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Amplifier and speakers

L

lokotek

New Member
I have an amplifier Pioneer SA-8800 II
Specs:
Continuous power output is 80 watts* per channel, min. at 8 ohms from 10 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz with no more than 0.005% total harmonic distortion, or 80 watts* per channel at 4 ohms from 10 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz with no more than 0.005% total harmonic distortion.
Continuous power output
10Hz to 50,000Hz .... 80W+80W (T.H.D. 0.01%, 8ohms)
100W+100W (T.H.D. 0.02%, 4ohms)

and I want to buy the speakers Pioneer CS-959
Specs:
Nominal impedance 6.3 ohms
Maximum music power 120W
Rated input power 40W

The speakers will sound good?
Will the amplifier reheat?
If the speakers are not suitable for the amplifier that I have, can they be other models of suitable speakers?

Thank you very much!
 
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No one can tell you if the speakers will sound good - that's a personal decision - but they will be just fine with that amplifier.
 
This matching IMO should be good (on paper). I cannot say whether or not the set will sound good, without at least a little more information. Information like, what is the speaker configuration (2 way, 3 way, single woofer, twin woofer, etc.). Also, what is your desired goal in sound achievement of the speakers: Excellent midrange or bass, or outstanding high frequency.

Next, I need to know what pecking order (or rank) are the speakers? Are they Pioneer's top model, very good model, or the lower level model?

What is really crucial (and more often today difficult to achieve) is a live comparison between this model and other models. Its been my experience that a speaker set that you thought would sound good can get outperformed by another set of speakers during a live comparison. Thus, with speakers, some type of live, or video audition is important to find out whether the speakers will bring in the type of sound that you are expecting.

If you are not sure if this set will be good for you, then take some time and try to compare them to other speakers, and also try to get a sound comparison of some type. Good luck.
 
They should work well, at least power wise. Just use a little common sense with the volume control. It is not uncommon to burn a speaker out because the owner (or one of their guests) wants to get concert level SPL's from a 30 wpc amp and consequently clips the amp, Which can send more RMS power (perhaps 15w) to the speaker than an 80 wpc amp kept out of clipping, Which might send 8 wpc RMS. Worse, When an amp clips, a higher % of that power goes to the tweeter's small voice coil. This is why some say it is better to use a powerful amp with speakers, Even if the speakers are rated for 1/2 the power.

That is a real gem of an amp BTY.

Having never heard those speakers, I can't say how they sound for sure. But I think you could do a lot better with ADS, PSB, Monitor Audio, Energy, Tangent and others. At least give the Pioneers a listen if you can before you buy.
 
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I too think this setup will work fine.

One thing to look for in speakers is the sensitivity, measured in db output with 1W input. A low powered amp (which yours is not - I'd call it medium) paired with inefficient speakers (less than say 90 db) will be underpowered for the job.

These are probably fairly sensitive speakers from the looks of them and should play just fine. I don't think they are Pioneer's top of the line effort, but as long as you like them, that's all that matters.
 
Pioneer CS-959 speakers are a 12" 4-way bass-reflex speaker with a listed sensitivity of 90dB. They should pair up fine with the SA-8800 II.
 
lokotek said:
I have an amplifier Pioneer SA-8800 II
Specs:
Continuous power output is 80 watts* per channel, min. at 8 ohms from 10 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz with no more than 0.005% total harmonic distortion, or 80 watts* per channel at 4 ohms from 10 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz with no more than 0.005% total harmonic distortion.
Click to expand...
What’s the source of these THDs, please?
What I find on the Net, is:
«THD (20Hz - 20kHz) 0.05% (at the time of an effective output)»
http://audio-database.com/PIONEER-EXCLUSIVE/amp/sa-8800ii-e.html
 
The speakers have a rated RMS power handling capacity of 40WRMS. The amplifier is rated at double that, 80WRMS.
That means that the amplifier is capable of overdriving the louspeakers. Pairing them means one should be careful not to raise the volume too high. And as the speakers are very efficient (90dB) it means they need about 5-10WRMS to play loud and no more than 20WRMS to play in almost party levels.

The amplifier comes from an era when they made good amplifiers. Even entry level ones sound great compared to entry level amplifiers of today. Compare THD and IMD in the specs. They are 1000 times smaller than the values shown in current models.

Whether the loudspeakers will sound good, I have no idea. They look like they were made to look impressive in the era they were made, so all the decoration stuff there - that costs money - takes away money from sound making components like speaker drivers. So, they look like they will perform decently for rock music but no idea if they will sound precise and balanced enough for classical music or if they will be able to take the punishment of electronic music or rap. The 4 way design also is a tell to me that they have cut corners in the design. Cheap paper cone midrange and tweeter and a supertweeter (?) on top make no sense to me for this power handling, enclosure size and price range.
 
I couldn’t open the
https://www.hifiengine.com/hfe_downloads/index.php?pioneer/pioneer_sa-8800_brochure_en.pdf
(NOT “SA-8800 II” VERSION)

But I found the Pioneer “SA-8800 Operating Instructions” (NOT “SA-8800 II” VERSION) on:
https://vdocuments.mx/documents/manual-pioneer-sa-8800.html
“Total Harmonic Distortion (10 Hertz to 20,000 Hertz)
continuous rated power output … No more than 0.005%
40 watts per channel power output, 8 ohms … No more than 0.004%
1 watt per channel power output, 8 ohms … No more than 0.004%”

Excellent results, extremely rare for the actual market.

But I still can’t find the “II” version, so I can say nothing of the real THD of this version.

The only link that appears for me, is always
http://audio-database.com/PIONEER-EXCLUSIVE/amp/sa-8800ii-e.html
«THD (20Hz - 20kHz) 0.05% (at the time of an effective output)» (ten times weaker) (cited above).
 
lokotek said:
…I want to buy the speakers Pioneer CS-959
…The speakers will sound good?
Click to expand...
I had a Pioneer model a little “inferior” to the “Pioneer CS-959” (3-way, not 4-way), model 1981, with 1 12” woofer each.

By means of a high quality graphic equalizer, I got all what I wished concerning the sound spectrum, including a good “deep bass” (from approx. 27 Hz). I was completely satisfied with their sound.

But in approx. 15 years, their woofer surrounds in polyurethane foam began to disintegrate. Finally, turned to dust.

Instead of trying to repair them, I gave them to a young boy ready to replace the surrounds.

Since, for several years, I have a pair of much newer big 3-way floor standers, with 2 10” woofers each, with surrounds in “butyl”. Up to now, I find no sign of disintegration.

I wrote all this for to weigh the pros and cons of this 1984 model.
 
In regard to my earlier post, there are a couple of CS-959 service manuals for sale on eBay which can be read. That's where I found the sensitivity rating of 90 dB.
 
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