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Pioneer DSS-9

fiftyone50

fiftyone50

Member
Hi all, new to the forums here, just wanted to say hello!

I have a Sony STR-DA555ES as the heart of my system, with 2 Sansui AU-G77X Amplifiers powering my 2 pairs of Pioneer DSS-9, and a custom, matching DSS-9 center channel feeding off the Sony.

My DSS' are the european versions, the same thing as the DSS-E10 that was sold here in the USA. (although the only difference is the basket color, from what I can tell.)

The DSS-9 is the best sounding speakers I have ever heard, for nearly any type of music. I am intrigued that there are so few sources of information for them! They beat the holy living crap out of my old infinity RS-5 tower system! WAyyyyy better than the Infinity studio monitor series.

I am a guitarist, but have found new love for the drums since I have been listening to these speakers this year - the drums and cymbals sound real in my living room! I have the two sets in front and rear of my living room, powered by their own amp. I turn the rears off to watch 5.1, and I have a set of bose 201's on top of the rears to cover the surround. (They aren't a perfect match, but sound reasonably timbre matched, and the walnut cabinets match the pioneers pretty well) I had the second set as surround, and felt they weren't being used to near the potential they should be, so I changed up a little and put the 2 sets as the front channels, and had a set of S-710's (pioneer) as the surround, but they don't match the DSS in any way. They are a very good speaker in their own right, ribbon tweeters are sweet, but do not hold a candle to the DSS-9.

For anyone who doesn't know about them that are reading my thread, the DSS-9 has cast basket HEAVY duty motor structures with graphite cones and "EBD" dual voice coil system. The first coil is 8 ohm and plays all bass frequencies, the second coil is 4 ohm and plays 40hz down. Bass is very accurate and detailed, but not boomy enough to suit some (including myself, I plan on adding a powered sub soon for the real low rumbles).
The midranges - WOW. Who knew pioneer made anything like this? Boron cone, magnet is bigger than the cone! Also cast heavy duty stuff.
Boron is element number 5 on the periodic table, and the second lightest metal out there.... fast sound transfer! The only metal lighter is element number 4, Beryllium..... which they used in ribbon tweeter fashion on this system..... detailed, detailed sound! The drivers for this system were made by TAD. Woofer plays 600hz down, tweeter is 4,000 hz up.

Anyone have any of these come up for sale, let me know I might snatch them up!!! (If woofers need foam OK.)

Best speakers in the world for rock, bar none.
I have owned several infinity models over the years, and have friends with klipsches and boston acoustics and such, while they all have their own sound and most of them are excellent speakers, these just trump them, if you ask me. If the others are kings and aces, these are jokers!

Anyone happen to know how much they sold for new?? I got my first set from my father, and bought the second set from a fellow in Ohio, and they both gave me drastically different numbers..... I know they hold their value very well if you keep them in good condition though! (I paid as much for the second set, 22 years later, as my dad said he paid for the first set new)
Best purchase I ever made.
 
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I can't remember off hand the cost on the DSS-E10's over here, but to give you an idea, my DSS-7's suggested retail price was like $700 for the pair in 1988. I paid dealer cost from a regional distributor at about 350~400 for the pair. So they probably sold for around $550~600/pair I think the DSS-E10's retailed for around $800~900 for the pair. They sure are built like a brick s_it house. I'd love to know if they sound similar, better or worse to HPM-100's

BTW, be very careful with those graphite cones. They shatter easily if mishandled. For example, my toddler son threw a ball across the room, it hit the woofer, and cracked it. Took me a year to find a replacement on Ebay.
 
MUCH better than HPM 100's. Similar, but more presence all around.
The highs are WAY better, the mids are quite a bit better, and the lows seem faster.... all around better transient response, and methinks power handling and sensitivity as well. The drivers are higher quality, and yes, the cabinets are BEEFY! :)

I haven't heard 150's to compare to those, but I still imagine, much better.
The mids and tweeters on these are no joke, not knocking your DSS-7's, as I am quite confident they are nice speakers, but the 9's were a serious step up! The woofers and mids have substantially bigger motor structures, and the beryllium ribbon tweeter on these is better than sliced bread.


