SP-C22 Andrew Jones Designed Center Channel Speaker, re-engineered for 2012

The first time I heard the now legendary Pioneer BS-21 speakers by Andrew Jones, I fell in love with them. A nice laid-back midrange centered "British sound" speaker for a bargain price. I loved them so much that I built a 7.1 surround system based on them. I never ended up buying the matching center channel as I had a similarly voiced Boston Acoustics center that worked perfectly. Fast-forward to now, and I wanted to build out a modest surround setup for my new home. Nothing crazy: just a good sounding 5.2.1 Atmos system powered by a mid-range Denon. I took this as the opportunity to finally go all-in on the sound I loved so much in the BS-21 speakers. My current setup is using SP-FS52 towers for the front, a set of BS-21s for surrounds, the SP-T22A Atmos modules, and this center channel. I skipped the Jones designed subwoofer, as I already owned a Dayton Audio Sub-1200 that is a better match for the room this setup resides in. The voicing of this speaker is everything I loved in the old BS-21s, but in a well-balanced center speaker format. Dialogue is clear, with a nice full range. While this center channel doesn't have the 'sparkle' in the high-end that many prefer, this is true of the entire Andrew Jones line. Again the sound is very midrange driven. Some describe it as 'veiled', which is a fair assessment. You either love it, or you don't. For me: it's the perfect tonal balance that I enjoy. Especially as I move further into middle age, and much of the higher frequency sound from other speaker makers is lost to me. For what this speaker costs, it punches well above its weight class. Just to be clear: this isn't 'audiophile' level stuff. But that's not a bad thing. What this speaker offers is sound that gives you a solid taste of what high-end audio solutions in your home can do. It shows your average consumer that speakers can do more than 'make things louder'. They can add voice, tone, color... It's hi-fi for the rest of us, designed by one of the greatest audio engineers out there today. If you're looking for 'sounds great, looks good' home theater solution - this is an amazing choice. If you're an audiophile that insists that you can do better for more money: you're right. You can. But consider that in this case maybe this speaker just isn't meant for you. Instead it's an entry point to bring more people into the fold, and help them appreciate quality audio solutions.

My previous "home theater" setup was really cobbled together from a small PA and some studio gear that I had outgrown (Three Roland CM-30's, a pair of old monitors, and a Behringer Sub). It sounded OK as long as the volume was up fairly high, but there were definitely some dead spots between the mains and the sub, and I never could get the sub to sound right (too powerful). I decided to buy these (the whole 5.1 set from Pioneer) because Amazon sent me a free (Sony) receiver, and a neighbor has the main fronts and bookshelf speakers along with a more expensive sub and center speaker. I bought the full matching set because I've been fighting a mismatched set for a long time and wanted something that was intended to play well together. I've got to say that it does work. I don't know if it's a great value, but I can tell you that the set does go great together and has a nice, smooth, neutral sound. It's a little weak in terms of bass at high volumes, and presumably in larger rooms, but that's a small complaint.

Did quite a bit of research before deciding on this speaker. I wanted to upgrade the center channel on my boxed surround sound speaker set (Monoprice). Wanted to keep the price around $100 and there were quite a few to choose from. I mainly wanted a speaker that had a bit more oomph plus voices sounded clear and natural. After considering a number of speakers and manufacturers I decided on the Pioneer. It had good reviews both from purchasers and a couple of professional reviews I found. I would have preferred an acoustic type speaker vs a ported cabinet but those were difficult to find. I just find ported speakers sometimes have a more hollow, boxy sound. After receiving the speaker I set it on top of the fireplace mantle below the TV and hooked it up. The unusual curved cabinet comes with rubber cradles to set the speaker in which keeps it stable and allows you to tilt the speaker up or down for the best angle for listening. I was immediate happy with the sound of the speaker but it still had a bit of that “boxy” or not completely natural sound for voices. It was better in this regard than the speaker I was replacing and the sound was fuller and offered more range and “punch”. After a good bit of tweaking the equalizer for the center channel I was able to improve on the sound of voices. They are clear and easy to understand. The speaker definitely has quite a bit of punch and much more low end. That really adds to louder action scenes. Do look at the measurements and weight if this speaker. It’s large and hefty. Make sure you have the space you need. I think the well made cabinet adds to sound of this speaker. It definitely seems like more bang for the buck than many of the speakers in this price range. To wall mount this speaker you’ll need some hefty mounts. There’s no built in attachments on the speakers for mounting. I went with a WALI center channel dual bracket mount which worked well.

