Finally my Holy Grail - HPM-100's - Now, some questions.

[Keymaster]

I wasn't sure whether to post here or in the speaker forum, but since I know most everyone here is pro-Pioneer, I figured this was the best choice.

The story starts when I was able to buy a single HPM-100 about 4 months ago. Kinda one of those happy and sad moments, since I was half way there but still needed another to complete the set. So, to make a long story short, I was able to obtain a pair this week for 200 bucks. I've been wanting a set of these since my old man bought a set in the late 70's. Paired with his SX-980, they were perfection in my eyes.

So, I finally got to hook them up today and give them a listen. I have a older Pioneer Elite receiver in my garage and turned on some tunes. Within about 10 seconds, the receiver started cutting in and out of protection. I forgot to mention, one of the new speakers had a non-Pioneer tweeter and midrange. Since I knew they were okay, I checked the woofer and super tweeter, but the protection was still clicking. Finally, I pulled the plate off of the back and as you can see from the pictures, a capacitor or something had exploded at some point. So, how lucky was it that I had this extra HPM sitting here? Ended up swapping the two speakers and the back plate. I would have just used the extra speaker as an entire replacement, but the cabinet for the spare has some veneer missing and has much deeper scratches.

Now to the questions. Can the woofers be safely cleaned? All three have stains, not sure if it's cat urine or what. I see the product that they put on the woofer surrounds dripping, but is there is any concern as far as re-lubricating them? I'll clean up the excess that has run onto the bottom of the cabinets. Not exactly sure how I'll refurbish the cabinets, but I'd like to sand them lightly with a few grits and put some clear on them. Any suggestions on these at all would be greatly appreciated. I'm taking these to the grave! lol

 

[jeffpaletz]

That is not lubrication, speakers don't need lubrication. Is that drip a liquid? Is it glue that dripped? If the speakers sound great I'd probably leave them as they are and not clean them. IF you really want to clean them I'd try some mild dish washing soap diluted with water and gently clean. But still, I'd probably leave them alone. I'm not experienced at rejuvenating wood. Someone else should be able to give you suggestions.

 

[Idunno]

The dripping you have at the bottom of your speaker is the glue/cone sealant that surrounds the Woofer. It seems that either excessive heat has caused the glue to melt and run over time or 'that darn cat' has pee'd at the Woofer which then mixed with the glue and caused it to run down. It's quite an excessive run! Looking at the damage does lead me to believe it was an animal that caused it.
I myself had this issue on my HPM's albeit on a much smaller scale. I'm located in the U.K so humidity and hot weather is pretty rare. I think my issue was because one of the speakers was placed too close to a radiator or open fire. A small amount of the glue liquified and ran on to the metal speaker surround of the Woofer. A gentle wipe over with soapy water resolved this. My Woofer cone was very clean, so no cat had pee'd on it, which leads me to strongly believe an animal may have come in to contact with your Woofer.
You can clean the cone of the Woofer with a light water wash and letting it dry completely. Doing this several times over, each time after a thorough dry, will eventually clean the cone by way of a gentle clean and then an evaporation process.
**Be very careful. Do not drench the cone completely with water as this may lead to the cone tearing. In addition, let the cone dry naturally and NOT with a hairdryer. Forceful and accelerated drying will cause damage**.
Several of these light 'wash wipes' will eventually lead to a cleaner cone for you.
Keep clear of the two coil connecting wires which are those two dots near the centre of the cone. They are sensitive and become dislodged or damaged easily.
Refurbishment of cabinets is again a fairly simple process but needs to be done in stages. There are plenty of instructions on this brilliant forum of how to achieve good results.
Good luck and welcome to the HPM-100 club!

 

[needforspeed]

The dripping is common in warm climates, That's the stuff holding the cone to the basket, Pull woofers out and rotate so wires are on top, Gravity will take care of it. As for cleaning, As mention, Warm soapy water, A very soft brush, That cone is made of carbon fiber, Do Not Crack It! Also, Stay away from the dust cover.
For the cabinet, Be warned, That veneer is very thin. Go with a few passes of med grit, And a few of fine. By hand, No machine. Good luck

 

[Keymaster]

The dripping you have at the bottom of your speaker is the glue/cone sealant that surrounds the Woofer. It seems that either excessive heat has caused the glue to melt and run over time or 'that darn cat' has pee'd at the Woofer which then mixed with the glue and caused it to run down. It's quite an excessive run! Looking at the damage does lead me to believe it was an animal that caused it.
I myself had this issue on my HPM's albeit on a much smaller scale. I'm located in the U.K so humidity and hot weather is pretty rare. I think my issue was because one of the speakers was placed too close to a radiator or open fire. A small amount of the glue liquified and ran on to the metal speaker surround of the Woofer. A gentle wipe over with soapy water resolved this. My Woofer cone was very clean, so no cat had pee'd on it, which leads me to strongly believe an animal may have come in to contact with your Woofer.
You can clean the cone of the Woofer with a light water wash and letting it dry completely. Doing this several times over, each time after a thorough dry, will eventually clean the cone by way of a gentle clean and then an evaporation process.
**Be very careful. Do not drench the cone completely with water as this may lead to the cone tearing. In addition, let the cone dry naturally and NOT with a hairdryer. Forceful and accelerated drying will cause damage**.
Several of these light 'wash wipes' will eventually lead to a cleaner cone for you.
Keep clear of the two coil connecting wires which are those two dots near the centre of the cone. They are sensitive and become dislodged or damaged easily.
Refurbishment of cabinets is again a fairly simple process but needs to be done in stages. There are plenty of instructions on this brilliant forum of how to achieve good results.
Good luck and welcome to the HPM-100 club!

Thanks for the cleaning tips! Yes, they're in the garage and I want to make sure they're just right before bringing them into the house. So I can clean each woofer once a day for a few days and see how that turns out. It's not something that is necessary, but if I can make them look a little better, then they should stay that way for a good while. I've always heard the veneer is pretty thin, so it'll probably be some very light passes with some high grit, since there aren't any deep scratches.