Rare Pioneer speakers? S-T500's and TZ-7's.

jm55

Well-Known Member
Hello, this is my first post at AudioKarma.

Having used only mediocre audio equipment prior, I recently came into a decent used amplifier by accident at an audio store closeout.

Then the other day, I happened upon a pair of speakers in a second hand shop. It was a pair of Pioneer S-T500’s in very good external condition, and perfect condition sonically.

Not knowing anything about Pioneer gear, I hedged on them, and actually went back the next day to find them still there. I bought them for what I am now learning was an embarrassingly low price, and that it was only a stroke of luck they were still there.

I have a few questions about them, but here is what I have learned so far. They were made for perhaps a year or two starting in 1989. The build is very similar to the Elite TZ-9, of which some information is found here.

http://www.elitestereo.netfirms.com/speakers.htm

Excluding the overall dimensions, the construction geometry is very similar (except 1" board in the 9's vs. 3/4" in the 500's, and 10" woofers vs. 8" in the 500's) and I have reason to think that the tweeter and midrange are exactly the same as in the TZ-9. I then happened upon the name TZ-7. My new guess is that the S-T500 is the predecessor of the TZ-7 and may be of very similar if not identical construction, however, I cannot find any specs. on the TZ-7.

I found a pair of S-T500’s for sale on the net for $375.00. The seller claims he bought them new for $1800, which happens to be the retail price of the TZ-7’s around that time (according to another internet source).

Does anyone here own a pair of TZ-7’s? If so, I would be very grateful to see a picture of them, or learn something about the build (Dimensions, weight, etc.)

I had simply gone looking for a used pair of speakers, and am pleasantly surprised to learn that my choice has some character. Now I want to know more about these speakers, particularly, how are these speakers related to the TZ-7‘s.

Any other information no matter how trivial would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
 
S-T500 : 1990-91, $1000/pr new!
TZ-7 : 1989-90, $1800/pr new!
TZ-9 : 1989-90, $4000/pr new!
 
I will try to post some pictures (although I am not computer savvy, and have difficulty posting pictures). Hopefully, a picture of a TZ-7 might also appear.
 
Do you have the review of the TZ-9, found in the June 1990 edition of Audio Magazine?

For your interest, here is a link I found to a person who sells copies of reviews from the magazine for $6.

http://www.roger-russell.com/magrevaudio2.htm#a1990

The issue with TZ-9 is a bit more than half way down the page.

It is remarkable that with the internet being so comprehensive, not a single picture of a TZ-7 appears at present. I have searched quite a bit already.
 
I have not seen a TZ-7 in person but I remember a pair of TZ-7 LTD speakers in black on that auction site a couple years ago. They looked like a scaled down TZ-9 from what I can remember. That model must have been very rare as I have seen auctions for a few pairs of TZ-9 in the last few years but only that one set of TZ-7. I would like to see pics of the other model you mentioned.
 
here are the S-T500 .The woofers look to have foam surrounds.Not at all like the TZ-9's .The speaker locations look to be the same as TZ's though..

pioneers-t500.jpg
 
Those are my speakers (although mine are in great shape and do not have pushed in centers).

The picture might be deceiving because I just checked mine, and they are definitely not foam surrounds. I do not know much about driver construction, but the surrounds appear to be some kind of synthetically impregnated woven black cloth or fiber material.

I assume the TZ LTD edition was the same speaker as the TZ, except in black.
 
Sage, perhaps this is a bit much to ask of ones memory, but did the TZ-7 LTD appear to have the mid and tweeter mounted directly to the front speaker panel (as in the above picture) or were they mounted on semi floating sub panel as on the TZ-9's?

I understand the sub panel to be the black portion that envelopes the mid and tweeter together.
 
The sub panel looks to be a thin sheet of plastic about 1/16" thick.My woofers are also some type of woven material with three ridges at the outer area.

pic1.jpg
 
Samova, what are those objects on the left and right side of the midranges?

From here, they look like they might be brackets for an external metal ring of the same kind found on the tweeter. This looks likes a device meant to change wave dispersion on the tweeter.
 
jm55
Sorry but I definitely can't remember if those TZ-7 LTD in the auction had the sub panel it was about 2-3 years ago. I only remember the auction and that they were black. I read somewhere that the only difference between the std version and the LTD version was the color. Std = wood, LTD = black. I also recall that the LTD version came after the std version. I've never seen any TZ-9 LTD for sale so they must be very rare too.

That's the extent of my knowledge but I do know that I want some TZs of either flavor! I have read that they will put my HPM-150s to shame and that would make them very impressive!
 
I own a pair of TZ-9's but have never seen TZ-7's.Not even a picture.


I came across this recently. There are pictures of TZ-9's and 7's.

http://www.thevintageknob.org/PIONEER/TZ9/TZ9.html

It is ironic that TZ are considered the rarest of Pioneer speakers, and yet I cannot find any similar reference to S-T500's. They appear identical to TZ-7's except for the black sub panel. If TAD developed the TZ's, it seems unlikely to me that the S-T500's could have been developed entirely independent of TAD given the remarkable similarities.
 
JM55,that is the first and only pic i have ever seen of the TZ-7's ,nice work.I have the TZ-9's but unfortunately i will be selling them in the near future.They are just too big for my small music room.Anyway, good work finding a pic of the TZ-7's.The gloss black TZ-9's look amazing..
 
Here's some scans out of catalogs I have. I don't have the Elite catalog here at work, so I don't have the specs scanned. I can do that if there is an interest.

Samova, where do you live? I'd sure love to take those TZ-9s off your hands should you decide to sell them! :drool: I can't imagine shipping them, though...

Greg
 

Attachments

  • Pioneer Elite TZ Speakers.pdf
    791.5 KB · Views: 168
  • Pioneer ST Speakers & Specs.pdf
    737.3 KB · Views: 301
Seems to me the ST version was the same, but without the finer finish or heavy binding posts found on the TZ. Specs seem to read the same. ST just doesn't wear the "Elite" branding.

I think I have an old Stereo Review with these in it. I'll check.
 
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