Pioneer HPM-100s - Who has them?

That's interesting. Never heard that. I don't know any different. Thanks for the input.

Bubba57

I ran across it when someone on a very old thread was asking if they should upgrade their foam woofer to a later hpm-100 woofer with cloth surrounds (or something like that). I’ve also ran across very early HPM-40s in my area that lack the silver aluminum ring around the tweeter (it’s all black instead) and have dry rotted woofer surrounds.
 
I ran across it when someone on a very old thread was asking if they should upgrade their foam woofer to a later hpm-100 woofer with cloth surrounds (or something like that). I’ve also ran across very early HPM-40s in my area that lack the silver aluminum ring around the tweeter (it’s all black instead) and have dry rotted woofer surrounds.

Hey, live and learn. I've only seen the cloth type sorrow ds in the 100's. Now I have seen colored foam in the surrounds but I assumed the had been reckoned or something. About 40 years ago I did have to buy a new midrange for one of mine from pioneer. It came with the same basket and same cone material as the one on mine. That picture on the brochure has always slightly bothered me though.

Thanks and good typing to ya.

Bubba57
 
Yippee!
Received my replacement Mid-Range driver for my HPM-100 (B) 200W. Sent over from the USA and packed really well. Quick shipping so I wasn't without fully operating speakers for long.
The replacement Mid seems to be the same as my existing one albeit a different cone colour. Sand colour as apposed to the original grey colour.
Wow! That's all I can say! Sounds awesome!
I was listening to these at a 'reduced' rate for a short time due to a lack of a Mid-Range driver. But now they are complete and fully operational I can kick out some sounds!
I am astounded by the overal performance. Especially compared to my last speakers which were B&W DM2 MK2's.
Even running these HPM's at the very first volume notch late at night listening to a Jazz FM Radio station was impressive. Low volume, full rich sound and mellow is an achievement rarely achieved at this price and Speaker level. And this was only at volume notch level one!
During the day I cranked it up to the ten o'clock position on my Pioneer SX-1980 playing Royal Blood's track 'Figure it out'.
I'm sure my windows were flexing!
Crikey! These really are keepers!
 
Just got my first full set this week! I picked up a single a few months ago and it's a good thing I did. When I brought the new pair home this week and hooked them up for the first time, it sent my receiver into protection. Ended up being a blown capacitor on the back of the speaker terminal plate (whatever that thing is called). One of the new speakers also had a non-Pioneer midrange and tweeter, so I was able to take all three components off of the spare speaker and move them to the new one. The new one had the better cabinet. Now I just need to clean the woofers up a little and refinish the cabinets and these babies can come in the house!

IMG_1418.JPG IMG_1390.JPG IMG_1401.JPG
 
Hey Keymaster, and Idunno, you both are in business now. Good score. I believe the color difference in the woofers are just due to sun exposure. They don't appear to have been reconed. Whichever cabinets you decide on, you may want to try some Howard's wood restorer (no affiliations). And some 4 ought (0000) steel wool. It may not take that water stain out but it works wonders on smoke, polish residue and scratches.

If, after you get these going, won't you make me a deal on a set of the potentiometers???? Just from one speaker

One more thing. For what it's worth, look up the wiring diagram for the 100 and the 200 what versions of the HPM 100's. The components, as I recall are the same, but but the wiring is different. On one version the speakers are connected in the box, positive of one to negative of the other. The other version connects neg to neg and pos to pos. Just look at it. I have both diagrams if you can't find them. Good luck with these and enjoy.

Bubba57
 
I have a pair, after completing the capacitor upgrade I will NOT part with it. I also have the Yamaha NS - 690ii (caps upgraded too) but for some reason my taste keeps coming back to the sound of the HPM 100's :rockon:
 
One more thing. For what it's worth, look up the wiring diagram for the 100 and the 200 what versions of the HPM 100's. The components, as I recall are the same, but but the wiring is different. On one version the speakers are connected in the box, positive of one to negative of the other. The other version connects neg to neg and pos to pos. Just look at it. I have both diagrams if you can't find them. Good luck with these and enjoy.

I've also seen this "opposite wiring" topic come up on other threads and in the crossover schematics for the HPM-100A (100 watt) and the HPM-100B (200 watt). What drives me absolutely insane is how there is apparently no other difference in components or cabinet design (other than the silver ring around the woofer port on the HPM-100B). Why reverse the wiring for this single driver if nothing is effectively different between both models?

I have a pair, after completing the capacitor upgrade I will NOT part with it. I also have the Yamaha NS - 690ii (caps upgraded too) but for some reason my taste keeps coming back to the sound of the HPM 100's :rockon:

This brings up another common topic I see discussed. I understand if the intention is to change the crossover points using different replacement capacitor values. However, if this isn't the intention, why replace the original film capacitors unless you're certain one has failed? Only the super-tweeter has an electrolytic cap that is definitely off spec and should be replaced but the other 2 caps should not have changed since day 1. This common practice on these forums has started to make me believe that much of the improvement can be chalked up to placebo effect.
 
Hey Keymaster, and Idunno, you both are in business now. Good score. I believe the color difference in the woofers are just due to sun exposure. They don't appear to have been reconed. Whichever cabinets you decide on, you may want to try some Howard's wood restorer (no affiliations). And some 4 ought (0000) steel wool. It may not take that water stain out but it works wonders on smoke, polish residue and scratches.

