Pioneer Bookshelf Home Theater Speaker System Designed by Andrew Jones - Review

Overall, I found the subwoofer to be a good match for the rest of the speakers, blending well with the crossover frequency transition between satellites and subwoofer. However, the texture of the bass response was not as tight or distinct as on the comparison systems, tending more towards the subtle side at its lowest reproduced frequencies. This was evident on movie soundtracks containing prominent LFE (Low Frequency Effects), such as Master and Commander, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and U571.

However, once again, in terms of balance, the subtle deep bass effect was perfect for most music recordings played. For example, some subwoofers are too boomy for great music reproduction. On cuts, such as Norah Jones' Come Away With Me and Sade's Soldier of Love, which have strong bass tracks, I appreciated the more subtle approach of the SW-8.

On the other hand, where a very strong bass output on the lowest end is desired, the SW-8 subwoofer come up short on the famous sliding bass riff on Heart's Magic Man. This cut is an example of extreme low frequency bass not typical in most music performances. The subwoofer dropped off too early, leaving out the lowest bass frequencies present in the climax of the recording. However, keeping in mind that even larger, more expensive, subwoofers have trouble with the bass slide in this recording, the results of this test with the Pioneer system's subwoofer was not unexpected.

To put the performance of Pioneer SW-8 into perspective, it did provide good balance with the rest of the system and did not exhibit the boominess that plagues many inexpensive subwoofers, but it could use a more powerful amplifier, especially for a larger room setup. Perhaps adding another, more powerful, subwoofer option to this speaker line would provide consumers a choice.

What I Liked

1. For its design and price point, the Pioneer system provides a great listening experience for both movies and music.

2. The Pioneer system is easy to set up and use. Since both the satellite speakers and subwoofer are small, they are easy to place and connect to your home theater receiver.

3. The Pioneer system is very affordable. For a total price of $626 for all the speakers Pioneer supplied for this review, this system is a great value, making an excellent choice as a first home theater speaker system, or a second room system for the higher-end user.

4. Well designed, physically. Molded curved construction and heavy-duty speaker terminals.

What I Didn't Like

1. The subwoofer is too subtle and underpowered for a large room.

2. Non-removable speaker grills.

3. Downfiring subwoofer requires careful unpacking and placement so as to not inadvertantly puncture the speaker cone.

4. No wall mounting option.

After listening to the Pioneer speaker system provided for this review, I can honestly say that these speakers are impressive, especially for the price. I found that these speakers provided a great surround sound listening experience for movies and excellent stereo/surround listening experience for music that many consumers will appreciate.

One of the problems with many inexpensive Home Theater Speaker Systems or Home Theater-in-a-Box systems is while they may provide the "whiz-bang" effects for movies, they really are not that good for serious music listening. Pioneer and Andrew Jones have definitely delivered a stylish and affordable line of speakers that definitely raises the bar on how good inexpensive speakers can sound when attention is paid to good design and execution.

Whether you are a mainstream consumer looking for an inexpensive speaker system, or a discriminating audiophile that normally wouldn't even think of considering inexpensive speakers, even for a second room, I would encourage both of you to give these speakers a serious listen. Mainstream consumers will be impressed and audiophiles will be pleasantly surprised with what they hear.

For a further look at the Pioneer 5.1 Channel Speaker System used in this review, Check out my supplementary Photo Gallery.

Disclosure: Review samples were provided by the manufacturer. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.