Pioneer Speakers

[jcmusic]

I am just wondering which speakers made by Pioneer are considered to be the best ones they ever made?


Jay

 

[Strawman]

The mid to late 70's CS, CS**/A, and HPM's all have cult like following. Some people love them, others hate them. It's best to use your ears if possible. I have a pair of CS-88A's, and HPM 500's. Both give nice sound, but both are also quite differant.

 

[Brudha]

IMHO, HPM-1500 and HPM-1100 are at least in the top 3.........

 

[avguytx]

I concur. If I could only find a pair of HPM-900's, 1100's, 1500's or 150's, I'd be happy! They would go well with my SX-1980! I almost bought a pair of CS-99's (not the A's) for $40 but I had heard they werent as good as the A's. But I do like the look of those 99's better! Looks arent everything...that's for sure.

 

[MarkAnderson]

Strawman - nice of you to crawl out of the woodwork.

 

[Strawman]

Hey Mark, I haven't been around much, a whirlwind summer. My daughter just moved down to your neck of the woods. She took a job with Microsoft in Charlotte. Hope the storm's not bothering you.

 

[jcmusic]

Thanks guys I have a pair of HPM 1500's, that I have had for over 25 or so years. I recently retired them to the spare room for a rest, I came into a really nice pair of Klipsch Forte II's, that I could not pass up. I am the only owner of the 1500's, got them new way back when. They still sound great.

Jay

 

[Texas42]

Coincidentally, I just picked up a pair of HPM 1500s and Klipsch Forte's last week and love them both. The Forte has always been one of my alltime favs, especially for the price. And the 1500s give me all the sound of the HPM 100s that I have plus just a little bit more. I think, vintage wise, the 1500s to be the top of the hill in Pioneer's speaker line.

 

[Possum_Dog]

I just picked up a pair of Pioneer CS-G9001 speakers but cant find any information here at AK about them.
Has anyone here heard them before and what did they sell for and when were they made?

 

[kfa888]

My massive S-1010's are the best speaker Pioneer ever made... Oh, wait, i have never heard them, but they are cool looking :>)

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Actually, Pioneer's TAD division made their best speaker systems. But they were fairly rare and $$$$.

 

[Texas42]

Then they weren't technically "Pioneer's" then....<grin> So I can sleep at night thinking my 1500s are still the best...

 

[mhardy6647]

TAD drivers are still being made, are still very expensive, and are still very good.

 

[GordonW]

Of the ones actually badged "Pioneer"... probably the HPM200, then the S1010, then the HPM900, IMHO.

The TAD-built units referred to, would be the "Exclusive" units, available in Japan-only. Look like an updated JBL L300... which is EXACTLY what it would be, since it was based on work Bart Locanthi did at Pioneer/TAD, after he left JBL and was hired by Pioneer...

 

[Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ]

Hmm. TAD sent me a full color catalog of their drivers and completed systems back in the very early 90's. Could have sworn they had a US distributor at that time.

 

[88gibson]

Ditto on the hpm-1500's. I have four of them and don't have plans of ever getting rid of them!

Derek

 

[mhardy6647]

I have a colleague here in MA using pretty new TAD compression drivers in a pair of Edgarhorn Titans. AFAIK they're available here; just pricey.

 

[bully]

I agree with GordonW's rankings.
The HPM's and the S's are great sounding speaker systems.
The early/mid-70s CS-63DX, CS-99A, CS-88A, and the CS-77A have a very nice sound, a bit down on bass from 40 Hz, but boost the bass control and they respond very well. Anyway, in days of vinyl there wasn't much really below 40 or 50 Hz, so that doesn't really matter. The old CS's really shined in the mid range and treble, sweet and accurate sound.
I had the CS-99A and CS-88A and loved them and pounded many a party with them.
But Pioneer really made a leap getting Bart Locanthi to leave JBL and design a new series for Pioneer. That was the HPM series.
While Pioneer owned Phase Linear, they produced a small series of speakers. The two top line models had Pioneer Japan analogues, and then the "baby" P-530, a classic 12-inch, 3-way system with speakers that seem to be early TAD drivers (TAD division was formed around then).

 

[drz01]

Here is an interesting site.
Pioneer classic speakers.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Some pretty cool pictures on that site, thanks for posting the link.

What are those on the S-110, passive radiators?

And what are those on the (for example) S-1300DV and S-9500DV, ribbons?

Has anyone heard the S-C5?

Oh, well, time to peruse the ArKhive...