Good sound

A little muddy, but better than the others in this respect.

This is an update to an earlier review. I went to a local store and picked up a pair of B&W 602s3 bookshelf speakers because I thought they would be better than the sdf3k's. I was right about one thing--one of these speakers is horrible. I'll give you a hint. It wasn't the Pioneer's. Compared to the B&W's, the Pioneer's are audio nirvana. So, if your looking for a very good quality bookshelf, don't buy the B&W, Pardigm or that other overpriced stuff. Blow $200 on these speakers. NO--ORDER TWO AND HANG THEM ON THE WALLS. THEY ARE THAT GOOD COMPARED TO OTHER BOOKSHELVES. CR WAS RIGHT.

Price, appearance

Sound quality

At the time of this writing, I've had these speakers for about 8 months. When I first recieved them, I thought they sounded great. Compared to my ancient 25 year old tower speakers, they do. And I do think $170 is a reasonable price for these speakers. There might even be some consumers out there who would feel justified in spending $350 as the MSRP suggests. However, after having them for this long, I can say I'm ready to move on to some serious speakers. The sound of the SD3FKs is best described as "decent" given the price. I bass seems a little too punchy, not very smooth, and somewhat muddy. The highs sound strained, and are almost annoying to listen to. The speakers have to be positioned perfectly, or they sound horrible. That is probably the most annoying aspect. It is very difficult to get acceptable sound from these speakers. But given their very low price, I think they will fit the bill for many people who are less discriminating in their tastes.

Physically attractive but so what.

Small, narrow sound at any volume.

I'm very disappointed in these speakers. CR's speaker review which rates these number 1 is terrible misinformation. CR said speaker technology has advanced to the point that bookshelf speakers are as good as stand ups. Not true! These Pioneer speakers have to be placed (position and height)and angled perfectly in your listening room in order to be tolerable at all. They do not hold a candle to my previous standups which were very forgiving about placement and direction. CR also missled me on price. I paid twice what the speakers were worth at Crutchfield because their price equaled CR's stated price. Ya, you're right. I should have done more research. I've really lost faith in CR. Don't buy this bandwagon crap about these speakers being good. If you're short on space get yourself some good standups and you won't even need the subwoofers, center speakers, and all the rest of the home theatre stuff.

accurate, uncolored sound tight, clean bass depth of sound field musicality

None. Bass only goes down to 45 hz., but I am not interested in shaking the plaster off my walls.

After quite a bit of research I decided to go with Consumer Reports' recommendation. As always, the decision was a wise one. These little speakers are excellent. I dare anyone to find similarly-sized speakers which produce as much clean, tight bass. They are superior to my last speakers, a pair of Cerwin-Vega AT-8's designed for the boomy bass and piercing highs favored by rock and rap fans. These speakers are much more accurate. The 1" dome tweeters lack the shrillness of the Cerwin-Vega metal tweeters. The depth of the sound field was impressive. So was the detail and imaging. I never knew there was a harpsichord on Wyton Marsalis'"Baroque Music for Trumpets" until I hooked up the Pioneers last night. The Conga drums of Cuban/French rap group "Orisha" were reproduced with amazing tightness and presence. When I called up a local audiophile store and inquired about the Pioneers, the salesman sniffed condescendingly before sneering that "Pioneer is not a high-end product." When I told him that CR had rated them #1, he pooh-pooed the publication, saying "they were not audio experts." As soon as he said this, I realized he was a shamless huckster in search of the hefty commission delivered by the sale of $600 bookshelf speakers--the kind of guy who thinks that using anything less than a $2,000 vaccuum-tube amplifier is blasphemy. Thanks to his arrogance, I will henceforth always choose CR's advice over that of the "experts" at high-end audio stores.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega AT-8's Bose 301's (series II, I think)

Great all around speaker. No real weakness all the way though the spectrum. Amazing value. Great all around speaker.

Doesn't really have a stand out strength. little less detailed than I would like.

My dad bought these speakers blindly because of the CR review. After listening to them for a couple weeks, I think that these speakers are the best value I have ever seen ($154 online). They really don't have a weakness. they seem to have good highs, mids, and lows. They don't have as much punch or detail as I would like but for that price what do you expect? One other thing I don't really like is they are a little muddier than I like, when compared to my PSB image 5T's. I am not calling these muddy by any means. The reason that these speakers can be found so cheaply is because pioneer allows them to be sold Online with out any restrictions. If you are looking for some cheap speakers these are the s##t. If you can afford audiophile quality products you may want more.

Similar Products Used:

PSB image 5t, B&W 601-602, Paradigm mini monitors.

smooth, balanced sound.

Could have a little more punch.

I've had this product 2 days. It is better than my old speakers which are ancient. Smooth sound, nice highs and lows. Sometimes it sounds a little too low, almost muddy. I ordered these instead of buying some B&w bookshelves from a brick and mortar. I have a feeling I would have been happier with the b&w.

Similar Products Used:

technics sb-2740

Accurate, detailed lifelike sound (imaging and sounstage if you prefer). Build quality. Power handling. Asthetically appealing.

None in it's class.