If, after you get these going, won't you make me a deal on a set of the potentiometers???? Just from one speaker

One more thing. For what it's worth, look up the wiring diagram for the 100 and the 200 what versions of the HPM 100's. The components, as I recall are the same, but but the wiring is different. On one version the speakers are connected in the box, positive of one to negative of the other. The other version connects neg to neg and pos to pos. Just look at it. I have both diagrams if you can't find them. Good luck with these and enjoy.

Bubba57
Bubba57, thanks for the tips on the cabinets. Honestly, I don't want to sand these cabinets all the way down. I actually have some of the Howard's Restore in the garage, I just haven't had the time in the last week to clean them up yet. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try that first, if it gets some of the rings off of the top, it may be good enough to bring them in "as-is". They won't be the focal point of the living room or anything, so I won't have to worry what the wife thinks. :biggrin:

As far as the potentiometers, I want to save everything from the spare speaker. It was sheer luck that I bought that speaker back in the Spring for 20 bucks from a girl out in the country. I would have have had to chase down the speaker terminal plate online, as well as the midrange and tweeter without it. I'm gonna try to source those items, one at a time, online to make it whole again. That way, if I ever do find someone with another orphan, I'll have a second set. I've been wanting a pair of these of my own since I can remember, it's almost surreal that I finally got a pair.
 
I was very disappointed after I bought mine, they sounded awful, but I've just completed restoring mine, I purchased some re-capped HPM 900 crossovers, had to change a few spade connectors, wired them normally, and wow, these things kick ass, I didn't understand people saying they move your soul, yes! they absolutely do!
 
I've also seen this "opposite wiring" topic come up on other threads and in the crossover schematics for the HPM-100A (100 watt) and the HPM-100B (200 watt). What drives me absolutely insane is how there is apparently no other difference in components or cabinet design (other than the silver ring around the woofer port on the HPM-100B). Why reverse the wiring for this single driver if nothing is effectively different between both models?

This brings up another common topic I see discussed. I understand if the intention is to change the crossover points using different replacement capacitor values. However, if this isn't the intention, why replace the original film capacitors unless you're certain one has failed? Only the super-tweeter has an electrolytic cap that is definitely off spec and should be replaced but the other 2 caps should not have changed since day 1. This common practice on these forums has started to make me believe that much of the improvement can be chalked up to placebo effect.

I enjoy taking small projects like this, the details made sense to me and besides it is 100% reversible. I do not know anyone to compare stock and upgraded HPM's, for a little above US 100 the learning experience is priceless.
 
I own two sets of 100's, three sets of 900's, two sets of 40's. I sold my 150's about a decade ago. (No space for them and you can't stack them.)
My favorite traditional design speaker of all time.
If you want to know more about them and how they came to be, Google "Bart Locanthi".
He was one of the movers and shakers that was responsible for their Digital and TAD successes. He spent many years at JBL and designed the L-100. The HPM was a "better" L-100, though saying that's the quickest way to annoy a JBL fan ever devised.
With all these gushing coffee table books about Classic Audio having came out, I think it's about time somebody wrote one for Pioneer's Legacy. UHF is nice, but the nameplate has an Anniversary coming up. Even if most of it's been gobbled up by Onkyo and Sharp.
TAD and Elite's still around, if I'm not mistaken. They're GREAT speakers.......you won't regret investing in a couple of pair. (Vertically stacked.)
 
Bumping an old thread. I'm also a proud owner of a pair now, as of last week. Found them at an estate sale for $10. No lie! They were a little rough looking, but I'm working on that. One woofer and one mid out to lunch. I'm going to send the woofer out for a complete recone and already purchased two mid drivers from Parts Express for cheap. One to install and a spare for backup. I'm hoping to locate a good used mid somewhere, as I haven't found anyone that rebuilds those.
If anybody has a good one, let me know.
 
Revising an old thread, just got my pair of HPM-100 this weekend.

They are the 100 watt version. Running them with my recently recapped Kenwood KR-6600 right now. Yes, I know it is sacrilege!

But I'm now on the outlook for a nice Pioneer SX-XXXX receiver or Sansui Au-717 or Au-517 integrated amp. I used to own a Pioneer A-77X but it was lost in a flood. I am going to re-cap the HPM-100 crossovers as my next project, the cabinet tops need a little love as well but nothing major.

The HPM-100 are a nice match to my recapped JBL L-80T3. I can sure tell they came from a similar engineering design, I mean the SQ is very similar to JBL... I don't think I need to hunt for a pair of JBL L100 anymore.IMG_0027.jpeg
 
Revising an old thread, just got my pair of HPM-100 this weekend.

They are the 100 watt version. Running them with my recently recapped Kenwood KR-6600 right now. Yes, I know it is sacrilege!

But I'm now on the outlook for a nice Pioneer SX-XXXX receiver or Sansui Au-717 or Au-517 integrated amp. I used to own a Pioneer A-77X but it was lost in a flood. I am going to re-cap the HPM-100 crossovers as my next project, the cabinet tops need a little love as well but nothing major.

The HPM-100 are a nice match to my recapped JBL L-80T3. I can sure tell they came from a similar engineering design, I mean the SQ is very similar to JBL... I don't think I need to hunt for a pair of JBL L100 anymore.View attachment 2930220
There are three types of recap / rebuild I've seen. I tried two of them version. I recommend our MattsD's version. I suggest to check that out too.
 
This link has been posted before but if you want to get really in depth with the HPM-100s and their crossovers, it's an EXCELLENT read!
 
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