I have a replacement woofer for a DSS-9 USA if anyone needs one.
I have 2 actually, if someone needs a project. One needs a recone, the other was refoamed to the front of the woofer (incorrect, should be to the rear)
I saw a couple DSS-7 woofers sell about 4-5 months ago I think.

I have already refoamed the first set I have, I got them from my dad who was going to put them in the trash because the foam was shot..... I took them and put them in storage a few years till I had space for them, and then happened across another set that had already been refoamed by pioneer, and a parted out set of USA's. I have since refoamed a set of S-710's which had a similar, but slightly more flexible cone. Cool thing about them is if you're good with super glue you can repair minor damage to the cone, but still sucks! Simply speakers offers recones for $85, but I haven't had the need yet. My two year old son loves my speakers as much as I do, and knows not to mess with them - we don't play in the living room though!

When my father bought these new I was just a boy, but I remember being there when we got them, and even though I stopped living with my parents many many years ago, I remembered how these speakers sounded and as such, knew what all my favorite songs that I hadn't even heard on them would sound like, if I heard them through these speakers... if that makes any sense? When he was going to throw them away, it just made my day! :) I felt kinda bad about being able to fix them for $30 so I bought him a new receiver for father's day. He told me he paid $400 for the set in Germany in 1985. The other set I bought from a guy in Ohio got them in Italy in 1986, he said they were $800 each retail, but got the pair for $800 since he worked at the PX or something like that. I bought those for $470 shipped to my door earlier this year, and I don't regret spending that on them one bit. (They were in GREAT condition though!) The center channel I made cost more than I want to admit, and too much time looking for parts. Wish I could be that guy that finds a set of these at a thrift store for $5.... I've read that a couple people have.
 
I had a pair of these as well, and although I really loved them, my HPM-150's sounded better to me, the DSS-9's are very accurate, but they missed some of the open space that was created by the HPM-150's, also the high tones came out better on my opinion on the 150's. As amp I used a Pioneer M-22 for the side by side test.

Eventually I sold the DSS-9's, which I still regret sometimes:scratch2:, and kept the 150's, which I do not regret, although I don't even use them now, Since I switched to Audiostatic ES-300RS panels. I can tell you: hands down the best detailed stuff I've ever heard, but.. it's ofcourse better for jazz and blues, it's still ok for for rock etc, but an extra sub would be needed than anyway. I use a Pioneer A-27 to power these panels.

A setup with 4 and a half DSS-9's will rock like hell, I'm sure of that, you got yourself some great stuff:thmbsp:

Cheers,

JW
 
fiftyone50 said:
MUCH better than HPM 100's. Similar, but more presence all around.

I haven't heard 150's to compare to those, but I still imagine, much better.
The mids and tweeters on these are no joke, not knocking your DSS-7's, as I am quite confident they are nice speakers, but the 9's were a serious step up! The woofers and mids have substantially bigger motor structures, and the beryllium ribbon tweeter on these is better than sliced bread.


I have a replacement woofer for a DSS-9 USA if anyone needs one.
I have 2 actually, if someone needs a project. One needs a recone, the other was refoamed to the front of the woofer (incorrect, should be to the rear)
I saw a couple DSS-7 woofers sell about 4-5 months ago I think.
Click to expand...

None taken, the DSS-9/10's were a big step up from mine. Wish I could have afforded them back then. I know the DSS-9's have a midrange that's twice as big as the DSS-7'sm and I bet that alone really changes the characteristics of them. I do believe that both models use the same materials for speakers. The magnet on the DSS-7 woofers are about 8inches in diameter and about 1.5~2 inches deep.

If you saw those DSS-7 woofers on that auction site 4 or 5 months ago, that was probably me who snagged those.
 
I have 2 actually, if someone needs a project. One needs a recone, the other was refoamed to the front of the woofer (incorrect, should be to the rear)
Click to expand...

Do you think this would affect woofer function, or just cosmetic/not original?
 
