview (link in OP) presents the end result clearly. If there are other $80/pair (plus <$100 in mods) speakers out there that are on par, then someone please present them (choices are always good). The mods for this speaker may seem intense if your skill set is "plug-n-play". If you can handle a soldering iron (not soldering gun), can take your time, and are detail oriented, then curiosity alone could be a purchasing push. If you have $1,000 expectations from these speakers, then these are not for you. At $80, I'm not complaining. If I paid $120, I'd still be happy. I am using this pair in a 3 full wall room app 14'x15' w/7ft ceilings. If I had them in a catherdral ceiling large room, they would not do so well, not alone at least. I think some break-in time with a small sub would do wonders.
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Just look in this thread some believe just because AJ designed them, must be good. On the other side some believe they are like vtech laptop good(or bad).
At the end of all this debate you are at the same place you started, you still don't really know how anything sounds or compares to you.
It comes down to a popularity contest, as you found out with the Sony Cores that's not a very good way of choosing a speaker.
Listening for yourself is truly the only way to actually answer those questions. If you can't do that an educated gamble will have to do, just make sure they have a good return policy.
Link: https://youtu.be/SaEyofIQC44
Link: https://youtu.be/SaEyofIQC44
For me I switched over to the Sony's, and set my receiver to a warmer setting.
Then I got another set and paired them up with a tube amp for a warmer but still clear amazing sounding speaker.
Then I got a not so warm sounding mini amp and they sound great with the pioneers, but it was too harsh for the Sony's. But overall I like the Sony's a little bit more.
Anything relating to our senses becomes very subjective regarding overall impressions. Sound is very very subjective. There is no such loudspeaker in this world that everyone loves. When someone posts that something is bad but provides no reasoning for it with further details, then that is a very subjective opinion. When someone posts "this sucks" but provides no comparable alternatives, then what they said really doesn't have much standing. For example, buying the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for $80 has minimal risk. Unfortunately, there is no where to listen to these before buying because they are a discontinued speaker. But, if you bought and things did not suit your auditory tastes, then you can get your money back on CL, etc. Are there other $80 speaker pairs that can do this? If yes, post them because having some choices is a good thing.
I received my Pioneer SP-BS22-LR pair today from the Jan 2nd WOOT deal. For $80, I have zero complaints, though I feel they can be better after breaking-in. I bought another pair today, and when I have time I will do the Murphy mods. All in, depending what sound deadening/absorption materials used, I should be about $150-170/pair. I will have to seriously consider the vinyl wrap mod later on. Then I can satisfy my own curiosity. However, the detailed review of the modified version on AudioScienceReview (link in OP) presents the end result clearly. If there are other $80/pair (plus <$100 in mods) speakers out there that are on par, then someone please present them (choices are always good). The mods for this speaker may seem intense if your skill set is "plug-n-play". If you can handle a soldering iron (not soldering gun), can take your time, and are detail oriented, then curiosity alone could be a purchasing push. If you have $1,000 expectations from these speakers, then these are not for you. At $80, I'm not complaining. If I paid $120, I'd still be happy. I am using this pair in a 3 full wall room app 14'x15' w/7ft ceilings. If I had them in a catherdral ceiling large room, they would not do so well, not alone at least. I think some break-in time with a small sub would do wonders.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I moved into one of those houses with 20-foot high ceilings, and an open floor plan, and these just couldn't fill that space adequately. However, in my old houses with traditional 8-10 foot high ceilings and more of a closed off living room, they were absolutely beautiful.
One pair in the kitchen and I have a pair in the box just in case one of my kids start to love stereo equipment!!
For me I switched over to the Sony's, and set my receiver to a warmer setting.
Then I got another set and paired them up with a tube amp for a warmer but still clear amazing sounding speaker.
Then I got a not so warm sounding mini amp and they sound great with the pioneers, but it was too harsh for the Sony's. But overall I like the Sony's a little bit more.
warm amp for Sony or cooler amp for Pioneer? Thanks
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