Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Pioneer A30IR50-51F Speakers by JIMMY

Model:	A30IR50-51F
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$65
Description:	12
Manufacturer URL:	Pioneer
Manufacturer URL:	Pioneer

Review by JIMMY on July 03, 2006 at 15:14:47
IP Address: 69.29.226.16

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for the A30IR50-51F

On a whim I ordered a pair of Pioneer A30IR50-51F speakers from Parts Express for my new 3-way DIY speaker project. The 3-way DIY project includes a Vifa P21 WO 12 in a small sealed enclosureto restrict lower bass & a SEAS T25 CF 001 Excel tweeters. The VIFA produces a midrange without some congestion issues I heard from some 6-1/2' to 7" mid/bass speakers.
Performing a search on the internet resulted in no information regarding sonic quality of these Pioneer A30IR50-51F speakers. So, curiousity got the best of me. If these speakers did not perform well, I was going to order a pair of Focal 13W 8711 and give the Pioneer speakers away to my teenage son. Regarding accurate & musical bass, if $420 each per Focal woofer was required, so be it.
Over the years I auditioned many vintage & current 12" woofers including Stevens TruSonic, JBL D130s, Electro-Voice EVM 12L, Eminence B102 and a few other sopeakers. Per my listening tests, some of the above are good guitar amp speakers, but none make for an accurate bass response to say 120Hz. I also tried a seperate matching pair of Peerless 10" XLS in a 1" MDS enclosure with matching passive radiator & was not impressed beyond HT type earthquake simulations.
Although the Pioneer A30IR50-51F is specified as a semi-full range speaker, the speakers are definitely not full range. An Altec 604 C0-Axial will way outperform these new Pioneer speakers in the midrange.
The Pioneer A30IR50-51F 12" speakers specifications are as follows:
Power handling: 150 watts RMS
Impedance: 8 ohms
Voice Coil Size: 2-1/2"
Frequency: 19Hz to 5kHz
Magnet Weight: 50-oz
SPL: 91dB at 1-watt/1-meter
VAS: 11.91
Xmax: 3.1 mm
QMS: 4.37
QES: .27
QTS: .25
F/S: 19 Hz
Weight: 10 lbs
After opening the parcel, I was pleased with the heavy gage stamped steel frame expecting much less. The paper cone has five ribs with stiff paper cone. The backside of the paper cone appears like a Scan-Speak '8535' having random ridges contributing to the stiff cone construction. The surround suspension is rubber, not foam unlike the other Pioneer 12" models. However, the overall appearance suggested these speakers would sound poor like any cheap Asian imported speaker.
First test was simply placing the speaker in an open air environment and listening to the lower midrange frequencies. I was surprised the midrange did not produce a fair amount of distortion, just lacking the crisp response of a quality mid/bass speaker in the upper registers.
Next, I placed the Pioneer in a 2.7 cubic feet ported enclosure & used a simple 125 Hz crossover. I was surprised of the accurate and musical bass response. Far superior to a JBL D130 or Stevens TruSonic I auditioned in the past. The Pioneer speakers should require at least 50 hours break-in like any speaker to produce best sonics. To sound as good as the Pioneer did right out of the box, I can recommend these speakers for audiophiles on a budget that can not afford Focal 13W 8711 speakers. I would also suggest an upper limit of 250-300 Hz as a PHL midrange such as the 1120 would way outperform these Pioneer speakers.
As a matter of record, my amplifiers are DIY tube type triode connected power tubes producing about 15-watts per channel. I did not spare much expense of these DIY amps & are 5th generation design that outperformed my PPP 45 amps.

Product Weakness: Not a true 5kHz range speaker. Use as a woofer.
Product Strengths: Clean bass response at low cost

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	DIY PPP 6V6GT
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	DIY 6P5GT
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	CDP
Speakers:	DIY 3-Way
Cables/Interconnects:	Hammond
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Various
Room Size (LxWxH):	20 x 14 x 8
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 hours
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Tripp-lite
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Not a true 5kHz range speaker. Use as a woofer.
Product Strengths:	Clean bass response at low cost