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In what amounts to a price breakthrough in the still fledgling Atmos-enabled speaker category, Pioneer has announced an Andrew Jones-designed bookshelf model that sells for only $300 a pair.

The new model SP-BS22A-LR ($300/pair) is an Atmos-enabled adaptation of the company’s already successful budget bookshelf speaker, the SP-BS22-LR ($130 each), itself an evolved second generation model introduced in 2012. That speaker had improved dynamic capabilities over its predecessor thanks to redesigned drivers that included a 4-inch structured-surface woofer and 1-inch soft dome tweeter, each with enlarged magnets. The SP-BS22A-LR adds a top-firing concentric driver with a 4-inch woofer and center-mounted 0.5-inch tweeter, firing at a 10 degree slant, that bounces Atmos height effects off the ceiling with an appropriate Atmos-compliant audio receiver or surround processor/amp combo.

By mating the pre-existing SP-C22 matching center channel speaker ($100), a combined 5.0.4-channel Atmos-enabled speaker package with four SP-BS22A-LR speakers and the center now goes for $700 total before tacking on a suitable subwoofer. By comparison, the Pioneer Elite SP-EBS73-LR, Jones’s first Atmos-enabled speaker, is a more advanced 3-way design that sells for $750/pair, or $1,900 for 4 speakers mated with the SP-EC73 center channel ($400).

Additionally, for those who already own a system based on the SP-BS22-LR bookshelf or the SP-FS51 tower speaker, Pioneer is now selling an Atmos-enabled module that will sit atop the speaker to make it Atmos-ready. The SP-T22A-LR will perfectly match the design of those speakers, following their curved MDF cabinet profile, to create an visually- and sonically-matched pairing with a clean factory look. They cost $200/pair. Like the SP-BS22A-LR, the SP-T22A-LR features 5-way gold-plated binding posts and is rated for 80 watts of amplifier power.

And although it won’t likely be an exact timbre-match with other speakers or brands, it’s possible the SP-T22A-LR’s low cost and Andrew Jones heritage might encourage enthusiasts who already have a significant investment in speakers to give Atmos a try.

In any event, these are likely to be the last speakers coming out of Pioneer with the Andrew Jones name attached to them. The accomplished high-end designer, whose long run creating value-priced speakers for Pioneer turned him into an industry celebrity, has left the company to head up product development at the German speaker company ELAC. His first ELAC speaker line, dubbed Debut, is scheduled to come out soon and includes a $249/pair bookshelf model that—no surprise—wowed high end audiophiles attending this year’s T.H.E Show at Newport.