If this speaker was $1600 than the audiophiles would be clammering to get it! Pioneer has once again created one of the greatest values in music reproduction that they are and will always be famous for. In the case of the DF3, they have gone beyond even themselves in providing, to the true music lover, a means of enjoying quality audio at an ultra resonable price. This speaker, coupled to a sub-woofer, a clean source and a clean powerful amp, is all you need. It's well made, sounds great and you can pick up a set for less than $200. The DF3 outperforms the B&W 602 S3, the Klipsch SB-3, Paradigm Titan and the Bose 301. These are all great bookshelf speakers but do not compare to the overall sound quality and value of the DF3's. I'm currently using the DF3's with the following equipment: Vintage Pioneer SX-1980 Reciever (275W RMS/channel, .02% THD @ 275W)(If you don't have one of these you don't know what clean power means). Onkyo P-301 Pre-amp. Technics EQ (used sparingly) DCM KX-12 Series II 12" Floor standing speakers. Philips CD Recorder I use the KX-12's in tandem with the Pioneer DF3's to fill in the low end, sort of like a sub-woofer. The KX-12's are rich in clean bass and are known for that characteristic. I highly recommend this type of speaker arrangement as it sounds absolutely outstanding and you maintain utmost versatility for many types of music as well as listening situations. Many audiophiles are forever seeking the "Holy Grail" of speakers. As all audio transducers (speakers) have limitations based on design and therefore offer compromises in performance, it is virtually impossible to offer a box that does everything well. There are a few that come very close but the cost is prohibative to all but a few lucky rich. If you have enough clean power to drive several speakers than that opens up an entire world of audio exactness and versatility that cannot be matched by just one set at the same, or in many cases, higher cost. I highly recommend this speaker and my purchase decision was influenced by Consumer Reports #1 rating of this product. I have always trusted the opinions of CR and they have not let me down yet.

Similar Products Used:

Bose AM5 Klipsch SB-3 Bose 301 Paradigm Titan Dahlquist DQ-10 Magnaplanar MGII

Good clean articulate bass, low price, detailed crisp highs, smoothness, well-balanced, musicality.

It is rather large for a book self speaker. The port arrangement makes it difficult to put spade lugs on the rear panel. I would have preferred moving the port so that it doesn't interfer with the speaker wire connection on the binding posts. The post is configured for bare wire, not spades nor banana plugs. The cabinet is very plain looking, no fancy wood grain look here.

This a great sounding speaker. The highs are extended, the bass goes deep and remains very clean. They are very smooth and musical. Detail is marvelous. It is a great buy; it cost about a 1/3the price that most audiophile spend on inerconnects. It is not just good for its extremely low price, it is just good, or better just great. Everytime I listen to this speaker I wonder about how some could spend the money to buy speakers costing $5000 to $20000. Can they really get much better sonic results for their money? I wonder. I use very sturdy stands for this speaker and I believe this helps the speaker produce the clean rich sound that I hear from my favorite CDs. A great surprise at this price.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Matrix (great soundstage, lots of ambient detail, very enjoyable, clean) Dynaudio 1.3MK11(Great dynamics, clean, lots of detail, great treble, tight bass, voices sound real with great clarity a

Lows,mids & high

none

Excelent speakers

Lows, Mids, Highs, Looks, Price

The only downside to all this is that I did not get them sooner:)

These speakers where rated #1 by Consumer Reports in a test that compared 45 diferent bookshelf speakers. Now that is a strong statement. When I read the review I was amazaed that Pioneer had won the battle over designer brands like B&W, Polk Audio, Bose, JBL, Acoustic Research, Klipsch, etc. I had recently gone on a rampage and upped my whole system. I upgraded my old Yamaha RXV-590 receiver to the new Yamaha RXV-2200($719, awesome receiver). Upgraded my 6 year old JBL MR38 large bookshelf speakers so I purchased a pair of Bose 301's bookselves($318, sweet). Upgraded my old Yamaha CDC-645 CD player to the new Yamaha CDC-685($185, clean sound). I added what believe to be the best sub for the dollar, the JBL PB12($300, rocks).Also added some adjustable speaker stands made by Standesign, model# BB75AH($75, nice). Now this is where the SDF3K's come into play. I wanted to add some extra bookshelves for my main B channel and I was debating on either another pair of 301's, JBL's popular S38's or should I put my complete trust in Consumer Reports, which for several decades has built an ancomparable reputation providing consumers with only the most honest reviews. Since the reviews on the JBL's where so good I had to go and listen to them for myself. Now, I could only compare them to the 301's due to the fact that the dealer that I visited did not even sell the Pioneer's(huge mistake!). It became very aparent that the JBL's are very rich on lows, but in the other hand not very rich on highs. Midrange is good and clear. But for a speaker that handles bass so well I feel that the speaker lacks the same richness in the highs department. Please do not get me wrong, the JBL S38's are some awesome speakers, I just feel that they are a little uneven, more towards the bass side. To make my long story short I went home empty handed, and went to the Pioneer site to take a peep at the SDF3K'S to make sure that they look as good as their rating. Bingo...There they were, killer looks. So believe it or not I purchased these babies without even testing them. Now that's confidence. I just knew I would not be dissapointed. Their sound is very even, good bass, good midrange and good treble. Surprisingly these speaker could handle bass better than the 301's, they also have slightly better mids than the 301's, but the 301's have slightly better highs. Don't take my word for it.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 301 IV, JBL S38, JBL MR38