our very first speaker upgrade. HPM-100's

riveraXVX

riveraXVX

Active Member
first big speaker upgrade. HPM-100's- question?

after much reading and decision making over the past few months decided our first speaker upgrade would be to something I'd most likely be pleased with for a few years to come. don't have a very..for lack of better word refined ear one could say. really wanted something that could play music loud, and do it without sounding like total garbage like some other "party speakers" we've owned (we've owned very few speakers but ...still!)

after lucking into a nice integrated amplifier and a great turntable for dirt cheap a few weeks back - decided the only other larger upgrade I wanted for now that we didn't have - was for speakers.

had to fix the wife's car and get a few things taken care of on it which I finally finished up last week...so began buying! had noticed a pair about an hour and a half away that had been on CL that info I had taken down but hadn't been posted up. hit up the seller since we would be traveling out that way today - turns out he had them but hadn't relisted them since a tweeter needed replaced - but he'd actually be coming this way to his friends house today.

wife having just had knee surgery and me being disabled ended up offering up if he could deliver them to the door/unload i'd pay the asking price. he agreed and they were delivered this morning! figure I would most likely be dropping a set of the S-710 Beryllium ribbon tweeters once I find a pair anyway so one tweeter being dead - was a bit of a non-issue

cleaned them up this afternoon, and working on getting the grills cleaned up (phew! talk about disgusting seeing the grime of 30+ years being washed away!)

can't wait to either get the tweeter(s) switched out. now just gotta find a proper stock replacement or the upgraded ones ;x

gave them a lil test run this afternoon and even down a tweeter - loved it.
 
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Congrats. You'll love them for what you say you want them for. Enjoy.
Heavy awkward buggers aren't they?
 
riveraXVX said:
after much reading and decision making over the past few months decided our first speaker upgrade would be to something I'd most likely be pleased with for a few years to come. don't have a very..for lack of better word refined ear one could say. really wanted something that could play music loud, and do it without sounding like total garbage like some other "party speakers" we've owned (we've owned very few speakers but ...still!)

after lucking into a nice integrated amplifier and a great turntable for dirt cheap a few weeks back - decided the only other larger upgrade I wanted for now that we didn't have - was for speakers.

had to fix the wife's car and get a few things taken care of on it which I finally finished up last week...so began buying! had noticed a pair about an hour and a half away that had been on CL that info I had taken down but hadn't been posted up. hit up the seller since we would be traveling out that way today - turns out he had them but hadn't relisted them since a tweeter needed replaced - but he'd actually be coming this way to his friends house today.

wife having just had knee surgery and me being disabled ended up offering up if he could deliver them to the door/unload i'd pay the asking price. he agreed and they were delivered this morning! figure I would most likely be dropping a set of the S-910 Beryllium ribbon tweeters once I find a pair anyway so one tweeter being dead - was a bit of a non-issue

cleaned them up this afternoon, and working on getting the grills cleaned up (phew! talk about disgusting seeing the grime of 30+ years being washed away!)

can't wait to either get the tweeter(s) switched out. now just gotta find a proper stock replacement or the upgraded ones ;x

gave them a lil test run this afternoon and even down a tweeter - loved it.
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Having owned HPM-100 (100w) and currently owning S-910 speakers, I'm curious about this retrofit you are planning. Assuming I understand what you have planned, it's not going to work like you plan, installing the 910 tweeter.

Can you detail this out more?
 
Copa1934 said:
Having owned HPM-100 (100w) and currently owning S-910 speakers, I'm curious about this retrofit you are planning. Assuming I understand what you have planned, it's not going to work like you plan, installing the 910 tweeter.

Can you detail this out more?
Click to expand...

I may have mis-spoke on the model may have been the S-710 tweeters - I'll have to doublecheck the model number and part number I have jotted down - I found the info here and various other spots on google after reading about a pair for sale that had been upgraded to the beryllium ribbon tweeters from a ____ (S-710 or 910 I'll doublecheck) as well as HPM-900 midranges both of which are dropin swaps with no modifications needed.

I'll doublecheck and post back up!

Drugolf said:
Congrats. You'll love them for what you say you want them for. Enjoy.
Heavy awkward buggers aren't they?
Click to expand...

you are correct! we have some major living room replanning to do going from the tiny andrew jones bookshelf speakers to these to say the least!

edit: doublechecked you are correct S-710 tweeters! not the S-910 edited my original post also
 
nolasally said:
Pleasure dealing with you! My back is a little sore from Moving my fisher console up a flight of stairs in walkertown, then putting a ARC D70 amp into my car and then lugging your HPM weighting 60lbs ea. into your home. Just another day for me:D
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aha! thought to ask if you were an AKer ;) yeah that sounds like a task for sure!! your day was far more eventful than ours haha ;)

just finished cleaning up the grills also some of those leaky surround goo came over onto one of them - talk about problems getting that cleaned out! got them good enough for now, grills look great!

these are going to be put to some great use!! thanks again!
 
riveraXVX said:
I may have mis-spoke on the model may have been the S-710 tweeters - I'll have to doublecheck the model number and part number I have jotted down - I found the info here and various other spots on google after reading about a pair for sale that had been upgraded to the beryllium ribbon tweeters from a ____ (S-710 or 910 I'll doublecheck) as well as HPM-900 midranges both of which are dropin swaps with no modifications needed.

I'll doublecheck and post back up!



you are correct! we have some major living room replanning to do going from the tiny andrew jones bookshelf speakers to these to say the least!

edit: doublechecked you are correct S-710 tweeters! not the S-910 edited my original post also
Click to expand...
OK, so here's the deal. The HPM series break the highs into to ranges, one covered by the tweeter and one covered by the super tweeter. The 710/910 (both I own) have one tweeter that covers most (all? I'll double check tomorrow) the frequencies of the tweeter and beyond the super tweeter. The crossover network must be setup accordingly. Along with this, the 710/910 (like other higher end Pioneer tweeters) have their own transformer, unlike the HPM series which have a transformer on the network. Also, the ratio of the transformer is different.

Not sure this would be a successful swap without the 710/910 networks.
 
hey everyone, went ahead and disassembled the speaker with the scratchy pot to try to take a step at actually getting a shot of deoxit in it.... read up on a number of threads here/online and seems the pot is sealed (and has a cover over it) found a number of references to people who had "cleaned pots and recapped" theirs but in any thread of people talking about or asking how to clean the pots on them - all were met with failure.

tried really giving each pot a good back and forth while watching something on the tv for a solid 15-20 minutes to see if that might loosen it up. no luck. seems to be sealed and have a metal encasement around the backside of them

remove crossover, took out and unhooked the drivers and flipped the cabinet over. and got a few different angles to get a mirror/flashlight in there to check it out - really did not see any opening to try to get a shot into so went with a lil "spray and pray" near the wire connection and towards the center with a shot each and went through the ol twist and turn

got everything hooked back up and definitely improved the one that was acting up a little bit but still not perfect.

I'd rather not bypass the pot all together - any HPM-100 owners that cleaned their pots successfully (that had an issue to begin with) have any tips I might try?
 
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riveraXVX said:
any HPM-100's that have successfully cleaned scratchy pots?
Click to expand...

I did a search on "that auction site" for HPM-100 L-pads. In the pictures that I looked at of removed L-pads, there appears to be a single hole on the top. This would be the side pressed against the baffle. This may be why contact cleaner is not getting in. To access it, remove the knob from the front of the speaker, then the nut. That should free the L-pad. Pull it from the cabinet and see if there is indeed a hole. I have not done this personally, but it seem like the way to go. Hope this helps. :thmbsp:
 
Oozure said:
I did a search on "that auction site" for HPM-100 L-pads. In the pictures that I looked at of removed L-pads, there appears to be a single hole on the top. This would be the side pressed against the baffle. This may be why contact cleaner is not getting in. To access it, remove the knob from the front of the speaker, then the nut. That should free the L-pad. Pull it from the cabinet and see if there is indeed a hole. I have not done this personally, but it seem like the way to go. Hope this helps. :thmbsp:
Click to expand...

I saw what looked to be a hole there also (on that ol auction site - since i've been scouring for a couple things there) - maybe that will be the weekend task to dig it them out and take a closer look! I'm pretty sure someone that had removed them here mentioned it was sealed but now that I'm thinking about it wondering if I'm just making that up and if its the case :scratch2:
 
I also have a couple pair of HPM-100's that are waiting for restoration, so I have not taken the pots apart yet. I do not believe that the item you describe is a hole , but an indent used for the contacts to stop, just my 2 cents. When I get to mine I would carefully bend the 4 prongs up that hold the two pieces together and see what you have. They are usually not to complicated in my opinion. If you are hesitant to take it apart then try to squirt a bunch of cleaner through the many little openings on the metal cover, all of them at once. Here is a link to a thread where I did some CS-88 pots, good luck with whatever you decide.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=485792
 
doctorolds said:
I also have a couple pair of HPM-100's that are waiting for restoration, so I have not taken the pots apart yet. I do not believe that the item you describe is a hole , but an indent used for the contacts to stop, just my 2 cents. When I get to mine I would carefully bend the 4 prongs up that hold the two pieces together and see what you have. They are usually not to complicated in my opinion. If you are hesitant to take it apart then try to squirt a bunch of cleaner through the many little openings on the metal cover, all of them at once. Here is a link to a thread where I did some CS-88 pots, good luck with whatever you decide.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=485792
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Hope my journey can help the OP and others.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=431053
 
thank you everyone! spoke to Copa a lil more via messaging looks like taking them out is about the only real course of action - family visiting for the weekend looks like the moment they step out the door time to dismantle the front housing to take them out to give them a proper cleanup job!

the soft glued on metal plate is already slightly jacked up on one side from where someone had previously try to get to the pots also it looks like so at least if I bend that a lil more it won't matter much!

the metal covering looks like it should be pretty easy to get off once out of the cabinet I attempted to get it worked off in the cabinet and made progress on it but was just too tight a space to get all the sides undone before I gave up

thanks everyone! I'll try to remember to post up some photos also so others might have a step by step for how to remove them from the front
 
got our new to us tweeters in, went ahead and changed both out since these two were a matched pair and now have an extra backup just in case.

they sound great!

cleaning pots (not quite yet!:
after removing the knobs (thanks to Eagle1 for the great tip BTW! use two teaspoons one on each side of the knob and use those to pull the knobs off - so easy - no scratching the knobs - got them right off.) having trouble getting to the recessed nut. going to try a cheap 1/4" drive socket to get in there (since neither 1/2 or our new 3/8 set we picked up the 1/2" can fit in there. if not a friend is going to machine the outer wall down a lil on the socket to make it work for us haha
 
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