Pioneer CS-88 Questions

[Westlind]

Hi! A pair of CS-88's have shown up on my local Craigslist. I've been looking for some higher-quality vintage speakers, and love the look of these. They appear to be in pretty good shape, but I have a few questions for the group - any thoughts are appreciated.

• Asking price is $125 for the pair - reasonable, if everything is in good shape?
• They are missing the grills (which look awesome when present). I can find grills for CS-88a's on Ebay; does anyone know if they fit the CS-88?
• Are the cabinets solid wood? They look good in photos, but would prefer a solid wood cabinet if they need refinishing.
• Any other known issues?

Thanks!
Dennis

 

[sax6]

Value discussion should be rendered in Dollar and Sense... this thread should shortly be shifted overthere.
No offense tough

125$ and missing the grilles ? From my point of view, it's steep enough to pass.

Lots of drivers inthere and you must be shure that everyone of them runs OK.

Command a listen to the seller, or bring your own amp to listen to them wisely.

They should be real veneer on these.... that was the trend back then.
They are well build, good looking but not my cup of tea

 

[swechsler]

Hi Dennis, welcome!

By higher-quality, do you mean higher quality cabinets? Higher quality speakers than what you currently have? Or higher quality in relation to other speakers being sold at the time.

These cabinets are probably made of veneer-covered particle board (nothing wrong with particle board, it was used for most speakers through the 1980s and since then has mostly been replaced by MDF). Sound-wise, they're probably mid-fi at best. There's a reason that most Japanese-made speakers don't have a great reputation - they tended to go more for impressive looks rather than impressive performance. Pioneer did make some good ones back in the day, but IMO these aren't one of them.

 

[Westlind]

Well, higher quality than my current el-cheapo mid-90's Pioneer threeways that my cats have been using as a scratching post... Not looking to spend a ton of money, so mid-range vintage is probably my sweet spot.

 

[swechsler]

Where are you located? In most places you can find much better speakers on Craigslist for less.

 

[doctorolds]

Most of your questions have been answered above. I would say keep looking since you can do a lot better for that amount of money. Just keep browsing your level Craigslist and you will find something. Good luck.

 

[JamVal]

I have a set of CS-99A and a set of the older CS-99. Grill size is slightly different. The 99A grills are too wide to fit the 99. And the 99 is too tall to fit the 99A. If the CS-88/88A trend the same, they won't be interchangeable. The lattice work on the grills look identical. But the grill cloth is different.

The other difference is that the CS-99 grills screw on while the newer CS-99A have Velcro. I switched the CS-99 over to Velcro.

 

[kkd]

Pass at $125
Especially with no grilles
I thought the whole allure of that series of CS speakers WERE the grilles

When you say "looking for a set of higher quality vintage speakers" you can do MUCH better than Pioneer CS88's

 

[gizzyman47]

The A versions sound better than the non A versions IMO.

 

[Westlind]

Thanks for all the responses - I'll take a pass.

 

[doctorolds]

You made the right choice. Best of luck finding a pair that meets your criteria.

 

[James Hibdon]

I have the opportunity to pick up a pair of cs88s for 50 bucks. Great condition 1 owner, good deal or a waste of money??

 

[kryten79]

The OP took a pass on his pair which IMO WERE overpriced at $125 for the condition.
The second poster, James, highjacks the thread on a $50 pair so I'm assuming he read the previous posts.
Addressing James:
Because this is AK, here are a few questions.
What else do you have in the way of speakers?
What do you want that's different from what you have now? Sound quality, more or less of something, to better match your amp, stage depth, separation, looks, cool factor, spouse approval factor, etc.?
What do you like about the CS-88s?
Are you sure they're the CS-88 and not CS-88a version? (two different beasts)

I'm not intimately familiar with the CS-88 but here's a thread for you
http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/pioneer-cs-88.258166/

FWIW, $50 has netted me a pair of Polk Monitor Series 5 AND a pair of Klipsch KG4 in the past year. At minimum I'll recap both, which you'll have to do with any vintage speaker. My recap projects generally lead to driver upgrades. I doubt the CS-88 speakers have a clear upgrade path beyond recap.

I do seek out ads for Pioneer regularly and $50 is not out of line for a decent pair of 88s
My vote: NOT a waste of money particularly if they're your first pair of vintage speakers. Easy and cheap to clean up and recap, good learning experience and substantial cool factor and you should be able to get your money back out of them when you find a pair YOU like (for whatever reasons) better.

 

[James Hibdon]

I have a pair of sansui sp2000. Need to be re capped , a couple of Fisher 15s that belonged to my dad. Since the sansui need recapped I really don' know what sound I am after yet. Because i have not really heard much In the way of vintage speakers. As far as model numbers on the cs88s ...they are cs88 no A after the model number. I really just want to make sure I am not buying junk at his point until I get a little more familiar with what' out there. Thanks for the reply man!