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(More customer reviews)I've been a stereo geek for, maybe, 35 years now. Through those years, the industry's progress that has impressed me most has happened in loudspeakers. What was once done with a big cone in a big box driven with big power is now done with math. Figuring out resonate frequencies and cabinet volumes and manipulating them to find bass where none was before is now the norm. But once upon a time, expecting a skinny little tower speaker with 4" woofers to have any bass at all was fantasy.
And these towers are skinny, with a small footprint. The 7.9" and 9.1" width and depth dimensions listed are for the foot. The towers themselves are about 6" by 7". A DVD case will just about cover the top. The height is just under 40", not 30.6" as listed by Amazon. One other correction, the small cloth grills that cover each driver are held in place with rubber sockets that grip plastic tabs on the grill frame. The grills are not held magnetically.
These speakers come shipped together in one big box. Also in the box: an owner's manual, a worldwide list of service centers, 2 lengths of speaker wire, 8 peel and stick foam rubber feet and an anti-tip fastener. The anti-tip fastener is a small square loop of metal that attaches to a socket on the back of the speaker with a supplied screw. By passing a wire through this loop and attaching it to the wall behind, you can insure that if a rug rat decides to climb Mount Speaker, the speaker won't fall on top of him.
The speaker wire can be thrown away. I'm against buying very expensive speaker wire that some companies offer, but the wires that come with these speakers are very thin. I'm guessing 22 or 24 gauge. Consider the included speaker wire as just a courtesy. You'll want better.
Connections are made with gold-plated binding posts on the back of the speaker. This is made easier since the posts are surface-mounted and not in a recessed well. (Thank you, Pioneer!) The posts are, however, mounted on a metal plate. Be extra cautious when you connect the speaker wires that you leave no stray strands that could cause a short. The binding posts do not accept banana plugs. Two other quick facts: the woofers use rubber surrounds and the tweeter is surrounded by sound absorbing material to limit refraction of high frequencies.
The first time I fired up these speakers, I got really worried. They sounded awful. The bass was boomy with no real depth. The highs were muted and dull sounding. What a difference a day makes! After several hours of play, these became different speakers. I kind-of expected the bass problems to improve but the big surprise for me was that the speakers became much brighter and much better defined.
Overall, fidelity is very good. The sound is tight and smooth and not overly bright. I wish, however, that these Pioneer speakers had more detail. Vocals tend to fall into the sound mix instead of standing separate out front. Wood blocks and cymbals have a softer attack then I prefer. This is a speaker that likes male vocalists over female ones. There's a dip in the frequency response around 3KHz* that gives Joni Mitchell's voice an extra dose of earthiness and gravel on the orchestral version of "For the Roses," for example.
The bass coming out of these skinny towers is astounding. Still, there are limits. Pioneer rates the frequency respond of these speakers as 38 Hz - 40 KHz without specifying the tolerance which is, of course, meaningless. My handy little test CD and sound level meter say that response is down 15db at 40 Hz.* That's what my ears tell me too. These speakers are by no means bass shy. In fact there's plenty of bass most of the time. But if you use them as fronts for your home theatre and expect the next Michael Bay movie to shake your couch, you'll be shopping for a subwoofer the next day.
Because I was so fascinated by the bass capabilities of these speakers, I pushed them harder than is probably fair. Donald Fagen's album "Morph the Cat" has some very deep bass. I cranked it very high trying to get the Pioneers to misbehave. I had to give up before they did. The Pioneers simply rolled off the bass they couldn't reach and stayed clean.
Clean is a good word to describe the sound of these speakers. The sound is always tight and well controlled. I'd sacrifice a little control for more openness and detail, but these are personal preferences. You'll like the sound of these speakers if amplified music sounds harsh or screechy to you sometimes. If loud rock music gives you listening fatigue very quickly, these Pioneers may be the antidote.
These speakers are beautifully finished. The theme is black. The towers themselves are black wood grain. The foot is glossy black and the spacers are a black chrome. Pioneer doesn't say how these towers are finished, but if it's not wood veneer, it's at least something good enough to fool me. The foot looks like doped MDF. That's a good thing. You don't want liquid on the floor from a spilled drink to ruin the finish. The only non-black visible is a 1.5" Pioneer logo near the bottom. Nice. These speakers don't call attention to themselves, but when they do get noticed they are understated and classy. Pioneer understands that these speakers are going into people's living rooms and need to be fine furniture.
You'll want to leave the grills on. I took them off briefly hoping to be entertained by the sight of little woofers beating themselves silly. I was denied. Cone movements were as controlled as the sound.
These speakers are less efficient than most. This is not a problem for most people, but if you have a vintage amp without much power, these Pioneers are not for you. These speakers are for you if you have limited space. It's pretty darn amazing how much clean sound comes from such a small footprint. Speakers are a very personal purchase. If you decide to audition these, please be sure the units you listen to have 10 hours play time or more on them.
Had I come across these speakers back in the day, it'd be the equivalent of seeing a UFO land in my backyard. Things have come a long way.*I think my numbers are close to being accurate, but please take them with a grain of salt. I am not an engineer with an anechoic chamber and professional test equipment. I'm a guy sitting in his living room with a test CD and a sound level meter. I took all measurements with the Pioneer speakers positioned 8" away from the wall as shown in the instructions.
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