How do Pioneer CS-33A's sound

ret27m

Active Member
I,m thinking of buying a set of Pioneer CS-33A speakers MINT for $100.00 to the door. Will I be doing OK are these decent sounding speakers? Thanks
 
My opinion, I would pass. I had CS-99A's and CS-77A's. I love the CS-99A's as do many that have heard them. Some will call them Kabuki junk just because they have several drivers in them. The CS-99A is probably the ONLY speaker with that many drivers that I heard and liked. I thought the CS-77A's on the other hand sounded pretty bad. I am only guessing, but the other lower end models of the CS-XXA series probably don't get much better than the CS-77A's and at $100.00, I would pass.

Don't know where you saw them, but if it is the pair up on Epay right now, that seller is way off. First off, I hate when sellers throw in another brand name in the title just to get more hits on a search. B&W? WTF does Pioneer have to do with B&W? Not even manufactured in the same country.
Second off, he also seems to think the CS series speakers are part of the HPM series.
Last, he says they have "digital jack input". WTF is this guy smoking?

Anyway, not the best vintage speaker out there for the money. I think you might be dissapointed since you already have a pair of A-25's and RS-5's.
Just my opinion.
 
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He is right. Only the CS-99A has earned the rite to be called Hi-Fi. Pioneer later made a CS-99AA, which is real crap. What a difference a letter makes. Go figure. Want a pair of real Hi-Fi speakers for $100, even if that means that the cabinets will be scratched, gouged, and pretty ratty? Go for the Dynaco A-25 series of speakers.

Seth
Forever Analog
 
I have a mint pair of CS-33A's and I love them. They are perfect little bookshelf speakers for one of the smaller Pioneer receivers, i.e., the SX-450, 550, 650, 580, or 680. I think they sound fantastic as well. As far as the $100 goes, that would be a judgement call on your part. I think I paid $60 for mine, $30 on eBay and another $30 to ship. Can you listen to them first before buying? If so, let your ears decide for you, and if you like them, maybe you can talk them down on their price some. Just my $.02



Retro
 
Yep! what TA and everyone else said!
There have beenno speakers here in MT worth looking at for years!(didn't stop me from buying them anyway) :lmao:
Then at the start of this week I bought a pair of JLB-L100t3's for $95 at a pawn shop- all drivers work and they look darn good other than needing new grill cloth.
Keep seeking and ye shall find....

Tal
 
Hi-

Newbie reviving an old thread.

I just 'found' a pair of CS 33a speakers sitting in the closest with no memory of ever buying them.

I still have my KLH 6's.

If I am only going to run one set of wooden boxes, is there a clear choice of which to use?

*Right now, the Pio's are stacked in a corner holding up a VCR and a DVD player.
 
I think the general consensus will be to pass the CS-33As on and keep the KLH Model Sixs. If you haven't done it yet, re dope the surrounds and re cap the crossovers and the 33s wont stand a chance.

There are plenty of threads here on the correct way to re dope the surrounds and what cap to get for the crossover.

WOW! I need to look closer at the dates on some of these threads. I thought it was posted TODAY(Johnny Today posted Mar 13 09).
 
$100 in ‘09 is even worse. The answer is still a resounding no! :rflmao:
 
Man how do y’all even bump these threads? Seriously how??

For the record, $100 in 2005 is $130 today.
 
The thread just won’t die! Lol. How’s it going everybody, fairly new to the site but have been fascinated with A/V etc for many years. Recently the wife has been dragging me to estate sales in our city where I have come across come real unicorns recently.
Anyway, I snagged a mint pair of CS-33a’s from one a couple months ago for $50. And I do mean mint, I found the original boxes, wiring, paperwork etc in the basement of the previous owners home! For little 2 way bookshelf size speakers these things are downright incredible. Mine have the “FB” cones and I could really tell they have been well cared for. I went ahead and replaced the 2 caps in each crossover, they sound way better than I expected. Of course I was expecting an improvement but holy sweet baby Jesus, for the space I’m using them in I absolutely adore them. So definitely don’t overlook acoustic properties of your intended space.
About 2 weeks after I snagged the CS-33a’s I stumble upon some Sansui SP-1500’s similar quality/condition to the Pioneers. Since these were my first Sansui speakers I’ve had the opportunity to acquire and play with for not much money I said screw it and re-capped them as well which I will say was much much more involved than the Pioneers and while it did vastly improve the Sansui’s overall sound dramatically when played side by side, for an apples to apples comparison they’re not even in the same league, let alone ballpark.

TLDR; Sorry for the rambling lol, I just think this definitively places me in the 2 way crossover camp and any doubt that “Kabuki” Sansui and others like them with more than 2 drivers nearly always ends up sounding like crap when compared to even lower powered/smaller 2 way systems! So while I don’t agree with the general consensus on this thread that the CS-33a’s aren’t worth picking up at all, I have been fully convinced that Kabuki speakers should be avoided. With the exception of the CS-99a of course haha.
If you’ve made it this far maybe you could tell me whether or not the CS-77a’s have the brown “FB” cone speakers?

I attached some pics of the speakers.
 

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My 77a's did have the FB speakers. I really miss those. They were finicky with gear but when they sounded good they were awesome.
 
Let's just try to put this thread to rest, I love Pioneer, but the CS-33 or 33A speakers are no where near a quality speaker but they look good! If you are just learning and willing to drop $5 or $10 bucks just to have speakers to listen to I get it, but save a bit and you can get much better for $50-$100! Be on the look out and run!
 
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CS-88A or CS-63DX are clear winners. The CS-99 or 99A are overpriced and not as good in my opinion. :dunno:
 
Also, no Pioneer CS series should be judged prior to replacing the old out of tolerance capacitors, just saying.
 
I think I had the 77a,88a,99a a couple pair of 63-dx and probably a few more sets I don't remember.For vintage they can be a decent speaker but none of what I had did not stick around very long.
 
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