Center Channel The center channel sounds good for the price. Slightly harsh treble (grainy, sizzly and thin) and the midrange woofers are a little flat sounding (lacking air, depth and crispness) but clear, balanced and detailed enough to be well worth the money. I think I can do a little better for a little more $ but it gives enough vocal detail for movies that I don't care enough to replace it. Just ok for music, nothing spectacular but then again I can't place it properly and optimize it's sound due to it's enormous size, so it sits on the table top with my tv behind it until I can find a tv stand that will accommodate a 7 1/4" + high center channel for under $1000... good luck! Regardless the treble is a bit harsh and placement won't do much for that - It needs a smoother, fuller, tweeter and a little bit smaller box. Bookshelf Speakers I can't imagine doing better at this price point for this speaker package as a whole... I would say that the tweeter quality is marginal for ALL of the speakers in this lineup but the bookshelf and tower speakers are well designed so that the midrange drivers sound pretty good. The midrange is very natural sounding and there are no resonant frequencies that seem to stand out as harsh or mushy. My complaints about the tweeter are the same as what I wrote for the center channel. There could be more air and depth all the way around but that won't happen in this price range with these drivers. The enclosures are bland and almost identical to my old yamaha cheapies that I used to have but I can live with it. Tower Speakers I use carpet spikes and a thin foam isolation layer between the base and tower. I'm using 14 guage multi-strand wire of 8' runs each speaker and banana plugs. Same driver complaints as the bookshelf speakers but in these towers it would also be nice to have a little more power. Once again, I don't really need the power for my room size and at this price point I won't get it anyway so they are perfect for my needs and budget. Subwoofer I have my sub sitting on a 3" thick piece of isolation foam. I use mine in a 10Lx15Wx10H room and it's MORE than enough. It would be nice to have a pair of these but one is fine and once calibrated, works in perfect harmony with the tower speakers. When I first hooked it up it sounded a bit boomy and mushy but once I set up my speakers for the room, eq'd everything, placed the sub on an isolation layer, in the right spot and calibrated its frequency response and volume, it is perfect. I have more than enough boom for the room with plenty to spare. In a larger room the wattage might not be enough for some people but for my needs it's just right. I have no distortion or mush just solid, thumping, room shaking, bass.

I just wanna start out by saying this set of speakers(Andrew Jones) far beats any Soundbar on the market. I originally had a Sonos beam but I decided I wanted more, so I went and bought an Atmos Soundbar from Best Buy and it didn’t sound too bad and seemed to be a big upgrade from the beam but it was missing something 🤔. I took it back to Best Buy and exchanged it for Bose 500 set(Soundbar+Sub+Surrounds) about 1500$. I set it up and while some of the sound was impressive it just wasn’t what I was looking for, I wanted that theater experience or close to it. So I took them back and bought a receiver and I am so glad that I did. Before buying the speakers I had done quite a bit of research, I didn’t wanna spend big money for a set of speakers just wanted something that would give me good sound. So, I bought this whole set of speakers and I am blown away the sound these produce. All in all I spent about 495$ for the speakers and these are far better than the Bose Soundbar I had set up. The dialog I get from the center channel is so clear and I don’t have to turn the volume up to understand the dialog or I don’t have to turn it back down because everything else is too loud. That’s extremely frustrating and these don’t have that problem at all, I’m sure there are better speakers out there and I’m no audiophile but for what you get you won’t be disappointed. I have all five speakers set up in a bedroom in my apartment coupled with a Dayton Audio SUB-1000. Honestly if you’re wanting good sound and have the room for these speakers then you should definitely give it a shot, and it’ll give you a theater experience oh and I forgot to mention the superb imaging on these bad boys. Buy this set, there’s so much these speakers have to offer.

I have the center speaker as well as two of the floor standing speakers. For the price I think this line of speakers is quite good. I have these connected to a Yamaha receiver and I don't have my subwoofer in yet (Klipsch that is on it's way via Amazon) but there is still significant bass response thanks to these three speakers. One of the first movies we watched was Insidious 3. Dialog was great and I was able to understand more than I usually would. However, what made me smile was the impact these speakers were able to have on dramatic scenes. I've never jumped while watching a movie at home but the setup and the movie made me jump three times because of the sound. These speakers are able to handle bass quite well and provide quite an impact during important moments in films. Some complain that the center speaker is too big but it seems fine to me on my stand just under the tv. I like the two rubber strips that they provide. I can adjust how the speaker sits in order to point it toward our ears. Fit and finish seems to be just fine and the sound is wonderful. However, I don't have anything to compare this to but I'm quite happy with the purchase. I feel fairly confident that I would not have found anything better in this price range. If you are thinking about these speakers............ go for it. You won't be disappointed.

