Pioneer CS-91 (circa mid-1960s)
The Pioneer CS-91 is a large, sealed floor-standing speaker from the mid-1960s. It was originally priced at ¥38,000 per unit, which was a lot of money for a speaker then. It's a three-way, four-driver design: a 30 cm cone woofer for the low band, a horn-type squawker for the midrange, and two horn tweeters for the highs. The enclosure is hermetically sealed and finished in polyester decorative plywood, so it looks like furniture, same as other upscale Japanese audio of the period.
Specs are typical of the time: 16 Ω impedance, 98 dB/W output sound pressure level, 40 Hz to 20 kHz playback band, and a 20W max input rating. Each cabinet measures 480 × 780 × 395 mm and weighs a hefty 22.6 kg. The high sensitivity suggests it was designed to work well with the lower-powered tube amplifiers common in mid-60s Japan.
Documentation on the CS-91 is thin. No production years, crossover points, or period reviews have surfaced. The speaker appears to be genuinely rare, and a YouTube video describing it uses terms like "extremely rare." One auction listing showed a CS-91 paired with Pioneer PT-202B horn tweeters as an add-on upgrade, which hints that owners sometimes added to the stock drivers. The 16 Ω rating is confirmed across sources, so treat it as authoritative.
- Type: 3-way, 4-speaker, sealed (infinite baffle), floor-standing
- Low band: 30 cm cone woofer
- Midrange: horn type
- High frequency: horn type ×2
- Impedance: 16 Ω
- Frequency band: 40 Hz – 20 kHz
- Output: 98 dB/W
- Max input: 20W
- Dimensions: 480 × 780 × 395 mm; 22.6 kg
- Original price: ¥38,000 (per unit, mid-1960s)
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