A.Jones Designed ELAC B5 vs. Pioneer BS22 Speakers,Which ONE would you keep?

[Tharbamar]

I bought a pair of ELAC B5 to Compare with my Modified Pioneer BS22 Speakers.
Honestly ELAC B5 sound is great, same design theory and some what similar A.Jones signature sound for affordable speakers. Although I'm not fan of boxy black speaker cabinets.

As always Bass response is really great for small speaker, actually I like the sound of B5 speakers maybe I like all A.Jones designed small speakers in general.I made a few YouTube videos to share.

This is open discussion not to bash either speakers, I know it's hard to distinguish base on YouTube videos but my videos have better sound quality than most and it's recorded WAV 24Bit 96K format (No Audio Normalizing Like Most YouTube Videos).

Modified Pioneer SP-BS22LR Speakers HI-Res Audio Sound Demo No.1

ElAC Debut B5 Speakers By Andrew Jones, Hi-Res Audio Demo No.1

Modified Pioneer SP-BS22LR Speakers HI-Res Audio Sound Demo No.2

ElAC Debut B5 Speakers By Andrew Jones, Hi-Res Audio Demo No.2

The problem is I like BOTH SPEAKERS! but I must let one go because I have no space for additional pair of speakers, so which one would you let go?
Thanks.,

 

[Shel]

Have you read about the newly announced Elac speakers below? You mentioned you liked Andrew Jones speakers, so perhaps these may be a 3rd option?

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2282746-elac-uni-fi-b5-bookshelf-speaker-ces-2016-a.html

 

[Blue Shadow]

Looks like there is room on that stand for a pair of small bookshelf speakers. Just store the unused pair there for a while and if you keep playing just the wood looking ones and the black boxes just collect dust, let em go. If the black box gets the playing time, off go the other pair. Seems like plenty of room to keep an extra set of speakers. Spoken by a guy whose soundroom looks like a stereo shop but with more records, tapes and CDs. There is gear everywhere in that room.

 

[onwardjames]

C'mon, dude. My house is 1000 sq feet, and I have 5 monster receivers, Polk SDA's, Epicure Model 20's and Vandersteens with two subs.

Don't ya have a closet, lol??

Both are gorgeous. You'll have to make that decision, but I'd find some space, if it were me. Best of luck.

 

[onwardjames]

OH, and did you paint those cabs?? Very pretty. Love that room.

 

[RamblinE]

YouTube videos are aight but this looks like we need to go deeper. Lemme come over

 

[Tharbamar]

Definitely love to keep both but I got to choose one because I can only keep one extra pair of speakers due to agreement with my wife.
I only use Ascend towers in this room and bookshelf speakers are in different room with different amp.
Pioneers are re-vinyl with 3m gloss metallic red, maybe one day when we have bigger house I can invite all my audio friends to audition my system.
I've got 3-4 days to make my decision.

 

[Vintagear]

Definitely love to keep both but I got to choose one because I can only keep one extra pair of speakers due to agreement with my wife.
I only use Ascend towers in this room and bookshelf speakers are in different room with different amp.
Pioneers are re-vinyl with 3m gloss metallic red, maybe one day when we have bigger house I can invite all my audio friends to audition my system.
I've got 3-4 days to make my decision.

Too bad you don't have more time. If you did the Dennis Murphy (Philharmonic Audio) mods to the 22's (crossover improvement & tweeter replacement-you already did the padding) it would take them to another level in neutrality and resolution.

 

[canuckaudiog]

If the YouTube videos are actually usable for discerning differences, personally, I enjoyed the audio I heard from the Elacs. Through my stereo, it sounded like there was more detail and, more sweetness and it was a touch more natural sounding than the Pioneers.

Take it for what it is though, as I'm trying to listen to your stereo through mine in my room, through a microphone

 

[PR Audio]

Too bad you don't have more time. If you did the Dennis Murphy (Philharmonic Audio) mods to the 22's (crossover improvement & tweeter replacement-you already did the padding) it would take them to another level in neutrality and resolution.

Is there a thread or site advising what are the exact mods DM does to the BS-22? For sometime now he has not modified BS-22's, and now is doing mods of Dayton's BR-1.

 

[Tharbamar]

If the YouTube videos are actually usable for discerning differences, personally, I enjoyed the audio I heard from the Elacs. Through my stereo, it sounded like there was more detail and, more sweetness and it was a touch more natural sounding than the Pioneers.

Take it for what it is though, as I'm trying to listen to your stereo through mine in my room, through a microphone

Yes, I'm with you.
ELAC B5 is richer in sound for sure, my wife thought sound was coming from the towers first time she heard it.

 

[Tharbamar]

Is there a thread or site advising what are the exact mods DM does to the BS-22? For sometime now he has not modified BS-22's, and now is doing mods of Dayton's BR-1.

Yes, this is the one.
Dennis Murphy Pioneer DIY Modification thread by MCM_Fan

 

[Vintagear]

BTW, forgot to mention- nice room and excellent videos.

Your musical selections are beautiful but they would probably sound excellent on most decent speakers. If I were in your shoes I would run those guys with a variety of music and pay special attention to how piano notes are rendered - which sound more realistic? Also pay attention to male voices, some small speakers have a tendency to make them come through with nasality which in my opinion can be hidden in female voices.

I would then put both sets of speakers through the paces with some dynamic music (even if you don't normally listen to it) at a higher SPL levels to see which set has the ability to hang in there and remain clear, musical and distortion free.

Ultimately, much will depend on the presentation you like, the type of music you listen to, your preferred volume level, the room they will be in and whether or not you will be adding a sub. So many variables.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Tharbamar]

Thank you, yes I did audition in variety of music types and I found these little guys are pretty good at high SPL (90-95db). I really do like bass response on B5 but I think I'm going to keep Pioneer because new ELAC Uni-Fi B5 speakers are more interesting than B5 to me, Thanks

 

[Gnesen]

... because new ELAC Uni-Fi B5 speakers are more interesting than B5 to me, Thanks

I'm glad you posted this. I've been thinking about trying the Debut B5 or B6's, but will hold off until more information is available about these new speakers.

FWIW, I don't think you can go wrong in keeping the Pioneers. I really enjoy mine. Besides, I really like what you did with the veneer on yours.

 

[Tharbamar]

Yes, I do enjoy my modified Pioneer BS22 speakers and I have decided to wait for higher price Andrew Jones ELAC speakers because some says we might be getting TAD like sound quality in $1K speakers.
I hope it's true

 

[Negotiableterms]

Have you read about the newly announced Elac speakers below? You mentioned you liked Andrew Jones speakers, so perhaps these may be a 3rd option?

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/2282746-elac-uni-fi-b5-bookshelf-speaker-ces-2016-a.html

Based on the comments from CES, these were the $500 stars of the show.

 

[johnda]

Hi, from your video I am unable to see any difference between them. You'll need to judge them live with various material and see if anything stands out. Good luck!

 

[kurt48]

I own both models, and the Pioneers are great in my small kitchen system, but I use the Elacs in my main listening area (12' X 13'). They provide close to full-range sound in that room. The Pioneers are great, but do better in a smaller room.

 

[WaynerN]

I have 2 pair of the Pioneers and I really think they suck. Especially when you have them next to even a half way decent speaker. But the Pioneers are good enough for the garage. My Paradigm Atoms really show how bad the Pioneers are.