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Vintage Pioneer CS-33A woofer replacement

K

keyonce

New Member
The woofer is gone in one of my vintage Pioneer CS-33a speakers. I isolated it and tested it with the multimeter and I get a reading of 0.3 ohms. Does anyone have a suggestion for replacing this woofer? I found a vintage woofer on eBay for a CS-33 but not sure if that would work, it’s definitely a different woofer. Should I try for a modern replacement and if so should I replace in both speakers?
 
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Buying replacement woofers is a gamble, especially with vented cabinets. If you can be patient, just set up an automated search on eBay and wait for an original to show up. If you're going to go the replacement route, you should definitely replace both.

But TBH these are entry level speakers, and for the money you'd spend on replacement woofers, you can probably get a better pair of used speakers. Is there a particular reason you want to keep these going?
 
I’ve setup an alert on eBay. I don’t have any sentimental connection, I picked these up from a flea market year ago. I like the size and style, I don’t need anything too powerful. I was looking on eBay for a new pair and they aren’t so cheap. I’d just like to keep these going rather than trashing them. Is there anyway to repair the woofer or only replacement? Are there some other models you’d suggest me looking for if I can’t find a replacement woofer anytime soon? There are just for a small living room that I use with a vintage HK430 for listening to music either from a PL-510A record player or from my phone.
 
set up a alert for that too.
a lot of times people have a driver
and they dont know what cabinet
it came from so they list it by part number.
 
keyonce said:
Are there some other models you’d suggest me looking for if I can’t find a replacement woofer anytime soon? There are just for a small living room that I use with a vintage HK430 for listening to music either from a PL-510A record player or from my phone.
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My usual recommendation is to see what comes up on your local "for sale" sites and research anything that looks interesting. We can help you here if you find something but you're not sure if it's a good price, a good speaker, or if it's been modified.
 
rwartner said:
Edit your profile to display your location. Easier to help if we know where you are.
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Sure, I added my location (Raleigh, NC) to my profile. I've been looking around on some local sites but haven't found anything yet that I think is worth posting for feedback.
 
Not sure if Facebook links work but if so anyone have thoughts on these? I’ve read mixed reviews but I’m seeing what look like the same models selling on eBay for lots more. I’ve never refoamed but I’m sure I could figure it out.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/4134064856633304/

In case the link doesn’t work these are Cerwin Vega AT-10 that appear to be in decent shape but need to be refoamed. $150
 
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swechsler said:
I'm not that knowledgeable about CV speakers, but here are some in your area that might be worth a look. Prices are per pair for all, AFAICT

Infinity Sterling $40
Boston Acoustics A70 $35
Advent Legacy II $75
JBL Northridge E80 $85 (this one's a month old)
Polk RT12 $100
NHT SB3 $200
KLH Research Ten SCX A - Seller is asking $375; I wouldn't pay that, but if you can get him down to $250 I'd say it's a good purchase.

Good luck.
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thanks! The KLH ones are interesting, I’ve reached out to the seller. Did you see the pioneer CS-77? These are I’m assuming a few steps up from what I have now but not sure if they would be a good value. It seems like the CS-77A would be preferred.

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/ele/d/raleigh-vintage-pioneer-cs-77-speakers/7301635503.html
 
Yeah, I saw those. I'm not really a big fan of most vintage Pioneer speakers. While a few stand out, the majority were just "meh". That asking price is way, way over their value, soundwise. I would choose any of the speakers on my list over the 77s.
 
Thanks for the honest assessment. I thought they might be overpriced. I’ll hope to pick up some of these better options.
 
swechsler said:
I'm not that knowledgeable about CV speakers, but here are some in your area that might be worth a look. Prices are per pair for all, AFAICT

Infinity Sterling $40
Boston Acoustics A70 $35
Advent Legacy II $75
JBL Northridge E80 $85 (this one's a month old)
Polk RT12 $100
NHT SB3 $200
KLH Research Ten SCX A - Seller is asking $375; I wouldn't pay that, but if you can get him down to $250 I'd say it's a good purchase.

Good luck.
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I ended up acquiring the KLHs (didn’t get them down to $250 but got a decent discount) and the Boston Acoustics A70s. The KLHs are hooked up and sound great, what a huge improvement over the pioneer speakers I originally posted about. I have some work to do on the A70s and I will either keep or sell depending on what I think after the re-foaming. But I did already check them all with the multimeter and the woofers measured around 4ohms and the tweeters were 6ohms. I guess that’s correct?
 
Measuring resistance of a speaker driver won't give you much useful info (other than telling you that the voice coil has continuity) unless it's way, way out of spec. The numbers that you quoted sound reasonable.
 
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