Don't have a Facebook page
I guess on Facebook they must have a lot of Andrew Jones fanboys I was thinking of buying Andrew Jones uin_fi B5. But after hearing all the rave reviews about this little Pioneer speaker produced by Andrew Jones and thinking of laying down several hundred dollars for another Andrew Jones speaker the elac UniFi B5 I think I will not take my chances of getting ripped off and disappointed for that kind of cash I'll just build my own speaker. I think I'll wait another year or two and pick up a used pair or an open box pair or returns of the elac UniFi B5 if I could get them around $150 then I believe they will be worth the value even if I'm disappointed.
At first when I heard these speakers I thought maybe I got ripped off and was sold fake pioneers with cheap Chinese knock-off drivers not Originals.. but the Box definitely looks original Pioneer Factory. The speakers look authentic nicely built good detail to Quality of course when you knock on the speaker it rings for the price I understand that's acceptable. Possibly they're buying their drivers from a new source and they no longer care about this product line and downgraded the materials. My production date says August 2018 with a serial number sticker on the back of a very high-quality nothing I would think a knockoff fake company would try to reproduce. I will put some time to perform some modifications on the pioneer speakers after I've completed building Nelson pass BA3 front end for my preamp balanced for my monoblock amp Camp amps version 1.6
Possibly later I will pull the drivers out of the speaker cabinets and take photographs and post them so others can look at them to tell me if they are different manufactured by a different manufacturer then earlier versions of this speaker. Or possibly I got a manufacturer's defect were they had a whole line of speakers that were improperly manufactured the drivers for some reason and I was just one of the Unlucky ones who got shipped a bad batch
I guess on Facebook they must have a lot of Andrew Jones fanboys I was thinking of buying Andrew Jones uin_fi B5. But after hearing all the rave reviews about this little Pioneer speaker produced by Andrew Jones and thinking of laying down several hundred dollars for another Andrew Jones speaker the elac UniFi B5 I think I will not take my chances of getting ripped off and disappointed for that kind of cash I'll just build my own speaker. I think I'll wait another year or two and pick up a used pair or an open box pair or returns of the elac UniFi B5 if I could get them around $150 then I believe they will be worth the value even if I'm disappointed.
At first when I heard these speakers I thought maybe I got ripped off and was sold fake pioneers with cheap Chinese knock-off drivers not Originals.. but the Box definitely looks original Pioneer Factory. The speakers look authentic nicely built good detail to Quality of course when you knock on the speaker it rings for the price I understand that's acceptable. Possibly they're buying their drivers from a new source and they no longer care about this product line and downgraded the materials. My production date says August 2018 with a serial number sticker on the back of a very high-quality nothing I would think a knockoff fake company would try to reproduce. I will put some time to perform some modifications on the pioneer speakers after I've completed building Nelson pass BA3 front end for my preamp balanced for my monoblock amp Camp amps version 1.6
Possibly later I will pull the drivers out of the speaker cabinets and take photographs and post them so others can look at them to tell me if they are different manufactured by a different manufacturer then earlier versions of this speaker. Or possibly I got a manufacturer's defect were they had a whole line of speakers that were improperly manufactured the drivers for some reason and I was just one of the Unlucky ones who got shipped a bad batch
Making new better box is easy. But seriously it needs a bass driver to grow up an adult 3-way!
Make a &-7 liter cab for coaxial and it's crossover. Buy a 10" bass driver, 30-40 liter box/compartment for it. Buy a 2-way plate amp with DSP (two of them for a pair) and set crossover and eq. Be happy!
A passive 3-way is more difficult if you like challenges.
Make a &-7 liter cab for coaxial and it's crossover. Buy a 10" bass driver, 30-40 liter box/compartment for it. Buy a 2-way plate amp with DSP (two of them for a pair) and set crossover and eq. Be happy!
A passive 3-way is more difficult if you like challenges.
