Enter the Giant Slayer - Andrew Jones Pioneer Speakers

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IMG_0990.JPG IMG_0991.JPG Hit my usual Saturday morning thrifts and came upon two pairs of Andrew Jones designed speakers - SP-FS52 Floor speakers and a pair of the highly regarded SP-BS22LR bookshelf speakers. I have been intrigued by the bookshelf speakers since coming across a old review of them in Stereophile magazine. Since both pairs were available for less than half the cost of the bookshelf speakers when they first came out I thought I would try to sneak them into the house and give them a try. I am going to hook them up shortly and hopefully hear if these merited the hype or were just tripe.
 
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A while ago a friend brought over a pair of the Andrew Jones designed Pioneer BS21LR's. We listened to some tunes played through Yamaha NS-2000's in my main system, then hooked up the BS21LR's and played the same tracks. The BS21LR's were muffled & muddy sounding in comparison to the NS-2000's.

Fair comparison? Only if you believe that Andrew Jones Pioneers are giant slayers.
 
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A while ago a friend brought over a pair of the Andrew Jones designed Pioneer BS21LR's. We listened to some tunes played through Yamaha NS-2000's in my main system, then hooked up the BS21LR's and played the same tracks. The BS21LR's were muffled & muddy sounding in comparison to the NS-2000's.

Fair comparison? Only if you believe that Andrew Jones Pioneers are giant slayers.

I'm not familiar with the Yamaha's but I would not describe the Pioneers that I am listening to as muddy. I started with Norah Jones "Come Away with Me" SACD and they sounded quite good up and down the spectrum though Bass is not wall shaking. When I saw the muddy comment I then went with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"and the strings were clear and precise. I still have a bit more listening with them but so far so good....

Man, I'm old. These are already showing up in thrifts??

Based on the date on the back these date from only 2014. The plugs were still in the connectors and based on their condition they appear to have been lightly used. Maybe for a secondary system but whatever the reason I am not complaining.
 
I'm not familiar with the Yamaha's but I would not describe the Pioneers that I am listening to as muddy. I started with Norah Jones "Come Away with Me" SACD and they sounded quite good up and down the spectrum though Bass is not wall shaking. When I saw the muddy comment I then went with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons"and the strings were clear and precise. I still have a bit more listening with them but so far so good....

You could consider the Pioneer's "muddy", if you assume the Yamaha's are "flat".

i.e., it all depends on your reference.

jD
 
I had a pair of the SP-BS22LRs for a while a couple of years ago, they didn't last long as they weren't anywhere as good as the hype and I already had better speakers anyways. Some people really love then while others don't. To each their own, as they say. :)
 
You could consider the Pioneer's "muddy", if you assume the Yamaha's are "flat".

i.e., it all depends on your reference.

jD
Frame of reference is crucial. The Andrew Jones Pioneers aren't bad sounding, but compared to much better speakers the shortcomings of the Pioneers are obvious. If the Pioneers had sounded better than the Yamaha's my ears would have told me so.
 
Well, comparing these:
sc_b008ncd2s4-01spfs52_lg.jpg


. . . to these
yamaha_ns-1000_monitor_loudspeakers.jpg

. . . is like comparing, well, you get the point.

GeeDeeEmm
 
Man, I'm old. These are already showing up in thrifts??
It's not you that got old fast, it's the speakers:D
I had a pair of the SP-BS22LRs for a while a couple of years ago, they didn't last long as they weren't anywhere as good as the hype and I already had better speakers anyways. Some people really love then while others don't. To each their own, as they say. :)
What I noticed about them is that for some odd reason electric guitars sounded like they were coming from back stage.
Most everything else seemed fine, though they really needed some power to open up and I do most listening at moderately low volumes.
it all depends on your reference.
Reference and I might add preference.
Guess they might be giant killers depending on the giants you compare them to:dunno:
 
Frame of reference is crucial. The Andrew Jones Pioneers aren't bad sounding, but compared to much better speakers the shortcomings of the Pioneers are obvious. If the Pioneers had sounded better than the Yamaha's my ears would have told me so.

I think the 22’s are supposed to be a fair bit better than the 21’s. I believe the 21’s were the first attempt and the 22’s were when he got it right. I am not saying the 22’s would compare to the Yammy’s, but I don’t think it’s fair to judge the 22’s based on the performance of their predecessor.

That said, I haven’t heard either so I can’t be of any real help.
 
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In all honesty I was just having a little fun with the title based on the reviews I have read on them. These Pioneer speakers are not going to replace my Rogers LS3/6's or the Polk RTA-12's in my main setup. They are most likely going to allow me to take my Von Schweikert VR2's out of my main Home Theater setup and back to my Music Room.

After giving them some listening time I do believe that the hype over them is well deserved based on their sound especially relative to their cost and the expectation that a audio enthusiast has about speakers in this price range and the current reputation for speakers by a mainstream audio company like Pioneer.

