These budget-minded speakers are some serious giant killers according to a number of well respected reviewers and people who own them. And if you want a fantastic pair of two-ways that perform as well as speakers costing 3-4 times as much, our research says these are the ones to get.Designed by legendary audio engineer Andrew Jones–the same guy who came up with the TAD Reference One loudspeaker ($70,000/pair)–these more modestly priced $150 speakers still have many of the high-end details. These includes things like radio frequency bonded, curved cabinets, improved multi-component crossovers, and gold-plated five-way binding posts.
Stereophile's Robert Reina was floored by their performance, saying that both the quantity and the quality of the Pioneer's bass reproduction was excellent. "One would expect the sound of a $149.99/pair bookshelf model to include some serious compromises and tradeoffs," he says, "but within its size limitations, the Pioneer SP-BS41-LR has none."
In his review, Reina compared the BS41s to a number of other well known entry-level benchmark bookshelves, including the Paradigm Atom v.6 ($250/pair) and the Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 ($350/pair). According to Reina, the Pioneer bested the more expensive Paradigm in nearly all ways (with a richer, more detailed midrange and cleaner, more extended highs). In fact, the BS41s came very close to matching Wharfedale Diamond 10.1, generally considered to be the reigning king of affordable loudspeakers.
by Brian Lam, Wirecutter | Read more:
