Pioneer S-1010 sonic review (mono)

Just slapped my monster Pioneer S-1010 back together after an extensive repair. I only have one done at the moment but the other passive will be done soon. See repair info here... http://soundt.18.forumer.com/index.php?showtopic=821

So I hooked one up and all the drivers work great. The sound (and mind you this is mono) was at first a little bright and forward like the HPM line. Has a similar HPM like sizzle on top and focused mids. Bottom is good tight and full. After a few minutes it did not seem as bright but still forward and "west coast"

I'll wait until I have two singing before I make any other judgments. I think they will be good sounding speakers and great sounding speakers for those that like the HPM sound. This seems to have that only more refined and less harsh.

Those look great!

I have a pair of those myself... were the cones damaged at all on yours?

One of mine has a crack in the woofer cone... thought about trying to repair
it, but thinking more of sending it off to Gordon W for a recone (which means
both woofers and radiators would have to be done... I'm that picky!).

Scott

Yes, both passives have some pretty good full length cracks in them. I epoxied them from the back side.

Have you ever heard a pair? If so what did you think?

K

I've tried mine before, even with the bad surrounds.

I didn't give them any real volume, but man did they pack a wallop!

I like them far better than the HPM-100s that I have!

They're one of my keeper pairs that you'll have to pry from my cold
dead fingers after I'm long gone!

Scott

These have become some of my favorite speakers. Dingus (Scott) was here yesterday for a good listen i think he liked them a lot also (which is saying a lot as he has AR9's and ADS 810's). He also got his first taste of the maggies and MK sub and i think he was pretty impressed by those. He coined a new phrase, "blossom" to describe the maggies as they just fill the room and envelope you with great sound. I think he was a little stunned my the SPL range i listen to my stuff at but i always thought it was normal. Maybe years of playing in a live band made my perception of loud a lot louder than most?

Anyway we had fun and I think he liked the maggies and S-1010's a lot. i think I also turned him on to a new band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Good stuff.

Kelly

well he must have had an old flashback from his hippie days when the bud was big, red and full of ? blossom?? or something like that

elroy

the term 'abusive' come to mind .....



as for the S-1010's, i was fairly neutral towards them, they are quite impressive, but i didnt love them until we ran them with the Super T-Amp and heard what they can do.

wow, what a fantastic speaker. very, very clean highs without being bright and not a hint of harshness, i just loved how smooth they were. as for the low end, nice and tight with lots of authority. i was very suprised at the high level of refinement these speakers are capable of, i would be very happy with them.

and yes, i'll have to check out more of Bela Fleck, very cool experimental jazz fusion type of stuff. JP could probably enjoy them.

well he must have had an old flashback from his hippie days when the bud was big, red and full of ? blossom?? or something like that

elroy

i was too young for the hippie movement, but that didnt keep me from indulging in the extracirricular activites.

Floyd, Rush and blossom.

I think the HPM-100 was smoothed out and made more accurate with the HPM-900 (and I own, but I spent a lot of time listening to HPM-100), and the S-1010 continued that refinement.
Someone at AK was stunned by the clarity and gestalt of the S-1010.
Scott, get those drivers to GordonW for repair!!

Bully, you might be confused, these are mine (Kelly) and i have successfully repaired them. I epoxied the back side of the broken passives, refomaed the passives using sliced 15" surrounds and refoemed the 10" woofers using the correct surrounds. They sound as new as far as i can tell. I love them.

You might recall I (KFA888 on AK) was part of the HPM100 debate that turned ugly on AK, got most of us banned and spawned this site. I still greatly dislike the HPM100. I have heard 3 pairs now and I just don't like them, I'll leave it at that. I have some HPM900's with bad woofers. I got to borrow some HPM900 woofers from a distant friend for about a week and thought those were a good step better than the 100's. More balanced, less of the nasty / screechy upper mids and just much more musical. When I found these 1010's on CL for $20 I could not resist but in the back of my mind thought they might not do it for me. I had them around for quite some time before fixing them and I have to tell you i am shocked how good they sound. They are not Maggie / MK sub good but they are not far off ether. MUCH more balanced than any HPM series i have heard. They really have little in common with the HPM 100/900 as all the drivers are different and the cab is much bigger and passive instead of ported. They tilt towards the west coast sound which i am a east coast sound kind of guy but they can do it politely so I really like them. Very clear, high resolution top end, nice balanced mids and very strong full / tight bass. They sounded awesome with Scotts T amp using the Pioneer SX-1010 as a preamp. Really good combo and hard to fault the sound to me.

Yeah Pete, it's been a long time coming to get those off to Gordon...

I want him to recone both of the woofers and the radiators as well.

I know that I could probably make them work with some glue and new surrounds,
but I'm pretty picky and couldn't stand to look at the woofer like that...

Yes I know that I could just keep the grilles on, but I still know it's there...

Seeing more posts about them makes me want to get them fixed sooner than expected!

Scott

I think if the cones are reparable that's the way to go as they are very unique but that's just me. Other than the sliced surrounds on mine it is very hard to tell they have been repaired.

Anyway I hope you find them as good as I do. I REALLY like them.