Pioneer Andrew Jones SP-PK52FS review

[Jimz711]

I figured it was because of the small size of the receiver, probably not the right receiver for the Pioneer speakers. The THD for 8 ohms is under 1% so would be fine if these speakers were 8 ohm. Of course you can't have everything.

 

[Jimz711]

Got the speakers hooked up, it was a little hard to get motivated since I will most likely be getting a receiver with hdmi passthrough. I manually set the receiver since I lost the calibration mic. Listening to cd's with surround off, they sound really good and they can sure get loud, I've got the receiver volume down rather low and I think I need to turn it down lower since it is rather late. The sub is working so I'm not sure how much bass is actually coming from the speakers, but I'm playing with sub placement at the moment and of course the speakers are still breaking in, but everything sounds good so far.

 

[zieglj01]

Got the speakers hooked up, it was a little hard to get motivated since I will most likely be getting a receiver with hdmi passthrough. I manually set the receiver since I lost the calibration mic. Listening to cd's with surround off, they sound really good and they can sure get loud,

Good deal - yes they can play loud - however, there are still those who may never believe.

 

[Jimz711]

Listening to Johnny Cash American IV, and I feel enveloped by the sound, and I can distinctly hear the warble in his voice as he was getting much older. Good lows, not perfect, but to get any better you'd have to spend at least 4-5 times the amount probably more.

It's hard to tear myself away to walk the dog and head to bed.

 

[Jimz711]

Good deal - yes they can play loud - however, there are still those who may never believe.

True, I read in some forums people who had never listened to them trash talking them because the towers aren't tall enough, they don't weigh enough. I mean what do they expect for 100 dollars a speaker? 40 inch tall towers that weigh 40-50 pounds? It's all in the sound. I'm personally glad they stay away, makes me feel unique and allowed me to get them at a significant discount.

 

[j_garcia]

My Telarc SACD of the 1812 Overture should be here tomorrow to try out. I had already put the setup back to normal after the last listen, so I didn't listen to them yesterday.

 

[Jimz711]

Clearly, I need to get a new receiver with passthrough. With surround mode the Harman seems able to do a pretty good job of taking the digital out from the tv, but when using digital music channels, and stereo output on the receiver the left speaker was clearly louder than the right. Of course initially I thought it was a speaker issue, led me to changing the speakers, then changing the wire, cutting and resplicing and then felt like an idiot when it dawned on me and I put the cd player back on and of course I couldn't tell the difference between the two speakers. It's just odd that it took two channel listening to notice an issue, as again 5 channel sounded good and showed these speakers have a real presence to them. I'm currently listening to classical through digital cable of course in surround mode and it sounds really good.

I'll chalk it all up to a way to break in all the speakers at once and still be able to listen to music.

It does put me reluctantly in the market for a receiver the best deals I've seen are on a Yamaha RX-V471 last years model but from what I can see most of the upgrades are in music streaming, which I do not do and if I wanted I'd most likely buy a separate device instead of having my receiver do it. The other is the Pioneer VSX-1022, not the greatest of reviews either professionally or by owners, but has all of the bells and whistles, and I can get it from Amazon or a local store without any hassle. The Yamaha I see only at Newegg but it is half the price of the current year's 473.

 

[ahblaza]

Hey Jim, try pushing the 52's fairly hard in two-channel mode sans sub and give them a good workout. Digital from TV isn't going to impress unless you're running the digital out from cable or sat box into receiver, the TV's digital out is only stereo (maybe) depending on your display. I would seriously consider an Onkyo 709, mine has been very dependable and it has pre-outs if ever you want to expand to outboard amps, I'm getting ahead of myself, I do that a lot. Personally I don't care for the newer Onkyo's maybe the 818, but anything below that you're not getting anything more than last years models have to offer except more bells and whistles. Saying the 52's are too short is not a concern, the vertical dispersion is impressive, try sitting and slowly stand up, you will notice the sound doesn't change much if at all.

 

[Jimz711]

Hey Jim, try pushing the 52's fairly hard in two-channel mode sans sub and give them a good workout. Digital from TV isn't going to impress unless you're running the digital out from cable or sat box into receiver, the TV's digital out is only stereo (maybe) depending on your display. I would seriously consider an Onkyo 709, mine has been very dependable and it has pre-outs if ever you want to expand to outboard amps, I'm getting ahead of myself, I do that a lot. Personally I don't care for the newer Onkyo's maybe the 818, but anything below that you're not getting anything more than last years models have to offer except more bells and whistles. Saying the 52's are too short is not a concern, the vertical dispersion is impressive, try sitting and slowly stand up, you will notice the sound doesn't change much if at all.

I've certainly got no complaints about the speaker height, just commenting that I've seen other people complaining who of course never gave them a listen. I've even noticed that when I leave the room the sound quality does not change much.

My problem is I'm also running my dvd player to the tv and I've only got one digital in on the receiver. It might simply be time to upgrade although I like the sound of the AVR 247. I was originally thinking Onkyo, but I've been reading so many complaints about their video processing, it just had me looking in another direction. The Pioneer is heavily discounted but that could be due to poor reviews, and the Yamaha seems like a good deal because I do not need the streaming bells and whistles of this years models.

