Opening and Recapping my Pioneer CS A31 speakers

[tthoms]

On a recap mission for my speakers. Opened up my Pioneers and took some pics. I'll probably replace the two capacitors with Daytons, and put in some polyfill, although I don't know if that will affect the bass through the porting.

If anyone has tips on improving these speakers, as well as the speakers in my other posting (Mitsubishi SS-11f), I'd love to hear them.

Pics included

 

[toxcrusadr]

Daytons sound good. If that larger cap is over about 20 uf you might consider a bipolar electrolytic there.

I'm not sure stuffing is recommended in a ported speaker.

 

[tthoms]

Hmm, Crossover wants 14 and 1.6 uf capacitors, and I can only find film caps at 15 and 1.5 uf . I know I can try to put caps in parallel to get a closer match, but I don't know if that's worth it.

 

[SoundOfSound]

That is close enough! :thmbsp:

 

[vinyldavid]

I had a pair. They stand out as the single worst sounding speakers I've ever heard.

Too bad, because I wanted them since I was 4 (they belonged to an uncle, but I'd never heard them).

Gave them to a local forum member, I think he's gutting them and putting new drivers in them. That would be the best use.

 

[tthoms]

Sorry to hear that! I don't have that bad of an impression, but I do hope that new capacitors will offer some improvement.

 

[toxcrusadr]

You can always get a -1 uf cap to put with that 15 to make 14.

J/K they don't have those.

But there are 0 ohm resistors...

 

[gbroot]

The A31's were the 1st set of speakers that I bought when I got back into vintage gear about 5 years ago. I thought they had decent mids and highs but they lacked low end. I was never able to get that resolved through new caps, fill etc. so moved on. Good luck.

 

[tthoms]

The recap is done. There is an improvement in the clarity of the high end, so I'm happy. I made a youtube video of the recapping for those interested.

 

[tthoms]

You can always get a -1 uf cap to put with that 15 to make 14.

J/K they don't have those.

But there are 0 ohm resistors...

I was able to use a 10 +4. Problem solved.

As to 0 ohm resistors, I believe those are called superconductors? Sweet, but I don't look forward to adding liquid nitrogen to my speaker systems for "maximum performance".

 

[tthoms]

The A31's were the 1st set of speakers that I bought when I got back into vintage gear about 5 years ago. I thought they had decent mids and highs but they lacked low end. I was never able to get that resolved through new caps, fill etc. so moved on. Good luck.

Thanks!
Yes, for the size of the woofer, the bass is surprisingly light. Better than the NHT Zeros w/ subwoofer that I was using, so I'm happy.

 

[Rickyo]

I had a pair. They stand out as the single worst sounding speakers I've ever heard.

Too bad, because I wanted them since I was 4 (they belonged to an uncle, but I'd never heard them).

Gave them to a local forum member, I think he's gutting them and putting new drivers in them. That would be the best use.

 

[Rickyo]

Wow! These speakers are great! Huge Alnico magnets and great sound.

 

[grindstone]

Congrats. As you can read, opinions seem to vary some If we may inquire, what kind of music and what amp? Did you recap them as well? Do you have the 8 or 16 ohm versions? Thanks.

 

[Nyjblbob]

I HAD THEM, Dam efficient, great tweeters, decent mids. put some power in them I had mine with a JVC JS501 receiver
125 WPC with a bit of EQ JVC had one it kicked up the Bass pretty good
. Re-capping should help quite a bit . Jap speakers were never known as Bass monsters. That port is just right for that woofer.

 

[Rickyo]

I have not recapped----yet. I've got the 8 ohm versions listening to 70's rock. I had them connected to a Realistic QTA 770 from about 1975. I'm going to try them on my EICO ST-40 tube amp. I bet that will really make them sing!

 

[Nyjblbob]

Mine were the 16 ohms
Played great on tube amps

 

[grindstone]

Thanks for the response. I still have some of each in the garage somewhere but I can't recall much except that I liked something about the tweeters and that they were bass-challenged. I remember I needed a microscope at work get a turn off the tweeter coil to reattach but never got back to them. I think they'd do fine with tubes and lighter/less-demanding material if you don't expect them to pound. I remember the cabinets had a lot of screws, too

 

[Nyjblbob]

I STILL HAVE THE COMPONENTS, one dead tweet, good mids and the woofers with cracking paper surrounds

 

[vinyldavid]

I think I must slightly update my thoughts. They're the worst speakers I've ever heard other than Klipsch La Scalas and Klipschorns. VOTTs are a close third.