Price Paid:  $172.00 from etronics

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Good sound

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

Price Paid:  $170.00 from etronics.com

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Price, appearance

Weaknesses:
Sound quality

Price Paid:  $300.00 from Crutchfield.com

Summary:
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.

Strengths:
Physically attractive but so what.

Weaknesses:
Small, narrow sound at any volume.

Price Paid:  $152.00 from etronics

Summary:
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.

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

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

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

Price Paid:  $0.00 from NA

Summary:
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.

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

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

Similar Products Used:
PSB image 5t, B&W 601-602, Paradigm mini monitors.