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Have you tried HPM-900 Midranges in your HPM-100?

Tripqzon

Tripqzon

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
If you have installed HPM-700 or 900 Midrange drivers in your HPM-100 speakers I want to hear about your experience.

Please, no comments along the lines of "why would anyone want to change the sound of the HPM-100?", etc.

What has it done to change the sound of the 100's?

I'm looking for specifics such as overall tonal balance and soundstage.

How satisfied are you with the change?

Any other thoughts about your experience in this matter are also welcome.

Thanks,
Paul
 
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I have, And the tweeters. The change was subtle for me, A better all round sound is all I can say. Since the woofer handles so much of the midrange, All you can ask for is better separation between the woofer and the midrange, Which the swap helped with. Also the second gen drivers just seem better made, As far as workmanship. Bigger voice coil/magnet, And the screen covers help if there are rugrats visiting(Trust me). As for the tweeter, If you choose to do that, Think less Screechy/Bright.
 
A little off thread here but I did put HPM 100 mids in the JBL L65 (they were blown) and they actually sounded pretty damn good! Pioneer made a very good cast frame driver for both models I think. I would use them in most any situation asking for a good quality 4" cine mid for sure! In your application I would not be afraid to at least see how it sounded- who knows could have been an improvment!
DC
 
I started this thread because I recently purchased a set of 900 mids and after installing them I immediately noticed that the sound opened up. It seems the stereo imaging has improved. I've also noticed that the upper end of the spectrum sounds less constricted. The cymbals for example sound crisper. The music is just more enjoyable to listen to than I thought it was already at this point in my trial.

I'm running them with the mid control set at -3 and toed in ~30 degrees toward the seating position. I've only been able to listen to a couple of my favorite test cd's so far, Phutureprimitive "Subconscious" and Diana Krall "Live In Paris".

I'm interested in knowing if others experienced the same thing.

NeedForSpeed,

You say they sound better all around but can you elaborate a little more for me. Have you noticed improved imaging and a crisper and clearer upper end etc.?

I have one rugrat but she stays away from my equipment. Works for me.

dc270,

I also think the 100 mid is a nice driver but I had to try the 900 mid as I've read that the 900's sound smoother in the mid and high range but the cabinets are cheesy compared to the 100 cabinet. Of course I realize that it's more than just one driver that makes a speaker system sound the way it does. The mids are drop in so no mod to the 100 cabinet was necessary so I thought why not try it. I would be very unlikely to mod the 100 cabinet for experimental purposes. Too risky for me.

Paul
 
Tripqzon said:
I started this thread because I recently purchased a set of 900 mids and after installing them I immediately noticed that the sound opened up. It seems the stereo imaging has improved. I've also noticed that the upper end of the spectrum sounds less constricted. The cymbals for example sound crisper. The music is just more enjoyable to listen to than I thought it was already at this point in my trial.

I'm running them with the mid control set at -3 and toed in ~30 degrees toward the seating position. I've only been able to listen to a couple of my favorite test cd's so far, Phutureprimitive "Subconscious" and Diana Krall "Live In Paris".

I'm interested in knowing if others experienced the same thing.

NeedForSpeed,

You say they sound better all around but can you elaborate a little more for me. Have you noticed improved imaging and a crisper and clearer upper end etc.?

I have one rugrat but she stays away from my equipment. Works for me.

dc270,

I also think the 100 mid is a nice driver but I had to try the 900 mid as I've read that the 900's sound smoother in the mid and high range but the cabinets are cheesy compared to the 100 cabinet. Of course I realize that it's more than just one driver that makes a speaker system sound the way it does. The mids are drop in so no mod to the 100 cabinet was necessary so I thought why not try it. I would be very unlikely to mod the 100 cabinet for experimental purposes. Too risky for me.

Paul
Click to expand...

I will say more detailed, The better imaging I'm sure is more to do with the re-capped c/o's. Were the 100 midrange seemed "Washed out" by the woofer, The new tweaks seem to show you, Hey, There is a midrange in there. For me, Vocals were most improved, And cymbal crashes, Or the things in the background better detailed. Recapping, With the driver changes made a very good speaker, An excellent sounding one. Next up for me, And the last issue, Is pull the baffles off and mirror image the speakers.
 
I tried something similar and replaced the HPM 100 mids with S-910 mids. The sound was crisper and cleaner in the midrange, and I am also now crossing over to the mid lower than the stock HPM, around 2000 Hz. I definitely won't be going back.
 
Mirror imaging sounds interesting. Please let me know how that works out.

I just finished listening to "Sounds of Wood and Steel2" and it sounded fantastic. The strings sounded crisp and clean and you can hear the fingers brushing across them. Marvelous.:thmbsp:

NFS, you say the imaging is probably due mostly to the recap and I agree that the recap make a substantial difference in the sound of the speakers but changing the mids also improved imaging for me unless my ears are playing tricks on me.
 
Hey, just saw this thread- amazing, that's exactly what I have now. I bought a pair of HPM-100s from Ya-Who here in Japan, with one speaker's tweeter and mid non-functional. I pulled them and tested with a multimeter which confirmed the deceased. Then I ordered a pair of HPM-900 tweets and mids from (the auction site) in the States, (what were available at the time, and cheaper!) and for comparison purposes, only installed them in the non-functioning speaker. Well, my impression after 4 months or so is that the 900 drivers are subtlely brighter and and very slightly "louder"- whether that's in a good or bad way I'm unsure. I do however find listening to the speakers a little fatiguing at mid to loud volumes in an extended session where I don't with my other favoured pair of speakers. Whether that is due to the 900 drivers or not I cannot confirm. Turning the balance to compare both speakers doesn't reveal a whole deal of difference, except when only a foor or so in front of each speaker. At the normal listening distance I'm able to consistently find the sweet spot exactly in the centre position, so any major sonic differences at that range are unnoticeable. I'd be very interested to purchase some original HPM-100 drivers and then compare the speakers in a more balanced test.
 
HPM-900 tweeters added

I got my hands on a pair of HPM-900 tweeters and did an A/B between them and the HPM-100 tweeters and have to admit that the 100 tweeters definitely sound "honky" compared to the 900's. Also doing measurements has shown me that the 900 tweeters extended the high end out an extra 2kHz on axis. Think I'll be using the 900 mid and tweets for a while. I'll have to get together with my brother to get his stock set and my set of HPM-100 together for a listening evaluation.

This hobby is good stuff.
 
I always thought my HPM-100's sounded pretty damn good. But, I can now say for certain that HPM-100's with HPM-900 mids and tweeters sound a heck of a lot better. I didn't realize what I was missing. Much smoother sound. Graphs are nice to look at but don't tell the story like the ears can. HPM-900 mids and tweets are going cheap on the auction site these days so give it a try. I would love to hear from more of you on this matter.

FYI: The 900 mids drop right into the place of the original 100 mids.
The tweeter mounting holes do not match up. I will be making adapters for mine as I currently can only get one mounting screw hole to line up. I wasn't going to do this until I knew for sure that I was going to keep them in service.

Paul
 
What's the part number for the 900 tweeter? I have a pair of 100's that I had a dead tweeter when I rescued them from a junk store. I replaced the tweeters with 45-717C because I couldn't find any 100 tweeters. They look like the 900 tweeter and as described above, the holes didn't quite line up.

I can say they sound fantastic, but I didn't get a chance to comnpare them to the originals.
 
Part number I purchased is 45-717A. I believe yours are the same tweeter. They were used in the HPM-500, 700, 900 and 1100.

As stated in a previous post, I A/B testing with just the tweeters hooked up and the original 100 tweeter definitely has a "honky" sound to it, which is one of the complaints that many HPM-100 "non likers" state is a problem with them. I find they are even more enjoyable to listen to now than they were before the swap.

As far as the midrange, I did not A/B with just the mids hooked up, but as stated I found the soundstage improved noticeably over the stock 100 mids and the upper end got crisper and cleaner.

Paul
 
guptonr said:
What's the part number for the 900 tweeter? I have a pair of 100's that I had a dead tweeter when I rescued them from a junk store. I replaced the tweeters with 45-717C because I couldn't find any 100 tweeters. They look like the 900 tweeter and as described above, the holes didn't quite line up.

I can say they sound fantastic, but I didn't get a chance to comnpare them to the originals.
Click to expand...

45-717A-2 is what I'm running in the HPM-1100's. Should be the same tweeter as found in the 900s if I remember correctly. (Though I'm not sure what bearing the A-2 has vs A-1 vs C)
 
I've also tried the hpm 700/900 mid in my hpm100 and noticed much the same thing. However, I also happen to have an old pair of Utah HSC-1 speakers with 12 in. woofers that were given to me. I was definitely not impressed with the Utah's except for the box and the woofer so I took them apart. I pulled out the "crossover" and the midrange. I cut a hole to fit the crossover/binding plate from an hpm 700 and cut the midrange hole to fit the hpm midrange. I connected the wiring except for the hpm supertweeter wires as Utah set up was a three way and not four. I put it all back together and set up opposite an HPM 100. I was quite amazed at the great sound. Part of it is the midrange and part of it is that the HPM700 crosses over at 1700 hz. I lack the highs past 16khz. All of that to say that a lower crossover point and the midrange would probably help the 100 tremendously. But I do plan to recap my HPM-100's and then give them a listen. I'm sure that will help as well.
 
I recapped my 100's about a year ago and there was definite improvement in sound. I was very happy with the sound until I started reading threads of users who said the 900's sounded better with less "honk", for lack of a better word. So I decided to swap the mid and tweeter out and now I hear what they were describing. :tresbon:
 
Spectrum77 said:
Hey, just saw this thread- amazing, that's exactly what I have now. I bought a pair of HPM-100s from Ya-Who here in Japan, with one speaker's tweeter and mid non-functional. I pulled them and tested with a multimeter which confirmed the deceased. Then I ordered a pair of HPM-900 tweets and mids from (the auction site) in the States, (what were available at the time, and cheaper!) and for comparison purposes, only installed them in the non-functioning speaker. Well, my impression after 4 months or so is that the 900 drivers are subtlely brighter and and very slightly "louder"- whether that's in a good or bad way I'm unsure. I do however find listening to the speakers a little fatiguing at mid to loud volumes in an extended session where I don't with my other favoured pair of speakers. Whether that is due to the 900 drivers or not I cannot confirm. Turning the balance to compare both speakers doesn't reveal a whole deal of difference, except when only a foor or so in front of each speaker. At the normal listening distance I'm able to consistently find the sweet spot exactly in the centre position, so any major sonic differences at that range are unnoticeable. I'd be very interested to purchase some original HPM-100 drivers and then compare the speakers in a more balanced test.
Click to expand...

Recap those bad boys to eliminate the fatigue factor!
 
Tripqzon said:
I recapped my 100's about a year ago and there was definite improvement in sound. I was very happy with the sound until I started reading threads of users who said the 900's sounded better with less "honk", for lack of a better word. So I decided to swap the mid and tweeter out and now I hear what they were describing. :tresbon:
Click to expand...

My experience echoes that of some of you. One of my midranges died so I replaced both with mids from a pair of 900's. I thought that they sounded as good, if not better than the originals though I wasn't thrilled with the screen covering the driver. I have gotten used to it since then. Besides, the grilles are rarely off - I've got three kids including a 21 month old boy who's into everything!

Recapping the crossovers made a dramatic improvement in the performance of the speakers. They went from being "rock" speakers to something much more sophisticated and refined. Imaging and soundstage improved tenfold. I haven't felt the need to change the tweeters yet. I was listening to SRV's "The Sky Is Crying" MFSL release last night and the cymbals sounded fantastic - very lifelike. My HPM's are not fatiguing in any way - I have to pry myself away from them most days.
 
rushfan said:
Recapping the crossovers made a dramatic improvement in the performance of the speakers. They went from being "rock" speakers to something much more sophisticated and refined. Imaging and soundstage improved tenfold. I haven't felt the need to change the tweeters yet. I was listening to SRV's "The Sky Is Crying" MFSL release last night and the cymbals sounded fantastic - very lifelike. My HPM's are not fatiguing in any way - I have to pry myself away from them most days.
Click to expand...

I never really thought about replacing the tweets either until I A/B'ed them, thanks to folks here on the forum, and heard the "honk" first hand. It was actually annoying when just the tweeter was hooked up for the test. The 900 tweeter did not have the annoying factor. It was more laid back but with more extension. I was surprised. I am even more hooked on the speaker system now.

I would rather listen to music than watch tv any day. Like you Rushfan, I have to pry myself away.

Paul
 
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