Pioneer's Speaker Genius Hits Low Price Point - Page 77

Originally Posted by RojasTKD


I can't say for sure, but the BS41 has received praise for sound/price. I would guess the BS41s having been designed to be main speakers would probably be a bit superior. That's just a guess of course. I can't imagine they would put two of the exact same speaker in the C21 and charge less for it, so I'd tend to believe the BS41 had a single but better speaker.

Now having said that I would imagine that the C21 should not be too far behind and quite possibly may be an overall better deal, as far as value, at about $100 a pair (the more you buy from QVS the better the price gets). That's what I'm hoping anyway...

Never heard the JBL 130s. But decided to go with the C21s because:

1. I figured the C21s would match the C21 center I already had coming in both looks and tone.

2. The JBLs have a single 4" driver where the C21 had dual 5.25" drivers.

3. The C21 had a higher watt rating and I plan to use them in a LARGE room.

All thing considered I decided to roll the dice and go with five C21s. If it turns the perform very noticeably less than the FS51s I'll get some FS51s when the next go on said and move the C21 to surround duty for my other HT setup.

Originally Posted by bhazard

I have all the speakers, FS51,BS41,C21, and the JBL 190, 120, and 130s.

1. They will. The only issue is speaker size, which isn't an issue if you have the space for it.

2. In this case the speaker size means nothing. The JBL 130 easily reaches 60hz almost flat. The C21 reaches 50-55hz.

3. Unless you're powering the speakers with a 140w+ channel amp, you won't notice any difference, especially if they are being used as surrounds. I wouldn't use the 130s as mains, except for in a bookshelf system.

If you like the Pioneer set, you'd like the JBLs even more. They were originally $400/pair. At $99 they are worth trying as surrounds or for a makeshift bookshelf/computer speaker system.

Originally Posted by RojasTKD

Thanks for your input and sharing your experience. What do you think of the FS51, BS41 and BS21. Also how do you think they compare to the JBL 130s?

I already ordered five C21 and plan to use them in a 5.1 setup at my business. They will be here in a week so I hope thy will be adequate. Admittedly I'm a little nervous they will not be up to the task of being used all the way around.

I few days ago I got the FS51, C21 and BS21 and plan to integrate them into my home HT. I did a preview two days ago and liked them enough that started thinking about having them replace my home system (Audiovox Advent Heritage H400, H500 and H center).

Originally Posted by bhazard

The FS51's and C21 are the greatest L/C/R value of all time to me. They sound much better than the ~$170 price they are. They easily sound as good as some $500/600 pair towers I've heard (and owned). They beat Polk Monitors hands down. 5 C21s will probably sound really, really good with their MTM setup. They might even perform better than the FS51s.

I don't like the BS21, never did. The BS41 is a huge upgrade over it, and was one of the best $99/pair bookshelf speakers I've ever heard. They are discontinued now, but can still be found in some places for ~$160. I think the C21s will sound very similar to the BS41s, possibly better.

The JBL 130s have taken the BS41's place as my fav bookshelf speaker value of all time for the price of $99. They also integrate well with the Pioneer set... very similar soundstage, yet sound better.

I use 4 JBL 190's, 1 JBL 120, and 4 JBL 130s in my 9.1 system. If the JBL system wasn't being sold on closeout at firesale prices, the Pioneers would still be in my main HT.

Originally Posted by RojasTKD

Credit goes to The Murderousone who mentioned QVC a few post up, but I'm glad you benefited.

Hopefully five C21s will provide a pleasant HT experience. There's that little voice in the back of my head saying, "Are you crazy you can't use a center channel speaker for fronts and rears. But with the BS41 running over $150+ and the FS51 running $175+ (until there's an other sale around the corner) I think the C21 was the best "bang for the buck" option at the moment. At least hope so.

Originally Posted by indio22

I connected a C21 as right speaker and BS21 as left, corrected for volume (since the C21 is a bit more efficient), and then performed an A/B switching test with some sample DVDs. I very much like the BS21s in my home office and consider them a nice value for the price. But the switching test to my ear, revealed a fuller and more open sound in the C21, maybe as some audio persons call a fuller "soundstage". It is hard for me to describe as a relative novice. Both sounded good and I think would make persons happy, but I ended up splurging a bit and ordered two more C21 from QVC (since oddly New Egg is out of only that speaker in the set). I figured my basement room is larger than some other persons home theater settings, so the larger C21 would be a better fit.

So as it stands now, my home theater will consist of three C21 as the front L/C/R speakers, and to start a probably inadequate set of small wall mount speakers as the rear surrounds. Sub will have to wait a bit as funds allow, and still need a 5.1 receiver.

Originally Posted by bhazard

For those grabbing the bs-21's, I highly suggest getting the JBL 130's at buy.com right now for $99 instead before they're gone for good.

They have the same sound as the BS-41 speakers (which are better than the 21s), but with even better clarity and highs. They blend in well with the Pioneers too, so you could use the FS-51's, C-21, and JBL130s for an incredible system at HTIB prices.

Originally Posted by Luisfc1972

is there a code for that deal? i see them at $250 right now

Originally Posted by RojasTKD

Good to hear, thanks! I'm feeling confident the C21 will be a good performer in my application, at least for background music.

I just hope it will be adequate for the LARGE room I will be placing them in.

I'm opening a martial arts studio and will be mounting these to the wall for background music, but also for an occasional movie nights. For background music I have no worries, as I don't need it to be LOUD. For movies I'm concerned that the size of the room will make the home theater aspect a bit weak.

Here what the room setup will look like, what do you guys think? My receiver is a Pioneer VSX-521-K.

Originally Posted by tlalotoani

I have a Denon AVR-391 feeding a pair of FS51 and a C21, have them in a "big" room, 15x52 room, with music and almost maxed out volume, it sounds loud but not LOUD, with movies is a little different, with DTS HD many dialogs sound weak, very low volume, with sudden scary bursts of volume with the explosions, could be my receiver, but with Dolby Digital volume is not a big problem.
What I´m triying to say is that my Denon has a little less "punch" than your 521 (80w vs 75w @ 8 ohms) wich means that your speakers-receiver may not fulfill your needs in the movies part, with music don´t think that would be a problem

Originally Posted by tlalotoani

I have a Denon AVR-391 feeding a pair of FS51 and a C21, have them in a "big" room, 15x52 room, with music and almost maxed out volume, it sounds loud but not LOUD, with movies is a little different, with DTS HD many dialogs sound weak, very low volume, with sudden scary bursts of volume with the explosions, could be my receiver, but with Dolby Digital volume is not a big problem.
What I´m triying to say is that my Denon has a little less "punch" than your 521 (80w vs 75w @ 8 ohms) wich means that your speakers-receiver may not fulfill your needs in the movies part, with music don´t think that would be a problem

Originally Posted by BeechTom

Not to get this thread off track, but I dare say your Denon probably has more "real world" power than the Pio. But as said above, with a room that huge, it's going to take an awful lot of power/speaker output to properly fill it to reference levels for movies.

Originally Posted by RojasTKD

Good to hear, thanks! I'm feeling confident the C21 will be a good performer in my application, at least for background music.

I just hope it will be adequate for the LARGE room I will be placing them in.

I'm opening a martial arts studio and will be mounting these to the wall for background music, but also for an occasional movie nights. For background music I have no worries, as I don't need it to be LOUD. For movies I'm concerned that the size of the room will make the home theater aspect a bit weak.

Here what the room setup will look like, what do you guys think? My receiver is a Pioneer VSX-521-K.

Originally Posted by indio22

In my 24x23 foot unfinished basement, I can turn the volumne of my old 40 watt receiver about half way before the volume gets too loud for my tastes. Since these speakers aren't the most efficient around, depending on the volume you need, in a larger room you might need a receiver/amp with some kick.

