This or That: Pioneer HPM-100 vs B&W DM580

[RMilton]

Help!

I realize that these speakers are very different in design, and one predates the other by 15 years, but I have a question. A client of mine is letting me pick between a pair of HPM-100's or a pair of B&W DM580's for a holiday gift.

I love the sound of the Pioneer HPM's; hard to beat them for rock music and anything with a fair amount of bass. I've never listened to the DM580's, and I'm not in a position to be able to test them. Both are in fantastic condition. My question is essentially, which pair should I grab if I mainly listen to rock/jazz and have a 16'x18' room with a few different amp choices (onkyo tx8500 or marantz 2265b will most likely be paired with these). I would love to get your input on this decision and/or some general information on the B&W's of this era. Thanks!

 

[virak]

I had the DM570, and still have HPM-100's. The HPM's would be a better choice, IMO.
The B&W's sounds and looks like a budget speaker compared with the HPM's. I'd describe the Pioneers as more open and enjoyable, with a nice puchy bass. Not perfect by any means, but a fun classic, which probably will compliment the Marantz or Onkyo quite well.

 

[Zonker92]

I see that as a '71 Camaro versus '95 Camry decision. Some people would definitely opt for the Camry, others the Chevy. The B&Ws are probably better on paper, more refined and accurate, but they're not going to get anyone too excited.

 

[jblnut]

Sure that's not a Camry Solara ? With the V6 ? and maybe the 5-speed stick ?

LOL...take the HPM's and don't look back. Those B&W's were not their finest hour.

jblnut

 

[Djcoolray]

That depends on whether you have the HPM 100a or the HPM 100b as the crossovers for the 100b makes for a better sounding speaker.

 

[musichal]

Can you listen to both and let your ear decide? That's what I would prefer to do.

And for God's sake don't A/B them. Listen to one for a bit, take a short break, then listen to the other.

 

[RMilton]

That depends on whether you have the HPM 100a or the HPM 100b as the crossovers for the 100b makes for a better sounding speaker.

They are the 100a (100watt) version. That being said, they are the cleanest I've seen and they are from the original owner who never abused them

 

[RMilton]

Can you listen to both and let your ear decide? That's what I would prefer to do.

And for God's sake don't A/B them. Listen to one for a bit, take a short break, then listen to the other.

I've heard the HPM's on many occasions, and had a set of the smaller HPMs in the past. The B&W's are in storage; I'm sure I could try them and swap them but I don't want to be too much of a pain since they're a gift. I think I'll stick with the HPMs

 

[RMilton]

Sure that's not a Camry Solara ? With the V6 ? and maybe the 5-speed stick ?

LOL...take the HPM's and don't look back. Those B&W's were not their finest hour.

jblnut

Thanks for the input. It's unanimous; I was planning on going with them unless this post yielded a different outcome. I need to do more research on B&W's past as well.

 

[musichal]

I've heard the HPM's on many occasions, and had a set of the smaller HPMs in the past. The B&W's are in storage; I'm sure I could try them and swap them but I don't want to be too much of a pain since they're a gift. I think I'll stick with the HPMs

Yeah, I'd really want to hear those B&Ws, but without the chance to hear them they would yet be my choice because I was/am not as enamoured of the HPM series as many are here. So not quite unanimous.

 

[RMilton]

Yeah, I'd really want to hear those B&Ws, but without the chance to hear them they would yet be my choice because I was/am not as enamoured of the HPM series as many are here.

The client in question has a massive collection and has been into higher end audio for 40 years; he loves these DM580's and refers to them as a slightly cheaper KEF C-80, but most people don't share that view. It sounds bad, but I may go with the HPM's from a value standpoint regardless and trade them down the road for some better B&W's or something like that (worst case scenario). The HPM's appear to have a lot of fanboys--not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Djcoolray]

They are the 100a (100watt) version. That being said, they are the cleanest I've seen and they are from the original owner who never abused them

Great......

Then they are worthy of the 100b crossovers, that is if you want something real good to listen to. Many members have done so and are passing around the schematic to build the 100b crossover. Enjoy...

 

[virak]

Strange, when I got my HPM's (about 8 years ago), the 100w version was considered the best.
From what I remember, the opinon was that Pioneer traded some SQ for better power handling.

 

[Tom Brennan]

By the terms of the post war Japanese Constitution Japan may only use speaker weapons in self defense and is treaty limited to speakers no more dangerous than the Pioneer HPM series.

Before the war, much as the Japanese Navy was modeled on Britain's Royal Navy so were Japanese speaker weapons modeled on such dangerous British speakers as the Voight-Lowthers. In addition the Japanese were much taken with the Voight "bath tub" horn, for obvious reasons. However Japanese speaker weapon research, though fixated on the British single driver model, came up with nothing more than the rather benign Fostex and Diatone weapons which lacked firepower and had the serious drawback of needing their voice coils to be regularly oiled. After the war Japanese development followed the multi-way American model, as with the previously noted HPM series for which the Japanese had high hopes of export sales to Third World armies. However Syria's HPMs failed dismally in the Yom Kippur War when pitted against Israel's highly modified JBLs and sales plummeted but the Japanese cleverly rebounded by pitching the weapon at marijuana befuddled young American audio enthusiasts by means of advertising campaigns in the National Lampoon and Penthouse.