Update after more comparison testing smoke in melting from speakers
Deciding to do more comparison testing with my three sons systems move the speakers out of my workshop in all four of us started doing test with signal generators sound pressure meter’s and our ears.
So we’re comparing apples to apples we used our AV systems with their companion AV monitors for fair comparison this time of course I excluded the Fostex in the BK-20 cabinet because that’s not a fair comparison.
Speaker uses used
Sharp CP-HF200 4 Ohm’s 50/100 W
KLH L652B. Specs label missing 5/100 W
JVC. SP-UXS57 6 ohms 60 W
Motion Audio specification labels missing Buy amp binding post
Pioneer SP-BS-21-LR. 80/80 W
Denon SC-U52
Head units used for testing
Sharp XL – HF201
Marantz SR 9300
Denon AVR – 2113C1
Denon AVR – 1713
Onkyo. TX - 8020
After swapping these pioneers through these different systems and using a B comparison on each system my three sons and myself came to the conclusion there must be something wrong with the pair of speakers I purchased because we all rank them to be subpar the bottom of the barrel in comparison to other speakers that were not supposedly there are equal. My one son who owned the complete AV system surroundsound 5.1 Pioneer SP – BS 21 Dash LR even those older system speakers sound better than the new were version and we were able to turn up the sound without any poping clipping your snappy noise coming from the woofer .
So we decided to run the speakers like all speakers need a little break in. So throw them on the signal generator for an overnight run at 20 Hz for about eight hours 100 Hz for about eight hours run it out to thousand hertz for a few hours 10,000 Hz and then 15,000 Hz The next thing we were going to throw it on some pink noise overnight but we stepped out to grab a pizza down the block and when we came back the house smelled like smoke burning plastic. There was no noise coming from the speaker or very little immediately turned off the amplifier disconnected it . At this time it was running through my old Marantz 2218 it was only turned up to the 9 o’clock position very low and this amplifier has a maximum of 18 W . The tweeters front metal grill was very hot to the touch you could touch it but you cannot hold your hand on it. Remove the rear speaker post and crossover panel the hot glue that was holding stuff together melted and was dripping off could not touch any of the components they were burning hot the instant you touch them as you can see from the photos . I reached my hand into the opening I have small hands and when touching the back of the magnet of the tweeter it was burning hot the instant your skin touch the metal . The smell off the front of the tweeter was that of burning tar or burning rubber very plastic burning smell . So our consensus between the four of us since this is the first time this is happened to me there must have been something wrong with either the crossover network in both speakers because they were both burning hot and all the above mentioned speakers have gone to the same break in and testing center scenario mentioned above. The last time I’ve ever had a speaker malfunction was back in 1988 when I was constructing a three-way with some high-end ETON they were either German or French manufactured speakers made out of kevlar what I could remember when I was that young just one woofer was about $160 in for 1988 that was expensive for me. And the only reason that woofer had a problem was because of the Tandberg amplifier bad solder joint on the back the RCA’s when my hand was behind their moving some other components I bumped it and it was a large snap sound from my woofer and it literally pushed it out of its exclusion And it hung up sideways and even after manually manipulating it and putting it back in place it had a scratchy noise after that.
Deciding to do more comparison testing with my three sons systems move the speakers out of my workshop in all four of us started doing test with signal generators sound pressure meter’s and our ears.
So we’re comparing apples to apples we used our AV systems with their companion AV monitors for fair comparison this time of course I excluded the Fostex in the BK-20 cabinet because that’s not a fair comparison.
Speaker uses used
Sharp CP-HF200 4 Ohm’s 50/100 W
KLH L652B. Specs label missing 5/100 W
JVC. SP-UXS57 6 ohms 60 W
Motion Audio specification labels missing Buy amp binding post
Pioneer SP-BS-21-LR. 80/80 W
Denon SC-U52
Head units used for testing
Sharp XL – HF201
Marantz SR 9300
Denon AVR – 2113C1
Denon AVR – 1713
Onkyo. TX - 8020
After swapping these pioneers through these different systems and using a B comparison on each system my three sons and myself came to the conclusion there must be something wrong with the pair of speakers I purchased because we all rank them to be subpar the bottom of the barrel in comparison to other speakers that were not supposedly there are equal. My one son who owned the complete AV system surroundsound 5.1 Pioneer SP – BS 21 Dash LR even those older system speakers sound better than the new were version and we were able to turn up the sound without any poping clipping your snappy noise coming from the woofer .
