Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-PK52FS review

[Jimz711]

After searching, I found that I lost my auto calibrate mic, and ordering a new one is 40 dollars, rather steep for something I would fine tune myself anyway. I was wondering if anyone had any suggested settings to get started with, speaker size, crossover, etc. I'll be going with FS52's up front a C22 center and BS22's as surrounds. I will be using a sub initially a JBL Venue series 12 inch, 500 watts.

 

[zieglj01]

After searching, I found that I lost my auto calibrate mic, and ordering a new one is 40 dollars, rather steep for something I would fine tune myself anyway. I was wondering if anyone had any suggested settings to get started with, speaker size, crossover, etc. I'll be going with FS52's up front a C22 center and BS22's as surrounds. I will be using a sub initially a JBL Venue series 12 inch, 500 watts.

Set all speakers to small - then in the receiver
front/towers > 80 hz
center > expirerment with 90 hz to start (90 to 100 hz)
surrounds/bookshelves > 80 hz to start (80 to 90 hz)

Turn the crossover knob on the subwoofer all the way up.

 

[Jimz711]

Set all speakers to small - then in the receiver
front/towers > 80 hz
center > expirerment with 90 hz to start (90 to 100 hz)
surrounds/bookshelves > 80 hz to start (80 to 90 hz)

Turn the crossover knob on the subwoofer all the way up.

Thank you for the reply. I thought most would set the towers to small. The hardest thing will most likely be sub placement but from the design of my room and my other furniture thankfully I don't have too many options.

Since my receiver has only 2 hdmi inputs and tends to drop video fairly frequently I'm going to run hdmi directly to the tv and digital from the tv to the receiver. I assume that sound degradation will be minimal if even noticeable?

 

[j_garcia]

As crazy and maybe a little embarrassing as it may seem, I actually don't own any classical. The closest I have in hand would be DTS-HD MA tracks on Fantasia 2000 collection (both films are favorites of mine and they do sound great). Do you have a particular recommendation for some good SACDs? I have the Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops hybrid of the 1812 Overture in my cart. What else is good and readily available; a good blend of quality recording and great performances? Also found this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/musical-goodness/75155-looking-best-quality-recording-beethoven-symphonies-1-9-a.html

 

[Jimz711]

As crazy and maybe a little embarrassing as it may seem, I actually don't own any classical. The closest I have in hand would be DTS-HD MA tracks on Fantasia 2000 collection (both films are favorites of mine and they do sound great). Do you have a particular recommendation for some good SACDs? I have the Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops hybrid of the 1812 Overture in my cart. What else is good and readily available; a good blend of quality recording and great performances? Also found this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/musical-goodness/75155-looking-best-quality-recording-beethoven-symphonies-1-9-a.html

If you have either digital cable or satellite, you should have a classical station or two. I listen to them because by far that is the music that sounds best with my KEF's.

 

[Jimz711]

As crazy and maybe a little embarrassing as it may seem, I actually don't own any classical. The closest I have in hand would be DTS-HD MA tracks on Fantasia 2000 collection (both films are favorites of mine and they do sound great). Do you have a particular recommendation for some good SACDs? I have the Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops hybrid of the 1812 Overture in my cart. What else is good and readily available; a good blend of quality recording and great performances? Also found this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/musical-goodness/75155-looking-best-quality-recording-beethoven-symphonies-1-9-a.html

What about digital cable or satellite? They should have a classical channel.

 

[dwaleke]

Since my receiver has only 2 hdmi inputs and tends to drop video fairly frequently I'm going to run hdmi directly to the tv and digital from the tv to the receiver. I assume that sound degradation will be minimal if even noticeable?

More than likely you will lose lossless audio by doing this. Your TV will only pass Dobly Digital, DTS, and PCM stereo audio out of its digital connection (maybe not even all these). If your receiver is capable of decoding DTS-HD and TrueHD and also assuming that you have that content I would run HDMI to your receiver first.

 

[j_garcia]

More than likely you will lose lossless audio by doing this. Your TV will only pass Dobly Digital, DTS, and PCM stereo audio out of its digital connection (maybe not even all these). If your receiver is capable of decoding DTS-HD and TrueHD and also assuming that you have that content I would run HDMI to your receiver first.

Agreed, but the issue likely can be solved by adjusting the settings in the sources and/or the receiver to eliminate the dropouts. Took me a few days of trial and error and an email off to Emotiva to get my dropouts resolved.

 

[Jimz711]

Well, I picked up the 5.0 system from Best Buy they even did better than price matching so the whole thing tax included came to roughly $350 not a bad deal. Different BB than the first time these guys actually carried the speakers over to the Magnolia listening room so I could really listen to them, much better than my first experience, in which they just didn't sound so good out on the floor.

Now it's just a matter of getting them set up, I was thinking about getting a different receiver with more hdmi inputs and passthrough so I can use the TV speakers late at night, and hopefully have less dropped signal issues. It almost seems a waste though because the Harman is such a nice receiver.

I'll email Harman to see if they have any suggestions before I pull the trigger, on an new receiver although I really like the idea of passthrough. I would assume an hdmi switch would work as a less elegant option.