This is an INCREDIBLE center channel speaker for the money. I purchased this Pioneer SP-C22 based solely on the size of the speaker. The reviews helped make the decision easier as well. I built a custom entertainment center for our house, and when the final design was taking shape, it was determined that I would need a smaller (footprint) center channel speaker to fit the housing that I made for it. Our existing JBL Arena Series center channel was simply too big to fit in the entertainment center. That being said, this little center channel speaker, COMPLETELY transformed our movie watching experience and was worth twice what I paid for it. In fact, if I had a chance to test it out in the new set up prior to purchasing it, I would have happily paid $200.00 for it, just based on the performance alone. Crisp highs, fantastic mids, and non overpowering lows make this a perfect match for our set up. If you need a small(er) footprint center channel, do yourself a favor and give this Andrew Jones SP-C22 a try. It just may surprise the hell out of you, the way it did for us. The picture shows our set up. The speakers are in the cages on either side of the television. The center channel (SP-C22) is in the cage directly below the television, and sits at face level when seated on our couch or peripheral seating. For reference, that is a 75" television.

I just received and installed the SP-C22. I'm impressed with the apparent quality of the unit, and very pleased with the sound as part of my downstairs TV/Stereo system. Powered through a relatively new, moderately priced Onkyo amp (which has the feature of automatically balancing a 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup), this unit functions as the center channel with 2 legacy DCM Time Windows as front left & right, matched Pioneer rear left & right and a big Klipsch subwoofer. We had very good sound before, but now I find much better separation and clarity from the whole system, with movie dialogue much improved using this unit as center channel. I can't imagine spending any more money on a center channel speaker in this setup would make any better sound. Just make sure you have a plan for where to place it - it's as tall and almost as wide as the amp.

best center channel speaker for movie

Tengo un par de años usando este centro, y francamente no tengo quejas, me encanta el sonido, si bien es un es un poco difícil de colocar por su gran tamaño honestamente vale la pena, el sonido es relativamente neutral, aunque he escuchado algunas comentarios mencionando que los agudos relativamente bajos, esto se debe que ingeniosamente Andrew Jones diseño estos parlantes con una ligera reducción al rededor de los 5k, que es el área dentro del rango del oído humano donde se encuentran muchos de los sonidos desagradables y que causan fatiga, después de esto ( es decir al rededor de los 10k )la repuesta de frecuencia se vuelve a elevar para así preservar el detalle. Andres Jones logro diseñar un producto con muy buen sonido y a un precio asequible. Les recomiendo esperar que esten de oferta pues he visto muchas veces a vendedores abusivos que elevan muchísimo el precio sobre todo en México. Esto si es que aun las encuentran pues tiene un par de años descontinuadas.

All the rave reviews you can find online about this inexpensive center channel are true to its worth. The speaker is so much better than the price point suggests, plus I got it on sale from its regular give-away price. I don't think I could have purchased the crossover alone for what this speaker was offered at . Tremendous value. I've read several times that you would have to start shopping in the $500 range (at regular prices) for comparable performance and I don't think that's too much a stretch. Are there better center channels? Sure there are, but none I know of at $150 or under. The speaker is pleasantly bright, but in no way harsh or piercing, it has great bass thanks to it's size and porting and the voice transitions from sub to center are transparent with no booming male voices or shrill female voices. It's clean and clear, just like it should be. Very pleased and quite impressed. Highly recommended.

This speaker is sweet for the price. I only needed a center speaker so I did a lot of shopping around and everything is in the $150+ range. I got this on sale for less which I was happy about, but what made it even better was that this speaker is better than anything in the $150 range. If you want to go up, sure you can spend a lot more, but for my needs this does fine. The sound quality isn't going to blow you away, but you can't expect that at this price range. Overall the sound is clear and I don't have to turn them up too much. Along with some nice bookshelf speakers that I've setup for surround sound, this is good enough for my basement set up.

Gran calidad en el sonido de voces...y excelente material, muy buena calidad en sonido y en exterior.