The one that's foamed from the front is just a cosmetic issue, it seems to work just fine. It is not as pretty as a properly, rear foamed one. Thing is, if you recone the one that needs it, the foam would be to the rear of the cone, while it's partner would be foam on the front of the cone.
 
I just got a set of these from a friend of mine who bought them new back in the day. He knew I messed about with old audio and rather than throw them away he gave them to me. Unfortunately, one woofer cone is smashed to bits, so it needs more than a re-foam.

After reading this thread and others I'm surprised at the high quality of these drivers, and am considering some sort of restoration. Anybody else have any listening experiences with these speakers and or the drivers? This TAD based beryllium ribbon tweeter looks like it could be really sweet...
 
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I have a little brother to the DSS-9, the DSS-5. I think that it is a fairly sophisticated piece of equipment, even though it is bottom of the DSS line. It out performs my JBL L100, as the mid is tamed by the 2 crossovers. Yeah it has a dual voice coil on the 10" woofer and as a result has 2 sophisticated crossovers. (The JBL, not so much ... their components seem to run wild - producing a fake, but fun sound.)

These speakers are completely under the radar. I paid $20 for a pair. Yes they needed re-foaming, so I did that. Yikes I could not believe the quality of the sound they produce. I moved them to the living space and out of the man cave.
 
I had a pair of DSS-5. They gave my Infinity RS-5b a run for their money. Sounded almost identical. The Infinity had slightly better bass and that was it. Got it for $10 at Goodwill and sold it to make room. Found another pair that needed refoam on CL for another $10 and regret not going to get them.
 
Hi,
you once wrote, you have an replacement woofer for this model for sale!
Is this still the case ??? Please let me know. I´m searching desperately.
Hans
 
I Think they are one fine looking speaker. I bought a set of tweeters and mids and crossovers from a Dss9 and have started to install them into my hpm100's

The quality of the mids and tweeters is very impressive. I am glad you did this post. It would be nice to have mine finished and compare them to your stock units.

I have a set of hpm200's and without hearing yours, would describe the bass on them, as you have on your dss9's. The HPM100 will thump your chest, The Hpm200 will shake your bones.
 
KutzlerTrans said:
I Think they are one fine looking speaker. I bought a set of tweeters and mids and crossovers from a Dss9 and have started to install them into my hpm100's

The quality of the mids and tweeters is very impressive. I am glad you did this post. It would be nice to have mine finished and compare them to your stock units.

I have a set of hpm200's and without hearing yours, would describe the bass on them, as you have on your dss9's. The HPM100 will thump your chest, The Hpm200 will shake your bones.
Click to expand...

I've only seen one pair of HPM 200's. Those are some really rare speakers!
The bass was pretty impressive on them, but I didn't personally dig the rest of the sound so much. Big 'ole cabinets!

I have crossover schematics if you need them.
And extra crossovers.

I'd be interested to check out your HPM100's modded with these drivers.
Be sure to check out the other thread Copa1934 started, another member put the DSS midranges and tweeters into a pair of HPM 150's.
Would love to hear those!
 
HPM-100's and DSS-9's are in completely different leagues.

My HPM-900's were much better than the HPM-100's and closer to the DSS-9's but still lacking the exceptional detail.

I recently had a pair of the DSS-7's and they were respectable and definitely better than the HPM-100's but didn't have that extra something the DSS-9's have.

I had a pair of HPM-1100's years ago and they sounded good but my memory is too fuzzy to compare them to the DSS-9's.

I'm still waiting for a nice pair of HPM-150's to show up close enough to pick up. I found one pair of HPM-150's that were beat to hell, water damaged and had Realistic woofers in them so I passed.

The DSS-9 speakers are some serious kick ass rock n roll speakers that still impress me every time I fire up my Spec rack. What really impressed me when I first got mine back from re-foaming was how well they still sounded when pushed really hard with a 250wpc amp. I honestly cannot believe I haven't blown them up yet. :D

And as good as the DSS-9's are for rock music, they can hold their own against many, if not most speakers for playing jazz and classical too.

