Speaking of Andrew Jones.... (OT)

...Mike Plews pointed out these Andrew-Jones-designed Pioneer speakers at B&H Photo. The price seemed incredible (i.e., not believable), so I actually contacted B&H to see if it was accurate. It turns out the $129 is for a single speaker, which at least brings it into the range of the plausible. But at $258 for a pair—even with Chinese manufacture, even for a volume-produced box, even for a minimal crossover—it still seems hard to believe. You're buying eight drivers, and two crossovers with eight parts each, which is not as minimal as crossovers get. Never mind shipping cartons, markup, advertising, etc.—there's just not a lot of room in $258 for all that.

I don't know how these sound, but I'm going to venture to guess that they sound great for the price only because the price is so ridonkulous. When I was a kid zoning out to Pink Floyd you could hardly get a pair of floorstanders for that price. If you could at all. And that was a long time ago. In fact the only speakers I've ever bought that were less expensive than these were the very first ones, when I was 14—and they were very cheap, very small bookshelf speakers with four drivers between them. And to put you in context re inflation, in 1973 the top-of-the-line Canon F-1, with a 50mm ƒ/1.8 SC lens, was less than $600.

Not everyone wants cheap speakers, I know. But these are astonishingly cheap.

Here's more about Andrew Jones. No more about speakers, now!  :-)

Mike
(Thanks to MP)

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Comments

[jim woodard]

I will stick with my two pair of JBL100's and my pair of JBL88's. I bought the 88's back in the early 70's. I couldn't afford the 100's then, the 88's cost me more than a months rent! I put the 88's right on the floor, on a piece of carpet to give the most bass response and placed a set of Electro-voice higher up on the wall to boost the high range. Music never sounded better!

[David Boyce]

Those speakers are also very popular for people to mod. There are postings on lots of different discusion boards about upgrading the crossovers and replacing drivers.

They aren't good for the price, they are great. Have recomended them to several people, all have been happy. If I didn't have three sets of bookshelf speakers already I would be into them like a robbers dog.

[Moose]

"You're buying eight drivers . . ."

More is better? Back when I paid close attention to this stuff that was seldom true of multi-driver speakers. The effects of wave interference between a line of identical drivers are notoriously tricky.

How good can the drivers be, for that price? I suspect this is another case where it isn't true. The proof would be in the listening.

I'll stick with the four drivers in my pair of B&W Nautilus 805s.

I see the latest version is even more expensive, 'cause it has diamonds, apparently. But leaving that aside, imagine what it costs to make that incredibly rigid box, with no flat surfaces other than the back to create resonant frequencies. A speaker is also not all about the drivers.

[Stephen Scharf]

Anything Andrew Jones designs sounds bloody fantastic. The guy is a genius. One of the things he really enjoys is just how good a speaker he can make within a specific cost-constraint. He views it as a real challenge, and gets as much fulfillment as designing those speakers as he does the $37,000 TAD CR1s.

[Pak Ming Wan]

The transcript is good, but the video at the bottom of the interview is even better!

https://youtu.be/4Uhkmvd3XnI?t=527

Cheers, Pak

[Pak Ming Wan]

Oops, wrong click on youtube, the right URL is below.

https://youtu.be/4Uhkmvd3XnI?t=226

Cheers, Pak

[David Boyce]

Opps, I was talking about the Pioneer SP-BS22-LR designed by Mr Jones.

Coffee before reading and posting. It improves comprehension.

The Elac's look tasty.

[Howard Brunner]

Mike

I appreciate your occasional off topic discussions of music and music listening gear. I think though, there may be some speaker discussion confusion?

I too noticed that comment about the wonderful BOOKSHELF speakers from Pioneer that were designed by Andrew Jones. When I went to B&H, I found a PAIR or said speakers for $129. Pioneer SP-BS22-LR Andrew Jones Designed Bookshelf Loudspeakers (B&H # PISPBS22LR).
There were lots of very positive reviews for these very small (but mighty) bookshelf speakers.

You are showing Pioneer's Andrew Jones, FLOOR STANDING speakers that go for $129 each. At twice the price of the bookshelf speakers, they may well be much better but they won't fit on my bookshelf!

Best

HB

[mike plews]

Mike
It actually gets a little crazier. These bookshelf speakers are $129 an PAIR.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/884049-REG/Pioneer_SP_BS22_LR_Andrew_Jones_Designed.html

This discussion comes in the middle of another conversation I am having with a friend who needed advice on buying a camera.
She is on a very tight budget and wants interchangeable lenses and high picture quality. She was talking about going mirrorless but my recommendation was a Nikon D3400 kit with the 18-55 and 70-300 Nikkors. It can be had for around six bills and that seems as crazy cheap to me as the Pioneer speakers. The image quality will certainly be good enough.
It got me thinking that if these Pioneer speakers deliver sound quality that is "good enough" the same way the D3400 delivers image quality that is "good enough" then these speakers are on my list.
Nice to see a situation where people on a budget catch a break.
It's been a while since I had a case of speaker lust. The last time it was for a pair of AR3a's. Didn't happen, brought home Nivico copies instead.