Pioneer SCS12 speakers -replacment drivers

[Nucky]

Hi all...

Have lovely pair of late 1970's Pioneer SCS-12 enclosures but they have no drivers in them.

Have tried a pair of Sanyo R-S07158 drivers which are a neat fit to the original 6.5 inch mountings - they sound pretty good but are only rated at 10 watts whereas the originals are rated as 18 watts.

Have tried a pair of rwin cone Magnavox 6.5 inch speakers (Magnaflux 6WR) as well but they give a very "bassy" sound with not much high end response at all.

Would love to find a pair of original drivers but think that I would be dreaming!

Any suggestions?

These enclosures are built for a single 6.5 inch driver with a medium sized port below the speaker.

External Dimensions (if this helps) are:
Height - 480mm or 19 inches
Width - 280mm or 11 inches
Depth - 190mm or 7.5 inches

The bass port is about 3 inches or 70mm diameter

Any ideas as always are appreciated!

 

[cablephil212]

Best Guess

Is it that you need drivers that can take more wattage, or you don't think the Sanyo's sound good enough? It's gonna be tough to find a FR driver that will work like the original driver. Even though the Sanyo's are only 10w, do you think you're gonna blow them up? How loud do you listen to your music?

Also, since the box is ported, those Sanyo's might not be spec'ed for that kind of allignment. A lot of other factors go into fitting a driver into a box that it wasn't designed for. What you're trying to do is a hit-or-miss gamble.

I don't know what amp you have, but if it supports 4ohms, you might think about a co-ax for car audio. An example: http://www.parts-express.com/pyle-wave-plx62-6-1-2-coaxial-speaker-pair--267-778. This IS NOT a recommendation, just an example of the type. You would have to pick a brand.

The link below is the closest specs that "might" work. You gave the port diameter, but not the length. That's important. It was tuned to the original driver, and might not work with a replacement.

http://www.parts-express.com/visaton-bg17-8-65-full-range-speaker-with-whizzer-cone-8-ohm--292-546. A fairly cheap experiment.

Other options are available like using a 6 1/2" woofer and replacing the port with a tweeter. Even with a simple x-over (6db), it would probably out perform the original driver for SQ.

Now it's up to you to decide which way to go.

Good Luck

 

[Nucky]

Port measurements

Had the backs of these screwed back in when I measured initially so took them off to get accurate port measurements.

Ports are:

3.25 inch diameter
1.25 inch depth

Ports are centred 4.5 inches up from the inside base of the cabinet.

Hope this helps.

The Visatons you mention are available here in Australia and sound like a possible option if they would suit that space and porting.

If not, would be quite happy to try a tweeter and crossover as these are lovely old enclosures and deserve a good fate!

And, whilst the Sanyos sound good, they are getting old and the cones are worn thin in a couple of places so may not last too long.

 

[Nucky]

Progress???

Well... I guess so

Have decided to put the Sanyos back in as they have the better and sweeter sound to my aging ears.

Will see how long they last.

BTW, as an experiment, I have reinforced the thin and worn parts of the Sanyo cones with a little film of flexible pva glue. Will see how it works!

 

[Roumelio]

I wouldn't worry yourself with these. The Pioneer SCS-12 is a pretty bland one way speaker with decent mids and that's about it. Unlike a Tannoy or other high quality speaker in box design, they're not coaxial. What you get is a 6.5" speaker with a driver. It's OK, but it really is a mid it doesn't really cater for high or low frequencies. Doesn't sound terrible but there is nothing more to it.

If you were to accompany it with a decent sub in a box you would get a decent sound, but that's about it. Because it doesn't have a tweeter when you try to push it to pronounce more of the highs it simply ends up being a bit bright and sparkly because its one speaker trying to do everything.

If you built a tweeter into the box with a crossover you might come up with something decent. On the other hand, by the time you invest money in a $40 cabinet from the early 1970s you will have put yourself into the territory where you can buy something better.

My two cents, owning a pair of these. I wouldn't touch them, just enjoy them for what they are. You're not going to win any SQ challenges with them but they sound just OK if you let them play your records, or radio and don't care too much about the lack of presence in both the highs and lows without appropriate additional components.

If you already have component horns and bass drivers in boxes, these speakers would provide a middle of the road mid-section that's not going to knock your socks off, but it doesn't sound like fingers down a chalkboard either. If you really wanted to keep the cabinet you could put a more modern 6.5inch coaxial driver in the box.

Just my two cents, if your amplifier can handle a 4ohm load then you can consider a car speaker that will play much better for about $100.