I just wish Pioneer didn't use vinyl veneer on them. They really deserved a nice walnut veneer.
 
krowmagnum said:
HPM-100's and DSS-9's are in completely different leagues.

My HPM-900's were much better than the HPM-100's and closer to the DSS-9's but still lacking the exceptional detail.

I recently had a pair of the DSS-7's and they were respectable and definitely better than the HPM-100's but didn't have that extra something the DSS-9's have.

I had a pair of HPM-1100's years ago and they sounded good but my memory is too fuzzy to compare them to the DSS-9's.

I'm still waiting for a nice pair of HPM-150's to show up close enough to pick up. I found one pair of HPM-150's that were beat to hell, water damaged and had Realistic woofers in them so I passed.

The DSS-9 speakers are some serious kick ass rock n roll speakers that still impress me every time I fire up my Spec rack. What really impressed me when I first got mine back from re-foaming was how well they still sounded when pushed really hard with a 250wpc amp. I honestly cannot believe I haven't blown them up yet. :D

And as good as the DSS-9's are for rock music, they can hold their own against many, if not most speakers for playing jazz and classical too.

I just wish Pioneer didn't use vinyl veneer on them. They really deserved a nice walnut veneer.
Click to expand...

I have the DSS-E6's and they have similar mids and the same tweeter as the DSS-7's, with an 8" EBD graphite woofer. I love these speakers, but I never got to listen to DSS-7's in person, only see.

I've never run across HPM 1100's, but I've heard some 900's.
I agree, the 900's are >HPM100 < DSS-9
I would imagine the 1100's should take an edge on bass, but room positioning really comes into play there - I think the 1100's are probably less friendly to position for ideal sound.

Also agree, the vinyl wrap isn't as nice as a good veneer, however - for being some vinyl wrapped speakers, they did a splendid job with them. They look much better than the S series, which I think was real veneer? Fairly durable stuff, too, most of the ones I've seen have held up extremely well the past 30 years. Better than most veneered speakers of similar age (unless meticulously kept) Overall, the vinyl was like the one thing they might've done better, imo - but the drivers, crossover, and enclosures were top notch.

I went thru a Sony DA555ES receiver at first, then when I acquired a second pair, I started feeding an ADC SS-525X EQ, outputting to two separate amps.
I started with Sansui AU-G77X's, then Carver TFM-15CB's, then TFM-35's.

Now, I have them on DBX BX-3's (350WPC).
Most transparent amps I've heard, and all the authority you could want.

The TFM's were nice - you could easily hear the warmth in them.
The 35's definitely had more dynamics and punch than the 15's.

The Sansuis were good, too - they sounded clean, but after switching to TFM's, they seemed a bit dry with the Sansuis.

Once I hooked up the BX-3, the TFM warmth was all gone, but there was no dryness/sterility to the sound like the sansuis had. They seemed to become more airy/lively in the upper bands, and oh so much more punchy with the extra headroom. Midbass seemed to be improved also.


EQ's - many love them, many hate them....
They are one of my favorite tools. Judiciously used, they work wonders.
These speakers sound great without one, but WITH one, you can get a lot more out of them. I believe this applies to most pairs of speakers, so I try not to judge any too harshly without getting to hear them on a good EQ that I got to tweak around with.

Every time I see HPM 150's or 1500's, they are priced out of my league.
 
krowmagnum said:
I just wish Pioneer didn't use vinyl veneer on them. They really deserved a nice walnut veneer.
Click to expand...

They did...and they are even rarer than the DSS-9. They're the CS-V900D. That's what I have, actually. Identical to DSS-9 except for the real wood veneer and the woofers being magnetically shielded.



 
Skylab said:
They did...and they are even rarer than the DSS-9. They're the CS-V900D. That's what I have, actually. Identical to DSS-9 except for the real wood veneer and the woofers being magnetically shielded.
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Click to expand...

I forgot about those guys!
The cabinet weight is substantially heavier in the literature also.

I'm glad TV's aren't CRT anymore.
 
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