Monitor 7 & 10 vs Pioneer HPM-1500

fomoco69
fomoco69 Posts: 51
edited April 2010 in Vintage Speakers
Any oppinions out there?
Post edited by fomoco69 on
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  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited November 2009
    For how much those Pioneers go for, it'd be a no brainer to me.

    Polk Monitors and $800+ in new gear to drive them.
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

    Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii

    Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999

    Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3

    HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000
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  • fomoco69
    fomoco69 Posts: 51
    edited November 2009
    I have the HPM'S now & know their very desireable & like them.................just wondering about the bass difference?
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  • concealer404
    concealer404 Posts: 7,440
    edited November 2009
    Monitor 7s and 10s put out monster bass for what they are... If anything i would be inclined to give the nod to the Polks.
    I don't read the newsssspaperssss because dey aaaallllllllll...... have ugly print.

    Living Room: B&K Reference 5 S2 / Parasound HCA-1000A / Emotiva XDA-2 / Pioneer BDP-51FD / Paradigm 11se MKiii

    Desk: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / ISK HD9999

    Office: Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Modi 2 Uber / Dynaco SCA-80Q / Paradigm Legend V.3

    HT: Denon AVR-X3400H / Sony UBP-X700 / RT16 / CS350LS / RT7 / SVS PB1000
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  • maxchau
    maxchau Posts: 138
    edited November 2009
    Every speaker has its unique personality. I had a pair of HPM-1500 and now I have Polk 10a. I can say the driver integration on 1500 is far from ideal...
    Abbas Tube USB-SPDIF Converter with tube clocksAbbas V2 SE Tube DACAltmann Attraction DACNon-Pre passive preampYamaha M2 AmplifierDIY TPA3255 Mono Amps6L6 Williamson amplifier42 SET amp6V6 SET ampMcIntosh XRT18 speakersApogee Centaur MinorPioneer PAX A30 speakers
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited January 2010
    Funny that I missed this thread!
    As an owner of a pair of HPM-1500s and a pair of Monitor 7As (and a pair of original Monitor Series Model 10s), I can say with some certainty -- no comparison. The HPM-1500 isn't awful (much better than, e.g., the HPM-100) and with empathetic amplification (ahem... tubes... ahem) one could live with a pair of 'em... but they lack the refinement, accuracy, and musicality of the 7s (or even the 10s).

    HPM1100.jpg

    For the record: The physical quality of the HPM-1500 woofer is excellent (these drivers later morphed into the outstanding Pioneer TAD line of pro/commercial/high end drivers).

    HPM1100wooferrear.jpg
    P2010002a.jpg
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  • cnh
    cnh Posts: 13,284
    edited January 2010
    Is that a ribbon tweeter on the Pioneers or something else? Horn? Piezo electric?

    cnh
    Currently orbiting Bowie's Blackstar.!

    Polk Lsi-7s, Def Tech 8" sub, HK 3490, HK HD 990 (CDP/DAC), AKG Q701s
    [sig. changed on a monthly basis as I rotate in and out of my stash]
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited January 2010
    cnh wrote: »
    Is that a ribbon tweeter on the Pioneers or something else? Horn? Piezo electric?

    cnh

    It's Pioneer's "High Polymer Molecular Film" tweeter (thus the "HPM" moniker); it's some sort of planar tweeter, crossed in very high. I don't think it is a ribbon.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited April 2010
    I was just googling for info on the Pioneer HPM 'supertweeters' (were the piezo? magic? just for looks?) and found this thread. I have no idea why I claimed/thought my HPM-1100s (shown in the photos above) were HPM-1500s. The HPM-1500 was a very different beast...

    http://www.thevintageknob.org/PIONEER/HPM150/HPM150.html
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  • halo71
    halo71 Posts: 4,606
    edited April 2010
    ^ I was gonna say. The 1500's had that CD case/holder looking tweeter on top of the cabinet. :p
    --Gary--
    Onkyo Integra M504, Bottlehead Foreplay III, Denon SACD, Thiel CS2.3, NHT VT-2, VT-3 and Evolution T6, Infinity RSIIIa, SDA1C and a few dozen other speakers around the house I change in and out.
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  • geppy1
    geppy1 Posts: 3,075
    edited April 2010
    Interesting as that is a similar idea to the RTA12 Tophat wise.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited April 2010
    halo71 wrote: »
    ^ I was gonna say. The 1500's had that CD case/holder looking tweeter on top of the cabinet. :p

    Exactly so; I must've been sniffing glue before I posted that...

    I cannot ever recall hearing a pair of HPM-1500, truth be told. The HPM-1100s are OK; not fantastic, but OK.
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  • RuSsMaN
    RuSsMaN Posts: 17,986
    edited April 2010
    I enjoyed the pair of 1500's I flipped a few years back. Actually, they really suprised me. You won't hear a lot of cheers for vintage Pioneer gear from me, but they really sounded pretty decent in my room.

    Don't care a whole lot for the 10, cool speaker, but inherently bad design - the 7 is where the magic is at.

    Cheers,
    Russ
    Check your lips at the door woman. Shake your hips like battleships. Yeah, all the white girls trip when I sing at Sunday service.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited April 2010
    HPM's are a joke. M7 and M10, FTW..............everytime.

    IMHO,

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited April 2010
    well... they're a little unsophisticated, but not quite at the joke level (ahem... Cerwin-Vega... ahem, cough).

    Having owned a pair of Monitor 7As since 1978, though... I am basically in agreement with H9.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,217
    edited April 2010
    Ok, I ammend my opinion to less than desireable. In fact those and the Technics of the day were among the worst sounding speakers I can remember hearing. CV and Bose are a given :)

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,991
    edited April 2010
    heiney9 wrote: »
    Ok, I ammend my opinion to less than desireable. In fact those and the Technics of the day were among the worst sounding speakers I can remember hearing. CV and Bose are a given :)

    H9

    My work is done here :-)
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