By the way, this is my first time ordering anything from QVC, and the two C21 speakers I ordered two days ago are still showing as "In Process" and "Label Printed". On the other hand, the Pioneer subwoofer I ordered around the same time for my small home office is already being delivered tomorrow from New Egg. Wondering if anyone has ordered these speakers from QVC, and should I have any concerns with that retailer?

Originally Posted by indio22

In my 24x23 foot unfinished basement, I can turn the volumne of my old 40 watt receiver about half way before the volume gets too loud for my tastes. Since these speakers aren't the most efficient around, depending on the volume you need, in a larger room you might need a receiver/amp with some kick.

By the way, this is my first time ordering anything from QVC, and the two C21 speakers I ordered two days ago are still showing as "In Process" and "Label Printed". On the other hand, the Pioneer subwoofer I ordered around the same time for my small home office is already being delivered tomorrow from New Egg. Wondering if anyone has ordered these speakers from QVC, and should I have any concerns with that retailer?

Originally Posted by The Murderousone

Man they finally came in today......and they replaced a five year old jbl venue system(full size) and the pioneers are on a different level much better clarity, detail and resolution.....they sound great with my onkyo 805.............man I can't believe what you get for the money.....This is a to good to be true story that's actually true for $350

Originally Posted by RojasTKD


Good to hear, thanks! I'm feeling confident the C21 will be a good performer in my application, at least for background music.

I just hope it will be adequate for the LARGE room I will be placing them in.

I'm opening a martial arts studio and will be mounting these to the wall for background music, but also for an occasional movie nights. For background music I have no worries, as I don't need it to be LOUD. For movies I'm concerned that the size of the room will make the home theater aspect a bit weak.

Here what the room setup will look like, what do you guys think? My receiver is a Pioneer VSX-521-K.

Originally Posted by Mike_Stuewe

For such a large room, I would contemplate the 51s for all 5 speakers, and dual subs.

Originally Posted by bhazard

Sounds like normal. Set the speakers to full range and test them with some music. All speakers should play then.

Try setting the crossover to 70 or 60 and see if u like it better. If you have a good sub, I usually prefer setting the crossover to 80-100 and letting the sub handle more.

Originally Posted by foxcd1

I noticed this as well. The top woofer is the only one I can hear give out a full sounds. The middle woofer can be heard but only faintly. I'm running the matching Pioneer SW-8 sub with x-over set to 80 Hz and Speakers set to small. Since the sub isn't the best (not that bad though) would I be better off setting the FS 51s to Large?

Originally Posted by Mooneygh

I recently purchased the pioneer sp-c21 two fs51's and two bs21's to upgrade my speakers. I have them paired with a psw110 (upgrading once I have the money) and hooked up to an insignia receiver that I bought a few years ago because it had rocketboost built in and I needed wireless rear speakers.

To the question, I have a pioneer vsx-40 in my bedroom that I'd like to move into the den with my new speakers as I believe it would provide better sound quality (correct me if I'm wrong, new to all this).

I have a rocketboost wireless amplifier hooked up to the surround speakers, I was wondering if I could somehow pair a wireless sender or transmitter to my pioneer receiver that would work with the rocketboost amplifier? I've checked out the rocketboost products and it doesn't seem like you can use them for any receiver.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by Transmaniacon

Hey guys,

Looking to upgrade my fronts for now, I am using some old Infinity Reference 2000.4 I got on Craigslist. I am contemplating the Polk Monitoring 60s, and then just recently discovered these Pioneers that everyone is raving about. I am of the understanding the Pioneers do need a good bit of power to perform well, how do you think my Yamaha RX-V665 would handle them? I likely won't be doing 5.1 in the near future, probably just 2.1. Let me know what you guys think!

Originally Posted by PTAaron

At 90wpc you should be just fine.

IMO the "need a lot of power" claims are highly exaggerated...
Think about it seriously: would pioneer really release "entry level" speakers that can't be run by "entry level" receivers? (not directed at the person answering the question, just a thought)

Originally Posted by Luisfc1972

ive had these for a week or so and very satisfied especially because of the newegg sale. i agree the "need a lot of power" claims are exaggerated.