 

[j_garcia]

Passthrough is one of the reasons I waited for my UMC-200.

 

[Jimz711]

I know, I really want passthrough. Best Buy has a great deal on a Harman Kardon 1700 but I do not see passthrough on any of the specs and in other forums, people have said it does not have passthrough. My issue is if I buy a new receiver, the sound will probably not be as good as the AVR 247, unless I spend what I spent on the 247, but as long as it is good sound I think passthrough is actually more important, I can always use the Harman as a stereo receiver in another room.

With all the video issues I read in Onkyo reviews I think I'm looking at Pioneer or Yamaha or maybe Denon.

Does passthrough allow you to watch your TV while listening to say a stereo or usb imput?

 

[j_garcia]

If it were me, Yamaha or Denon. I am not a huge fan of the Pioneer receivers, but they seem to be well liked and should work also. Marantz would actually be my first choice, but they aren't inexpensive.

 

[Jimz711]

I'm not intentionally trying to be cheap, and I think I'm thinking my current receiver is newer than it really is. So maybe I can convince my conscience with all I just saved on these good sounding speakers, originally thinking I was going to have to spend significantly more, that I deserve to get a more expensive receiver.

I'll also feel better about running these speakers since my current receiver has in rather large letters 8 ohm only at the speaker connections. I know it'll run 6 ohms so I'm not really worried just trying to justify an additional expense.

I've also read that some reviewers are disappointed in this years Pioneer receivers.

Off to Accessories4less to look at Marantz an Denon.

 

[PENG]

As crazy and maybe a little embarrassing as it may seem, I actually don't own any classical. The closest I have in hand would be DTS-HD MA tracks on Fantasia 2000 collection (both films are favorites of mine and they do sound great). Do you have a particular recommendation for some good SACDs? I have the Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops hybrid of the 1812 Overture in my cart. What else is good and readily available; a good blend of quality recording and great performances? Also found this thread:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/musical-goodness/75155-looking-best-quality-recording-beethoven-symphonies-1-9-a.html

My P362 fell apart on just about any well recorded large orchestral music so for sure any of the Beethoven's 9 symphonies would do but those symphonies may bore you to turn if off before it get to part where there would be too much for lesser speakers. So may be try one of the following:

Telarc SACD-60541, 1812 Overture - The 362 not only made a mess, it also could not reproduce those canon fire anywhere near realistic level.
Reference Recordings RR-11CD, Symphonie Fantastique, just play the last 3 tracks.
Telarc CD-80078, Copland Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, FanFare for the Common Man. The first track has some nice bass drum hits.

If you are not really into classical music I would say don't bother but you are curious about how those inexpensive speakers perform with more complex contents then it may be worth finding out by investing on one. Amazon.com have all of them, all under $20.

Amazon.com: Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture & Other Orchestral Works: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Erich Kunzel: Music

The Copland one is under $10

Amazon.com: Copland: Appalachian Spring; Rodeo; Fanfare for the Common Man: Aaron Copland, Louis Lane, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Music

 

[Jimz711]

When I want to listen to classical music, I usually just use the music channels on my digital cable receiver. They have what is called a pop classic channel, that even someone like me that does not have any classical collection to speak of can listen to for quite a bit of time especially with my KEF's. It is surely something I'll be trying to compare these Pioneers with the KEF's. I know the towers can hold their own with the KEF's on rock with deeper bass they will most likely come out ahead but I'm just hoping they can stay in the ballpark on classical.

 

[j_garcia]

Amazon.com: Tchaikovsky: 1812 Overture & Other Orchestral Works: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Erich Kunzel: Music

That's the one I already had in my cart. Ordered it, just to have it since that seems like a good price I don't listen to classical a lot, though not because I don't like it, it just isn't what I primarily listen to.

I don't have cable, but I am sure I could just pull something from Pandora. If they give me the digital copy now that I ordered the disc, I can listen via Amazon Cloud.

 

[Jimz711]

I have to say at BB today they were powering the Pioneer towers with the Pioneer 1122 receiver and they sounded darn good, but I had heard bad things about the sound from the lower models of Pioneer receivers, and for the price of the 1122 I can get a slimline Marantz. The funny thing is each of those receivers and most of the Denon's would cost more than my entire speaker setup which is so backwards from the usual thought process.

 

[Jimz711]

Plus with cable it would be harder to do a direct comparison, it's not like they'll play the same song twice so you can compare your two speakers. It's just a great channel for those of us who aren't big fans of classical and would not be terribly willing to listen to entire symphonies. It is the one channel I will approach with my fingers crossed when I've got the new speakers running.

 

[Jimz711]

Any idea why for the Marantz 1403 the THD at 6 ohms is listed at 10%?

 

[j_garcia]

Any idea why for the Marantz 1403 the THD at 6 ohms is listed at 10%?

Tiny amp/power supply? Those NR receivers aren't designed for power, they are for their small size and lower listening levels. All of the Marantz gear states 6 Ohm minimum, but I've run my 4 Ohm speakers on many different ones. My receiver was also 42lbs