Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

[philiparcario]

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=250-708&FTR=250-708

pe carries them.

the review is in the sept 2011 stereophile. I can't find link will keep looking. My issue came today so the online link may take a day or two to show up.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/SP-BS41-LR.pdf

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/ephox/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/SP-BS41-LR_Owners%20Manual.pdf

[ligs]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

I read it today too. It is interesting there is a substantial peak in the 12-14 k Hz and it does not seem to bother anyone BTW, the woofer is only 5.25 inches!

[billschu]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

I didn't read the review but I seem to remember the tweeter is in a mild waveguide. Any idea where it's crossed over? I've found that a slow rise in the response in the tweeter area when measured at 1meter makes for a better "in room" response when the tweeter is in a waveguide.

Of course, your mileage will vary based on the actual waveguide but it's a starting point rule of thumb. Depending on the crossover frequency and the driver it's mated to it can get even more complicated.

Bill

I read it today too. It is interesting there is a substantial peak in the 12-14 k Hz and it does not seem to bother anyone BTW, the woofer is only 5.25 inches!

[olddude50]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

I saw this review in Stereophile myself. What I find interesting is that the speakers sell for the same amount of money as the upper limit of the superbuget catagory in most speaker-building competitions. It would be very interesting to start the competitions by playing these speakers as a sort of reference and then comparing the builds to this system. On the one hand, the cost of DIY speakers don't include the cost of the cabinet, only the electronics. On the other hand, Pioneer has the economy of scale on its side.

It really would be interesting to see if the superbudget group really can beat a low cost, well engineered, mass produced speaker and, if so, by how much.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

It really would be interesting to see if the superbudget group really can beat a low cost, well engineered, mass produced speaker and, if so, by how much.

Maybe, but probably not. I know some people say that a solid DIY design should sound like a commercial design that is 10x the cost of the drivers and crossover, but the inverse of that ROT is never mentioned.

Can a designer use $15 worth of drivers and crossover parts and compete with a $150 pair of commercial speakers? Nope.

[r-carpenter]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Weight (each)............................................ .............................. 10 lbs 4 oz

that's not toooo heavy.

[fjhuerta]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Maybe, but probably not. I know some people say that a solid DIY design should sound like a commercial design that is 10x the cost of the drivers and crossover, but the inverse of that ROT is never mentioned.

Can a designer use $15 worth of drivers and crossover parts and compete with a $150 pair of commercial speakers? Nope.

That rule may have been true a long time ago. With the recent price increase in drivers, I'd have to say that at least, in the budget category, DIY has no price advantage over commercial designs.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

That rule may have been true a long time ago. With the recent price increase in drivers, I'd have to say that at least, in the budget category, DIY has no price advantage over commercial designs.

It has been that way for several years now, thanks to companies like Harmon and several in Canada. Harmon has an incredible R&D system in place, and Canadian companies get to use the national anechoic lab. Add economy of scale on top of that and you end up with some pretty amazing speakers, dollar-for-dollar.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Home Theater.com reviewed them in June, also pretty favorably.

I was in Best Buy tonight, and gave them a listen. Definitely one of the better systems on display. Nobody else there cared, several people were walking around with Samsung and Insignia HTiB systems in their carts.

[jamikkim]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Aren't those things (HTiB) designed for WAF and HAF for people who only "know" about # of watts and the size of the subwoofer? :p

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Aren't those things (HTiB) designed for WAF and HAF for people who only "know" about # of watts and the size of the subwoofer? :p

I know, right? The crazy thing is they can talk their wives into a TV too big for comfortable viewing but they can't talk them into some bigger speakers :rolleyes:

The Pioneer in question are really not bad at all, from a size, cost or SQ standpoint. However, they don't come with a receiver/source/universal remote control so...

[Zero the Hero]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

Weight (each)............................................ .............................. 10 lbs 4 oz

that's not toooo heavy.

the designer actually said that with the budget provided something had to suffer, and the cabinet took the biggest hit

[Taterworks]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

The Pioneer in question are really not bad at all, from a size, cost or SQ standpoint. However, they don't come with a receiver/source/universal remote control so...

...so 'T' them up with one of these: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=300-383&utm_source=googleps...

...and call it wonderful. At least, for your kids' room or your bedroom. These wouldn't hold a candle to my Firestorm design that's in my main system now, but my Firestorms cost at least $250 to build (more if you buy the pair of CNC cabinets from Dave W). The Firestorms, on the other hand, play at a much higher level of execution.

From the Stereophile review, the designer of the Pioneers focused more of his budget on the crossover. However, the curved cabinet walls are a way to get more rigidity out of less material. I would have asked for the ability to remove the metal grilles.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

One of the nice things about the designer skimping on the cabinet, is that cabinet mods are among the most affordable, and effective routes to improve a speaker.

Rory - I see what you are saying, but you know me: DIY for the sake of DIY. I am pragmatic to a fault in many areas of my life, but speakers just ain't one of them My comment was directed more to the reason why people were not walking out of BB with a cartful of speakers designed by one of the pre-eminent designers in the world instead of another HTiB. Pretty sure the typical HT enthusiast wants to plug the purple molex into the purple molex, turn it on using a universal remote and insert his Avatar Blu-ray. Separates of any kind confuse a lot of people.

[rone]

Re: Stereophile gives solid review of pioneer speakers SP-BS41-LR

I have a set of sony ssm-b100h ($39/pr) that really seem to amaze people at our audio club. I replaced the 'lytics with equal value film caps and added damping. They are actually quite nice, though dynamically limited, of course.