Interesting "mod" for the HPM-100...

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Nov 18, 2012

• #1

I had been wanting to try this for quite a while, and finally found a nice pair of the Pioneer Berylium ribbon tweeters. The ones that come from the S-910 speakers are a drop-in replacement for the tweeters in the HPM-100; no drilling or cabinet modification needed at all.

The ribbons are MUCH more detailed and nuanced than the stock HPM-100 tweeter. Note that I am talking about the tweeter, here, not the super tweeter.

So far I think they sound considerably better with the ribbon tweeters in them.

 

cityslicker

Active Member

• Nov 18, 2012

• #2

Very nice! They actually look pretty dam good to.

For my HPM's I have the stock drivers, and I installed Clarity Caps in the crossovers.

I use 4.7 uf for the midrange and 2.7 uf for the tweeters, and I added some
insulation to the top half of the cabinet.

These speakers sound great set up this way, and their not bright being in a carpeted room.

Anyway...I may just keep an eye out for some tweeters.

 

motorstereo

AK Subscriber

Subscriber

• Nov 19, 2012

• #3

That ribbon looks like it belongs there.:thmbsp: I did the same thing to a pair of 100's that I had back in the day. I used a RS leaf tweeter and I felt it was a nice upgrade over the stock harsh sounding cone.

 

pognoot

Well-Known Member

• Nov 19, 2012

• #4

That's an awesome looking mod and a certain benefit from newer driver technology. The HPM-100 has plenty of top end sizzle, but it's the quality of the sizzle that's always bothered me to an extent.

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Nov 19, 2012

• #5

Thanks guys. Yeah the nice thing here is that swapping out the tweeters is super easy. The Ribbons from the S-910 have the same mounting hole dimensions and the magnet fits in the HPM-100 tweeter opening without any mods needed. So you just unscrew, swap the wires, screw new one in, and you're done.

I continue to be impressed with the result.

The hardest part is finding a pair of these tweeters...

 

pognoot

Well-Known Member

• Nov 19, 2012

• #6

From what people in AK have said, the HPM-900 midrange is a bit smoother than the HPM-100. The woofer is considred the highest quality transducer in the system, so if you could find a 900 series midrange, with the speaker recapped, that's about as good as anyone could hope to get without going Econowave which pretty much demolishes the appearance of the speaker.

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Nov 19, 2012

• #7

I have a pair of HPM-900 mids. I'm going to put those in once I am fully acclimated to the sound with the Ribbons, so I can assess the difference of the midrange drivers.

And for sure, the woofers are awesome. No chance I would change those.

 

pognoot

Well-Known Member

• Nov 20, 2012

• #8

Maybe you saw my listening test results on Matt's HPM-100 crossover mod, but I came away feeling the system sounded better left at the original Bart Locanthi crossover values.

It is true that the woofer is crossed very high by design. By lowering the point between the woofer and midrange, the midrange takes over more over the lower mid duties and comes across as being "louder". However, with respect to this particular system, my ears tell me the woofer is better and producing midrange frequencies than the midrange driver.

Go figure, but that is why I kept mine stock. Other people really like the mod, so I could be in the minority here, but I thought I would share nonetheless.

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Nov 20, 2012

• #9

I haven't tried that, I may at some point. My crossovers are already recapped, but at the original values. I tried the ribbon tweeters not because I was unhappy with the tonal balance of the HPM-100, but more on a hunch that the ribbons would have a better quality to the treble, which I believe is true.

 

69sixpackbee

Well-Known Member

• Nov 20, 2012

• #10

Skylab said:

The Ribbons from the S-910 have the same mounting hole dimensions and the magnet fits in the HPM-100 tweeter opening without any mods needed. So you just unscrew, swap the wires, screw new one in, and you're done.

Click to expand...

That's too much work...I think I'll keep my originals *wink*

 

pognoot

Well-Known Member

• Nov 27, 2012

• #11

Skylab, I noticed you had a complete pair of S-910s to begin with. How did these speakers sound on their own compared to the HPM-100s? Isn't the S-910 just a newer model/year design of the HPM-900?

I think it's reasonable to say most AKers believe the 900 is a sonic improvement over the 100, so I'd be interested in your impressions of the S-910.

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Nov 27, 2012

• #12

Actually, no, I bought the tweeters by themselves. But funny you should mention it - I actually just found a pair of S-910's, which I have wanted to try for quite a while. I don't have them yet though - will get them Friday.

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Dec 1, 2012

• #13

OK, I now have the HPM-900 mids in my HPM-100's. they do in fact sound better! So I'm not sure what to call this speaker...recapped crossover, S-910 ribbon tweeters, and HPM-900 mids...but it sounds KILLER!

 

tenor39

New Member

• Apr 18, 2015

• #14

I'm very curious as to how the S-910 ribbons just "dropped in", as the screw hole centers are totally different between the ribbons and the HPM-100 tweeters. 2 7/8" for the HPM-100 and 3 1/16" for the S-910. Skylab, your ribbons look like the ones from the S-710. Wondering if there's a screw hole difference. Notice the difference in the picture.

 

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Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Apr 18, 2015

• #15

So you dredged up a 3 year old thread for that?

On the holes though, you're right. Turns out the tweeters I bought that for perfectly in terms of the mounting holes were from an S-710, not 910. Until I bought some 910's, I didn't know that the tweeters I had bought on their own were from a 710, not a 910.

 

tenor39

New Member

• Apr 18, 2015

• #16

It is a common misconception on the FB vintage audio pages about this mod. I bought a ribbon from a S-910 and was like WTH?

 

Skylab

Watcher of the skies

• Apr 18, 2015

• #17

I see. Well it's the 710 tweeters that drop in without mounting hole mods, not the 910 ones. My apologies for any confusion I may have caused.

 

tenor39

New Member

• Apr 18, 2015

• #18

No worries. I was just trying to figure out what was going on. Many threads on AK and the 'net say the two ribbon tweeters are direct replacements for one another, but that's not the case. Seems the S-910 is Beryllium, but not sure about the S-710. I'll just drill out the faceplate and use some nice looking washers. Did you change the crossover at all for the new tweeters?

 

riveraXVX

Active Member

• Apr 18, 2015

• #19

tenor39 said:

No worries. I was just trying to figure out what was going on. Many threads on AK and the 'net say the two ribbon tweeters are direct replacements for one another, but that's not the case. Seems the S-910 is Beryllium, but not sure about the S-710. I'll just drill out the faceplate and use some nice looking washers. Did you change the crossover at all for the new tweeters?

Click to expand...

good looking out on that, I had referenced this (and some other sources online) more than a few times in the past couple months about both the R13s and R14's being easy dropin replacements.

JUST bought a pair of R13's last night also - will be arriving this week

 

tenor39

New Member

• Apr 18, 2015

• #20

I have the R14's. They go with the S-910. The R13's might be the ones for the S-710 and 510.