So we decided to run the speakers like all speakers need a little break in. So throw them on the signal generator for an overnight run at 20 Hz for about eight hours 100 Hz for about eight hours run it out to thousand hertz for a few hours 10,000 Hz and then 15,000 Hz The next thing we were going to throw it on some pink noise overnight but we stepped out to grab a pizza down the block and when we came back the house smelled like smoke burning plastic. There was no noise coming from the speaker or very little immediately turned off the amplifier disconnected it . At this time it was running through my old Marantz 2218 it was only turned up to the 9 o’clock position very low and this amplifier has a maximum of 18 W . The tweeters front metal grill was very hot to the touch you could touch it but you cannot hold your hand on it. Remove the rear speaker post and crossover panel the hot glue that was holding stuff together melted and was dripping off could not touch any of the components they were burning hot the instant you touch them as you can see from the photos . I reached my hand into the opening I have small hands and when touching the back of the magnet of the tweeter it was burning hot the instant your skin touch the metal . The smell off the front of the tweeter was that of burning tar or burning rubber very plastic burning smell . So our consensus between the four of us since this is the first time this is happened to me there must have been something wrong with either the crossover network in both speakers because they were both burning hot and all the above mentioned speakers have gone to the same break in and testing center scenario mentioned above. The last time I’ve ever had a speaker malfunction was back in 1988 when I was constructing a three-way with some high-end ETON they were either German or French manufactured speakers made out of kevlar what I could remember when I was that young just one woofer was about $160 in for 1988 that was expensive for me. And the only reason that woofer had a problem was because of the Tandberg amplifier bad solder joint on the back the RCA’s when my hand was behind their moving some other components I bumped it and it was a large snap sound from my woofer and it literally pushed it out of its exclusion And it hung up sideways and even after manually manipulating it and putting it back in place it had a scratchy noise after that.
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From photos can anyone tell if parts have been changed
From the photos above with somebody with experience doing the modifications that were mentioned another posts can you tell if the speakers or the crossover circuitry or components have been changed from earlier manufacturing dates .
It now looks like the $66 I spent was just for the cabinets and I will be pushing ahead the modifications that were mentioned another post by replacing the tweeters even though these Wolfers are working they were so hot and smell like burnt plastic I will also be replacing them with something better I will read through the posts for a suitable upgrade . Yesterday after my initial upset and disappointed in these pioneer speakers performance I’m a little more levelheaded and calm down today and will just chalk it up as experience and there must’ve been something wrong with the crossover speakers and if I could buy these again for somewhere around $60 or less from another supplier or even Best Buy if they do matching of prices I will purchase another pair for testing . Because if these initial speakers are as good as everybody says they are from all the reviews then post that I have read these would make excellent Christmas or birthday vgifts at the $60 mark or below for teenagers or younger nephews and nieces and young cousins that was my intention for the speakers .
From the photos above with somebody with experience doing the modifications that were mentioned another posts can you tell if the speakers or the crossover circuitry or components have been changed from earlier manufacturing dates .
It now looks like the $66 I spent was just for the cabinets and I will be pushing ahead the modifications that were mentioned another post by replacing the tweeters even though these Wolfers are working they were so hot and smell like burnt plastic I will also be replacing them with something better I will read through the posts for a suitable upgrade . Yesterday after my initial upset and disappointed in these pioneer speakers performance I’m a little more levelheaded and calm down today and will just chalk it up as experience and there must’ve been something wrong with the crossover speakers and if I could buy these again for somewhere around $60 or less from another supplier or even Best Buy if they do matching of prices I will purchase another pair for testing . Because if these initial speakers are as good as everybody says they are from all the reviews then post that I have read these would make excellent Christmas or birthday vgifts at the $60 mark or below for teenagers or younger nephews and nieces and young cousins that was my intention for the speakers .
