pioneer speakers

Mission impossible: Design great-sounding, affordable speakers

Andrew Jones has a degree in physics, but his real passion is speaker design. He worked as a research engineer for KEF, Infinity and now with Pioneer, and he's chiefly responsible for their ultra high-end TAD Reference line of speakers that sell for upwards of $80,000! So a few years ago when I first heard that Jones was working on a line of superaffordable speakers for Pioneer, I didn't believe it. I said, "You mean that Andrew Jones? No way." Well, it was that Mr. Jones, and the speakers were astonishingly good. The now-discontinued 5.1-channel, … Read more

Audio trends for the new year

As an audiophile, I value sound quality, but most audio buyers don't. Even when superior sound is available for the same cost as a lower quality alternative, most buyers will opt for the smaller, more convenient, more attractive, or more feature-laden product.

Case in point, the $399 Pioneer SP-PK21BS home theater speaker package. It's the best sounding home theater speaker/subwoofer system you can buy for that price, but it's also the biggest system you can get for that much money. How big is it? The SP-BS21-LR bookshelf speakers are 12.6 inches high, 7.2 inches … Read more

Quick Take: Pioneer SP-C21

CNET reviewed the SP-C21 center channel speaker as part of Pioneer's SP-PK21BS 5.1 speaker system. While we didn't directly compared the SP-C21 with other center channels sold individually, the full 5.1 system offers outstanding sound quality for the price.

For more information on the SP-C21, read CNET's full review of the Pioneer SP-PK21BS.

Quick Take: Pioneer SW-8

CNET reviewed the SW-8 subwoofer as part of Pioneer's SP-PK21BS 5.1 speaker system. While we didn't directly compared the SW-8 with other subwoofers sold individually, the full 5.1 system offers outstanding sound quality for the price.

For more information on the SW-8, read CNET's full review of the Pioneer SP-PK21BS.

Quick Take: Pioneer SP-BS21-LR

CNET reviewed the SP-BS21-LR bookshelf speakers as part of Pioneer's SP-PK21BS 5.1 speaker system. While the SP-BS21-LR speakers weren't directly compared with other two-channel bookshelf speaker systems, the full 5.1 system offers outstanding sound quality for the price.

For more information on the SP-BS21-LR speakers, read CNET's full review of the Pioneer SP-PK21BS.

Pioneer SP-PK21BS review: Best-sounding $400 5.1 speaker package

It can be hard to get excited about budget audio products, with even the best sound bars and home-theater-in-a-box systems just sounding "good enough." That's what makes the Pioneer SP-PK21BS 5.1 speaker system so impressive. Not only does it sound much better than everything else in its price range, it sounds legitimately great without qualification.

Its spectacular sound quality comes with trade-offs, though; the Pioneer SP-PK21BS system is absolutely huge compared with any of the competing systems. The oversize speakers also lack the furniture-level finish of some other speakers, so they stick out a little more … Read more

Waterproof speakers for the toiletry kit

For some unfortunate reason, companies seem to think that waterproof speakers have to blend in with toiletries. A few, in fact, seem practically indistinguishable from shampoo bottles.

What's particularly disappointing about this latest model on the Japanese market is that it comes from Pioneer, which isn't a name usually associated with personal effects in the bathroom. The pink, blue, and white nursery colors don't help either. But we supposed it'll do the trick for around $40, with a waterproof "pouch" large enough to hold an iPod or other average-sized MP3 player, which connects to … Read more