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Questions about Pioneer CS-99a

LennonsGhost

LennonsGhost

New Member
Hello,
I just joined AK to ask about these speakers but this site is pretty rad so Ill probably be a here a bunch.
Anyways, I picked up a pair of pioneer cs99a for free from marketplace. Ide never heard of them before but will snag any free audio device especially if they're vintage. I took them home and opened them up. (Mind you I haven't tested them just yet but I will tomorrow)The insides look to be in very good condition. nothing torn burnt leaking or damaged, on the circuit board. The only major thing i noticed was one of the big speaker cones has a rip in it. Besides that there is wear to the cabinets, mainly one big chunk missing out of the corner of one, and they are missing the Velcro grills. Visually i see no reason for these not to play. So what can I do to that cone? Replacing it, specifically buying an exact cs99a speaker, is a bit expensive. Would it be worth it? Is there something I can do to fix it or should I take it to someone? Can I put putty or a piece of wood where that chunk is missing and just blend it like it never happened? Would it help the sound, increase or decrease the value if I replace the caps or other components? Should i leave the board alone? I plan to at least sand and stain it too look new again. In the condition they are in now, assuming they work, could anyone give me a guesstimate on value? I looked up the serial number and it said its either January 1967 or 1993. And from what I see and what I looked at on the internet these are '67. Sorry for all the questions and thank you for any info! Please if im leaving something out let me know. Or if you have any other questions about them.
Thanks again,
Trevor

Edit: well, I guess they couldn't be from '67 or '93. Im.gathering these speakers are an oddity. A very popular and expensive speaker with a lot of love/hate relationships that I can't seen to find much information on that is set in stone.

Edit: speakers work. They get very loud.
 

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For future reference, questions of value belong in the Dollars and Sense subforum. However I'll leave this here since you have a bunch of other questions on these speakers.
 
Quick set epoxy and some Melitta unbleached coffee filter paper would work well the fix the cone. You should remove it from the speaker so you can access both sides. Work the tear closed -- you want it as close to original shape as possible on the front -- then cut a small piece of filter paper that will completely cover the tear with a small margin on each side. cut it to follow the tear if possible, 1/8" or so margin. Mix up the fast set epoxy and work it into the tear some, then apply the filter paper and gently press it into the epoxy. Don't use too much, the idea is to restore the strength of the cone without adding significant weight.

Let it cure, then repeat on the back side. May not look fabulous, but it will sound fine and given the cost you have an excellent set of speakers!
 
From the looks of the surround on the damaged woofer, the magnate may have shifted. Are you able to push on the cone and it moves in and out freely?
I had a pair of these speakers a few years ago. They will play VERY loud and CLEAN when feed from a good amp. Many complain of them having no bass, but if set up properly on a stand about 10" off the floor tilted back some, I got good results. They like power!
To bad the cabinet is so damaged. I myself, would just buy an original woofer to replace the damaged one. Seeing that you got the speakers for free, spending a bit for the replacement woofer isn't going to hurt too much. Just make sure if you get a replacement woofer that it has the FB stamp on the cone or you will hurt the value of them if you end up selling them. I'm sure you've seen how much these Pioneer CS-99a's go for on the Bay.
 
gizzyman47 said:
From the looks of the surround on the damaged woofer, the magnate may have shifted. Are you able to push on the cone and it moves in and out freely?
I had a pair of these speakers a few years ago. They will play VERY loud and CLEAN when feed from a good amp. Many complain of them having no bass, but if set up properly on a stand about 10" off the floor tilted back some, I got good results. They like power!
To bad the cabinet is so damaged. I myself, would just buy an original woofer to replace the damaged one. Seeing that you got the speakers for free, spending a bit for the replacement woofer isn't going to hurt too much. Just make sure if you get a replacement woofer that it has the FB stamp on the cone or you will hurt the value of them if you end up selling them. I'm sure you've seen how much these Pioneer CS-99a's go for on the Bay.
Click to expand...
Thanks man! Yeah the speaker doesnt really move on its own. But youre right I should invest in a cs99a speaker. I dont know if it means anything to you but I have a jvc axr97 amp.
 
HPMguy said:
Quick set epoxy and some Melitta unbleached coffee filter paper would work well the fix the cone. You should remove it from the speaker so you can access both sides. Work the tear closed -- you want it as close to original shape as possible on the front -- then cut a small piece of filter paper that will completely cover the tear with a small margin on each side. cut it to follow the tear if possible, 1/8" or so margin. Mix up the fast set epoxy and work it into the tear some, then apply the filter paper and gently press it into the epoxy. Don't use too much, the idea is to restore the strength of the cone without adding significant weight.

Let it cure, then repeat on the back side. May not look fabulous, but it will sound fine and given the cost you have an excellent set of speakers!
Click to expand...
awesome thanks! Ill look into that or after seeing what they sell for i may invest in the same Speaker
 
I had a pair of CS-63DX which were the inspiration for the CS-99A. The 63's were very nice sounding speakers, 15 inch 4-way if I remember correctly.

Is your interest in these to make a profit or to listen to them?
 
malden said:
I had a pair of CS-63DX which were the inspiration for the CS-99A. The 63's were very nice sounding speakers, 15 inch 4-way if I remember correctly.

Is your interest in these to make a profit or to listen to them?
Click to expand...
i have enough speakers and i love my tower sony ss-tl3. So Probably try and sell them, Put some time and a little bit of money into them first.
 
w3jn said:
For future reference, questions of value belong in the Dollars and Sense subforum. However I'll leave this here since you have a bunch of other questions on these speakers.
Click to expand...
From what i gather im not allowed to post these in dollars and sense because of my "affiliation" with the speakers
 
You can post questions of value etc there, you can't offer - or even imply - that you want to sell them there. Buy/sell/trade is in the Barter Town forum available to premium members.
 
My bad, I could have sworn I deleted that within minutes of posting it. Intending that no one would see it unless they beat my ninja edit.

ADDED--Must be part of the sites search and related issues. I can't delete it, I just tried again. I did try to delete it within minutes as I stated. The site won't let me.

ADDED pt. 2 just cleared all cookies and I still can't delete messages.
 
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goodolpg said:
My bad, I could have sworn I deleted that within minutes of posting it. Intending that no one would see it unless they beat my ninja edit.

ADDED--Must be part of the sites search and related issues. I can't delete it, I just tried again. I did try to delete it within minutes as I stated. The site won't let me.

ADDED pt. 2 just cleared all cookies and I still can't delete messages.
Click to expand...
Its all good. Like I said im brand new. Didnt mean to break any rules.
 
LennonsGhost said:
So what can I do to that cone? Replacing it, specifically buying an exact cs99a speaker, is a bit expensive. Would it be worth it? Is there something I can do to fix it or should I take it to someone?
Click to expand...

Others have recommended using a coffee filter and wood or white glue. That should work but if the two edges fit nicely together, you can apply some thinned white Elmer's glue to the edges with a toothpick and gently work them together until the glue gets tacky.

The cones appear to have water stains so they are not particularly valuable anyway so don't overthink it.

LennonsGhost said:
Can I put putty or a piece of wood where that chunk is missing and just blend it like it never happened?
Click to expand...

Unless you are a woodworker or extremely lucky, anything you do there will not improve the appearance much. I would just apply a light stain to the corner so that it doesn't jump out at you.

LennonsGhost said:
Would it help the sound, increase or decrease the value if I replace the caps or other components? Should i leave the board alone?
Click to expand...

Leave the boards alone. The caps are more than likely fine. "Recapping" is the go-to "upgrade" for those who just want to do something. If you want to know if it's worth the effort, get a microphone, software, etc. and measure the speakers before and after the "upgrade". Otherwise, you will never know if it was effective or not.

LennonsGhost said:
I plan to at least sand and stain it too look new again.
Click to expand...

That's a good plan.

LennonsGhost said:
In the condition they are in now, assuming they work, could anyone give me a guesstimate on value? .
Click to expand...

As they are now, about $75 to $100. If you do the suggested repairs, about $75 to $100
 
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I don't want to rain on your parade, but these are not great speakers in terms of sound quality. I bought a pair brand new in the early '70s, back when I didn't know better. None of the Japanese speakers from that era were very good, although there was some small improvement when Yamaha hit the scene. Honestly, almost any of the American or British speakers are better and more worthwhile as projects. AR, Genesis, Infinity, Epicure, etc. will reward your efforts to an extent that can't be matched by their Japanese counterparts.

Jack
 
TriodeLuvr said:
I don't want to rain on your parade, but these are not great speakers in terms of sound quality. I bought a pair brand new in the early '70s, back when I didn't know better. None of the Japanese speakers from that era were very good, although there was some small improvement when Yamaha hit the scene. Honestly, almost any of the American or British speakers are better and more worthwhile as projects. AR, Genesis, Infinity, Epicure, etc. will reward your efforts to an extent that can't be matched by their Japanese counterparts.

Jack
Click to expand...
Yes, I noticed that lol. They are loud but very very thin.
 
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