The hot melt glue on the underside of the crossover board does not look stock. Perhaps the crossover was tampered with. My suggestion is to do the "Dennis Murphy" mods (good tutorial on audiokarma and audiocircle by MCM_Fan) if the woofers test okay. Firstly, you need to disconnect the woofers from the crossover and measure their resistance, in the picture you are measuring connected to the crossover. I can't recall what they should be, but if they measure the same, should be okay. The tweeters are discarded and some crossover components are re-used for the mod. These will end up sounding great, they are my garage speakers and probably get more use than any other speaker in my house. A nice little project that yields great dividends. BOM for mods attached.
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I just got notification through buy-ding And Amazon the speakers are on sale for $48.30
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers(7-1/8" x 12-9/16" x 8-7/16" & weighs 9 lbs 2 oz) Amazon.com: Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers(7-1/8” x 12-9/16” x 8-7/16” & weighs 9 lbs 2 oz): Home Audio & Theater
I just bought a pair
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers(7-1/8" x 12-9/16" x 8-7/16" & weighs 9 lbs 2 oz) Amazon.com: Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers(7-1/8” x 12-9/16” x 8-7/16” & weighs 9 lbs 2 oz): Home Audio & Theater
I just bought a pair
Thanks for posting. Are you going to do the Dennis Murphy mod? For under $150, don't think a better sound speaker can be found. Very tempted to buy more speakers I don't need.
There is currently a super clearance deal on the DCM TP160S on eBay- $79.99 shipped. The modded Pioneers would almost certainly sound better, though.
There is currently a super clearance deal on the DCM TP160S on eBay- $79.99 shipped. The modded Pioneers would almost certainly sound better, though.
I will do the mods
I too wanted to buy extra speakers just because the price was so good I can give them away as Christmas gifts.
I will probably do the sound deadening mods to the cabinet treatment first because I already own all the materials even some more high-tech sound absorbing deadening material then was listed in other mods.
No matter what you end up spending more in the mods then the speakers cost but at $48 I don’t feel so bad now.
The way they come out of the box it’s a fun interesting sound and even surprising for the tiny little box that they are in. at first but you do start to notice the skin of your eardrums being peeled off by the highs if you listen to long.
I too wanted to buy extra speakers just because the price was so good I can give them away as Christmas gifts.
I will probably do the sound deadening mods to the cabinet treatment first because I already own all the materials even some more high-tech sound absorbing deadening material then was listed in other mods.
No matter what you end up spending more in the mods then the speakers cost but at $48 I don’t feel so bad now.
The way they come out of the box it’s a fun interesting sound and even surprising for the tiny little box that they are in. at first but you do start to notice the skin of your eardrums being peeled off by the highs if you listen to long.
The stock Pioneers have a boomy bass that some find appealing. The Dennis Murphy mods tame this and smooth the high end with a better tweeter resulting in a very accurate, detailed, and neutral sound that would appeal to any audiophile. Dennis Murphy's designs are some of the best out there, I have parts for two more of his designs, just need to get off my ***.
Now that Dennis has (sadly) had to get out of the speaker business, does anybody have the details for the SP-C22 center channel mod, or a lead on where to purchase a modified one?
I modified my SP-BS22-LR set some time ago and have been waiting to see when Dennis would make the center available again, but that's not going to happen now.
I'd really like to get a center voiced the same as the modified fronts.
I modified my SP-BS22-LR set some time ago and have been waiting to see when Dennis would make the center available again, but that's not going to happen now.
I'd really like to get a center voiced the same as the modified fronts.
Dennis discusses the center mod here:
Philharmonic Audio - Dennis Murphy - Page 314 - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews
Basically, a 2ohm resistor and 3.9uF capacitor (he likes Audyn) on the + wire to the replacement Tymphany BC25TG15-04 tweeter.
I really like the Pioneer based Affordable Accuracy monitors. I also built the modified BR-1s and, quite honestly, I prefer the Pioneers.
Philharmonic Audio - Dennis Murphy - Page 314 - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews
Basically, a 2ohm resistor and 3.9uF capacitor (he likes Audyn) on the + wire to the replacement Tymphany BC25TG15-04 tweeter.
I really like the Pioneer based Affordable Accuracy monitors. I also built the modified BR-1s and, quite honestly, I prefer the Pioneers.
Thanks. Given the fairly extensive crossover mods on the SP-BS22-LR I was expecting the center to need something a little more complicated than this!
Michcio, that's not a simple question! It may lead you into quite deep waters... 
Having checked out this speaker, I find three 5" polycones and a soft dome tweeter in a tower:
Pioneer SP-FS52 Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Reviewed
The mother of all 5" polycones is the BBC LS3/5A:
Listening #199: Falcon & Graham LS3/5A | Stereophile.com
It had no bass! What it did have is a lack of nasty breakup which is always an issue with paper speakers.
But a good idea is always worth reinventing. Here the 4 ohm Epos ELS-3:
Next step up is what is called a D'Appolito MTM, you may recognise it as a home theatre centre, but it works well as left and right speakers too:
This tends to lower distortion and better projection.
The nuts and bolts are here:
Vifa PL14WJ-
Peerless HDS PPB 830860
If you are serious about playing around with these speakers, you need a Simulator and a start point for your modifications: http://boxsim-db.de/alto-line-mk-ii/
My guess is the two bottom 5" midbasses are working as bass units in their own enclosure. The top 5" midbass is probably doing midrange duties. So I don't see an easy way to modify that. IMO, a nice design that solves the problem of weak bass.
Having checked out this speaker, I find three 5" polycones and a soft dome tweeter in a tower:
Pioneer SP-FS52 Floor-Standing Loudspeaker Reviewed
The mother of all 5" polycones is the BBC LS3/5A:
Listening #199: Falcon & Graham LS3/5A | Stereophile.com
It had no bass! What it did have is a lack of nasty breakup which is always an issue with paper speakers.
But a good idea is always worth reinventing. Here the 4 ohm Epos ELS-3:
Next step up is what is called a D'Appolito MTM, you may recognise it as a home theatre centre, but it works well as left and right speakers too:
This tends to lower distortion and better projection.
The nuts and bolts are here:
Vifa PL14WJ-
Peerless HDS PPB 830860
If you are serious about playing around with these speakers, you need a Simulator and a start point for your modifications: http://boxsim-db.de/alto-line-mk-ii/
My guess is the two bottom 5" midbasses are working as bass units in their own enclosure. The top 5" midbass is probably doing midrange duties. So I don't see an easy way to modify that. IMO, a nice design that solves the problem of weak bass.
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Thanks for an detailed response to my question Steve. I realize modifying existing crossover connections can make things worse very easy, knowing Andrew already didn't have easy life designing OK sounding budget speakers. I am not a fan of poly cones my self. In fact its noticeable Andrew himself had no choice than to go with 6 ohm impedance in order to make them play loud enough with comparable other 8 ohm speakers due to their low efficiency I guess.
Well nothing left than open them up gently and see what they hide inside and if it makes sense to try "improve" them.
Thanks. Mike.
Well nothing left than open them up gently and see what they hide inside and if it makes sense to try "improve" them.
Thanks. Mike.
You'll notice the Epos crossover ends up in much the same place as the one modified by Dennis Murphy. MurphyBlaster Productions
TBH, you are a blind man poking around without a stick unless you invest in a good multimeter with a mH and uF (inductance and capacitance) scale:
TBH, you are a blind man poking around without a stick unless you invest in a good multimeter with a mH and uF (inductance and capacitance) scale: