Pioneer HPM 900 super tweeters

richd860

richd860

Speaker Freak!!!
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Hello everyone.Is there a way to test the super tweeters on these speakers? I tried listening to them with my ear right next to the super tweeters,and I don't hear anything.Do they produce frequencies inaudible to the human ear? I pulled each of them from the cabinet,and put on some tunes,expecting to feel some vibrations or something but to no avail.Could it be a cap on the crossover,or are the super tweeters shot? Looking at them,I really can't see anything that could fail.Not much to them.Any help on this matter,would be greatly appreciated.Thanks. Rich
 
Put your dog's ears next to it, and play something you know has very high notes. If the dog squirms, howls or runs yelping from the room when the music starts, the tweets are working! :D




[Dog activists, don't jump on me! See the ":D"? It means I'm kidding!]
 
Even if you run it full range at very low volume you should be able to hear sound coming from the tweeter if it is working.
 
A Multimeter is worthless to test this tweeter. You need to turn everything on your system as far to the Treble side as possible and then listen to the tweeter via a paper tube. If I remember it only comes in over 12kHz so pretty high. if you have a child or even a wife/girl friend have them listen as they tend to do better with high frequencies.
 
I open my windows, disconnect the woofer, mid, and tweeter, and then use a tone generator from 10K and up, until the dog across the street exhibits extreme agitation.

Doc
 
I have a set of 900's. With the tweeter and midrange turned off (by using the adjustment knobs), you should be able to clearly hear sound from the super tweeter. At least I was anyway.
 
JaxJim said:
I have a set of 900's. With the tweeter and midrange turned off (by using the adjustment knobs), you should be able to clearly hear sound from the super tweeter. At least I was anyway.
Click to expand...

Yep, do that, and tune a tuner in-between some stations to get the constant interstation noise, you should hear some sound.
 
I think I fixed mine at one time by taking them apart and finding that the foil ends werent making good contact with the supply leads running down the edges of the case. Re-doing that contact point and then putting them back together very tight made them work....I think. If that makes sense :scratch2:

But, if most people have to struggle so hard to hear them or test them on dogs, whats the point and what does it matter if they work or not? They make nice decorations in the cabinets, that's about all they do. Unless you're 10 years old and related to a dog.
 
hmm, I have the 900's little brother, the HPM-500 and it has the same ribbon super tweet, and it really is crossed over VERY high. Mine were cutting in & out intermittently and I took them apart very carefully. They are similar to the little aluminum discs found in some small electronic devices that emit beeps and smeeps. I found that my foils were oxidized to the point where they were not making contact with the terminals, so I cleaned them with some very fine emery cloth and the intermittent cutting out is no more :D
You can hear them, you just need to make sure there is no other noise around you when you listen to them. They do not emit much in the way of loudness. They are rather "soft" in the high end, covering the frequencies that the tweeter rolls off at. They don't have a very wide range so that is why they come off rather softly.

Charlie
 
pw5599 said:
I think I fixed mine at one time by taking them apart and finding that the foil ends werent making good contact with the supply leads running down the edges of the case. Re-doing that contact point and then putting them back together very tight made them work....I think. If that makes sense :scratch2:
Click to expand...


I saw Dennydog fix his in a similar fashion. I think tinfoil was involved - that or ducttape. :D
 
Well,everyone...I have good news.Ater disconecting all the speakers in the HPM 900 cabinet,except the super tweeters,I was able to hear music!!!!Very faint,but it was there.Normally,I don't play these speakers loud,and even at a low level test,I was able to hear tones through the super tweeters.I want to thank all of you for your help in this matter.Its nice to know that my HPM 900's are fully functional.Thanks again. Rich
 
For information, the super tweeter crosses over at 8kHz in the HPM-300, HPM-500, but at 16kHz in the HPM-700 and HPM-900, according to the Pioneer HPM series flyer I (didn't remember!) have in my files.
 
Here it is, in french... Easy to understand though. If you have any problem, I can translate for you.
 

Attachments

  • Pioneer HPM-1100 et HPM-900 data.pdf
    250.4 KB · Views: 46
  • Pioneer HPM-700, 500, 300 data.pdf
    249.5 KB · Views: 34
This place is such a knowledge bank, you guys are awesome.

I had the same symptoms with the hpm 500's super tweeter.

I removed the screws, carefully took it apart after unfolding the foil(the end that the speaker terminals were connected) and bent the foil away from the terminals (so it wouldn't catch once I separated the front and back facia.)

Once open, I carefully pried the one side of the foil membrane(working a flathead jewel screwdriver gently underneath to separate it from the glue) on the side that had the foil contact underneath it.

I used a rag, contact cleaner and wiped gently, then cleaned the other side (I didn't need to remove the foil from the glue because the contact was made on the exposed surface). Did the same thing.

After I put a couple of dabs of silicone down where the glue was to hold it in place, reassembled it and voila, it sounds the same as the other channel. Imaging has drastically improved as did realism.

This is what I love about the hobby, stuff was made back in the day with quality in mind and it could be repaired and serviced.

Thanks again
 
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