In my opinion these speakers are the modern day equivalent that the almost legendary Realistic Minimus 7 has with many audiophiles. The sound is not the world class but when coupled with the size and cost (the fact they were a Radio Shack product as well) our expectations for them is overwhelmed and leads to a lot praise for their sound.

With all the concern that the audio industry is dying due to the younger generation being content with ear buds and Bluetooth speakers I would argue that more audio companies should take a page from Pioneer's playbook and see if they can produce a series of similar speakers. The combination of sound, price and size of these speakers or comparable speakers from other companies I think could be a effective way to attract newer audio consumers. The OEM price of these speakers is on par with some of the Bluetooth speakers I have seen out there.

I would highly recommend this speakers to anyone looking to put together a secondary system on a budget or looking to help introduce a friend or family member to the audio hobby.
 
I never heard the towers.
I do know there was a 21 and a 22 and the 22 was supposed to be much better.
I have a pair of 22s someplace here. They are nice little speakers . They also sold new for (often under 100$ a pair with free shipping)
At they price point they were very good. In the deep end of the pool they can be beat. Somewhere here there's a thread about modding them (driver change, crossover change.) Supposedly a nice upgrade. Chances are (very good chances are?) they're not knocking your favorites (which you have significantly more coin invested) out of the box.
Small space, office, shop, study.... Should be a decent choice.
Based the the OPs story I'd think he should be very happy.

I think at one point , I had a little bear 3 tube pre paired with a 3116 chip amp into a pair of 22s
(One of those side trips we make along hour audio journey)
For less than the price of a nice dinner for 2, it was (for what it was) a very good little sounding system.
 
Chances are (very good chances are?) they're not knocking your favorites (which you have significantly more coin invested) out of the box.

You forget how cheap I am and how lucky I have been finding gear at thrifts and on Craigslist. :D
But you are right that for the cost of a couple of meals with the family at Chick-Fil-A I got some decent speakers that will do fine for HT duty.

Hope you can make it to Rick's for the get together next month!
 
I've never heard either speaker, but I'm enjoying the read LOL, it was a good sneak obviously cause the wifey hahaha,

I've given up on that one, last time I just gave up and came clean at the door...Honey :D. Hard to get Infinity 2.5's and RS2B's in the house without noticing :bigok:.
 
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I've never heard either speaker, but I'm enjoying the read LOL, it was a good sneak obviously cause the wifey hahaha,

I've given up on that one, last time I just gave up and came clean at the door...Honey :D. Hard to get Infinity 2.5's and RS2B's in the house without noticing :bigok:.

Well early this morning I swapped out the Pioneers and the VR2's before she got up. See the pic above of one of the VR2's and while they are very different to us I am hoping that in her mind she might just see the same tall black speaker that was there yesterday..... :D
 
After giving them some listening time I do believe that the hype over them is well deserved based on their sound especially relative to their cost and the expectation that a audio enthusiast has about speakers in this price range and the current reputation for speakers by a mainstream audio company like Pioneer.
That's exactly it--they punch way above their class. Try finding something new today at a similar price and see what it buys--not much. Jones designed for KEF for many years, and also worked in tandem with TAD who made speakers costing into the five figures. Listen to him talk about the ELAC speakers and he will clearly state that everything is a tradeoff when designing speakers. Comparing them to speakers that are decades old even falls flat, since once those old speakers original costs are adjusted to today's dollars, they end up being a much higher value.

These Pioneers were something you could recommend to friends who are on a budget but still want decent sound (and avoid the hassles of used speakers).

Well early this morning I swapped out the Pioneers and the VR2's before she got up. See the pic above of one of the VR2's and while they are very different to us I am hoping that in her mind she might just see the same tall black speaker that was there yesterday..... :D
It took my better half six months before she noticed the Vandys in the family room. I had speakers in there prior with a black grill and on stands that made them not quite as tall so at first glance, no, they didn't stand out. But I just found it quite funny...especially when I told her that no, they weren't new. :D (Wasn't a lie--they were used.)
 
View attachment 1282246 View attachment 1282247 Hit my usual Saturday morning thrifts and came upon two pairs of Andrew Jones designed speakers - SP-FS52 Floor speakers and a pair of the highly regarded SP-BS22LR bookshelf speakers. I have been intrigued by the bookshelf speakers since coming across a old review of them in Stereophile magazine. Since both pairs were available for less than half the cost of the bookshelf speakers when they first came out I thought I would try to sneak them into the house and give them a try. I am going to hook them up shortly and hopefully hear if these merited the hype or were just tripe.
Wow You found them in a thrift store ? I paid 75^% of retail in bestbuy for my floorstanders they are amazing!!!
Make nice surrounds! What did you pay total?
My habitat for humanity shut down & moved cuz they overmarked prices a ton!!!
 
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