 

[mgeoffriau]

Jim, I'm powering my Pioneers with a Yamaha VX-R471 that I got on sale for $150 from newegg. It's a fantastic receiver, plenty of modern features but no fluff. More than enough power to push the Pioneers painfully loud. I didn't care about streaming features as I have an HTPC and an XBox.

 

[Jimz711]

Jim, I'm powering my Pioneers with a Yamaha VX-R471 that I got on sale for $150 from newegg. It's a fantastic receiver, plenty of modern features but no fluff. More than enough power to push the Pioneers painfully loud. I didn't care about streaming features as I have an HTPC and an XBox.

Thank you for the info. I'm assuming the 471 has passthrough so you can use the tv speakers late at night and not disturb the little old lady living downstairs? Because these speakers can get nice and loud without being boomy amazing for the price.

 

[Jimz711]

Just ordered the 471. I'll miss the Harman as it really made these Pioneer speakers shine, but here's hoping the Yamaha does the same if not better.

 

[mgeoffriau]

Thank you for the info. I'm assuming the 471 has passthrough so you can use the tv speakers late at night and not disturb the little old lady living downstairs? Because these speakers can get nice and loud without being boomy amazing for the price.

It does have HDMI passthrough, though by default it is set to off, and I haven't tested it as I always play through the audio system.

 

[Jimz711]

I will hardly ever use it, but again sometimes late at night or even watching some older shows on dvd the sound is only set to the center channel so if I'm feeling particularly cheap I'll leave the speakers off.

Did you use the auto calibrate, and if so how well did it work?

My Harman often dropped signal through the hdmi, hopefully the Yamaha does not, I haven't seen complaints in any reviews.

These speakers simply sound good and then when you consider the price, if I close my eyes it'll sound like the receiver was free as is the months electric bill, cable bill, the groceries in the fridge etc.

 

[mgeoffriau]

I will hardly ever use it, but again sometimes late at night or even watching some older shows on dvd the sound is only set to the center channel so if I'm feeling particularly cheap I'll leave the speakers off.

Did you use the auto calibrate, and if so how well did it work?

My Harman often dropped signal through the hdmi, hopefully the Yamaha does not, I haven't seen complaints in any reviews.

These speakers simply sound good and then when you consider the price, if I close my eyes it'll sound like the receiver was free as is the months electric bill, cable bill, the groceries in the fridge etc.

I have not yet done the calibration setup, mostly because I'm planning on rearranging some of my room in the next couple of weeks. I'll be curious to see what kind of difference it makes.

HDMI switching has been 100% so far, and that's no small thing as I've got an HTPC connected to the Yamaha. I don't know why, but HDMI signals from computer video cards seem to be a bit screwy -- my last TV wouldn't even read the direct HDMI signal from the HTPC. But no problems here.

 

[Jimz711]

Thank you for the updates, I'd been looking at the Yamaha and I just needed someone to nudge me so I'd have confidence in the purchase. I know it'll sound good the only thing that had me worried was the video.

So actually I'm getting a complete home theater with tower speakers for under $600 which is more than the original retail on the front bookshelves it is replacing. Then to top it off I prefer the new speakers, they do not win on every level but overall I'm quite pleased.

 

[j_garcia]

I tried them out last night with Fantasia 2000 - Beethoven's 5th, Pines of Rome and Firebird (1919). I kept thinking they sounded "off" and then realized I hadn't set the EQ to flat D'OH. It was late, so I will give it another shot tonight when the Telarc SACD shows up.

 

[Jimz711]

I listened to some classical yesterday, but again I had to do it in full 5 channel due to receiver issues. Certainly not as good as the KEF's, at least in the realm of classical music, but I was still impressed and really enjoyed the experience, and these statements are coming from someone who never really listened to classical music until the last couple of years. I can do a more detailed comparison once the new receiver gets here although it does not have A and B zones.

 

[j_garcia]

Listening to them right now. Just finished the first track on the Telarc SACD with them (already listened to a lot of it on my mains for reference) and have to say two things: this disc is amazing and these speakers do sound good. I cranked it much higher than I normally would just to see how they would take it and no issues. The neighbors are home or I would crank it even louder, but I wouldn't like it if they did it, so I won't do it to them. Even last night the couch was vibrating pretty good Everything sounds good on them; as before, no nits to pick with their sound. From the quiet passages, brass, flute, strings, even the canons sound good. I did not hear any obvious break-up in the highs on heavy cymbal crashes. This is in stereo analog direct from the 83SE.

Swapping in my modified A/V-1s for a bit to see how they compare. Same sensitivity but a little lower -3dB and 8 Ohm instead of 6.

 

[j_garcia]

So interesting observations between them and my A/V-1s: the triangles sound more natural, however at times they actually get lost in the mix on the A/V-1s. They are easier to pick out on the BS22s, but don't sound quite as realistic; not exactly sure how to quality that? They sort of sound like they are farther away on the A/V-1s, but with the BS22s, they sound like they are in the same room but behind something. The canons sound more robust and "filled out" on the A/V-1s, as opposed to a bit of slam on the BS22s. I think this disc has the highs pulled back just a tad too (recorded at a distance? or mastered that way) but it sounds just a bit tamed on all three sets of speakers at the top end during some parts. Will try them with some other things and specific passages tomorrow if I have time, but I am not sure what else needs to be tested, these things hold their own

This disc is so good I almost can't stop listening to it Very pleased with the recommendation and glad I picked it up.