I visited my lolo (grandpa)'s place a few days ago, for the first time in a long while. Anyway, while there I happened across an old pair of tower speakers maybe 2-3ft. high, Pioneer CS-722p's. I have no idea as to how they sound, as the cables were totally frayed and I'm unsure as to whether the drivers are even functional, but I asked my lolo if it were okay for me to have them, since he wasn't using them anymore. 
 
What I'm asking is if there is any way to rejuvenate the drivers themselves, provided there isn't any blatantly obvious fault to them, such as nicks, cracks, stress marks, etc. Perhaps getting new towers would be a practical decision, depending on how difficult it'd be to restore the speakers, but I'm honestly a sucker for vintage gear (I'd have gotten Sextetts instead of K242s if anyone were selling), and, to be honest, they remind me of my grandpa.
 
Off topic, sorry.
 
I'm used to recabling stuff, and cleaning won't be much of a problem. My only real concern would be the condition of the drivers, and whether or not it'd be possible to replace them with aftermarket ones (I doubt that Pioneer would still be making parts for these speakers, they're that old).
 
Cheers, and thanks!

What do you mean the wires were frayed? Most speakers have removable wires with spring clips or binding posts - they're not mated to the speaker. If these have hard-mounted wires that come out of the cabinet, they're probably fairly cheap speakers. Just being honest.

Anyways, replacing the drivers with after-market units presents its own huge challenges - you'll be changing A LOT and it's hard to say how it will sound.

Got any pictures?

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obobskivich said:

What do you mean the wires were frayed? Most speakers have removable wires with spring clips or binding posts - they're not mated to the speaker. If these have hard-mounted wires that come out of the cabinet, they're probably fairly cheap speakers. Just being honest.
Anyways, replacing the drivers with after-market units presents its own huge challenges - you'll be changing A LOT and it's hard to say how it will sound.
Got any pictures?

Click to expand...

 
More like the wires were completely severed, after being exposed to quite a bit of abuse (apparently, there was a bit of a rat problem a few years back). Anyway, I appreciate the honesty; that just means that I'll have to go along with my backup plan of completely changing the drivers, then. 
 
It's okay, since it's more of a side-project than anything else (I'm more of a head-fi'er than a hi-fi'er, if that makes any sense), so I'm okay with working on it for a few hours every other day over a period of time. Kinda like Gibbs on his boat, yeah?

I'll snap a few pics the next time I drop by, which could take a while. 
 
For the record, the units are around 3 feet tall, 1 1/2 wide, and 1 foot deep, just to give a general impression on the size.

I wouldn't bother with changing the drivers - it's unpredictable and potentially (likely) will just sound bad/worse than the originals. Go with something else; then again, let's see the pictures and maybe it's not so bad and you can get them working again with relatively little effort.

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obobskivich said:

I wouldn't bother with changing the drivers - it's unpredictable and potentially (likely) will just sound bad/worse than the originals. Go with something else; then again, let's see the pictures and maybe it's not so bad and you can get them working again with relatively little effort.

Click to expand...

Thank you! I'll post pics here the first chance I get.
 
Let's hope that they're not in too bad shape, for the sake of my wallet

They look like a 80's speaker. They may sound good ....do you know how to use a multimeter? I would check each speaker for proper resistance first. You can also push gentley on the woofer cone and if you feel resistance or get a scraping sound that is not good. That would mean the woofer is blown (overheated and the voice coil expanded). I would think these speakers are worth maybe $100 us. Research them for yourself to justify the expense. Good luck

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/model.asp?modelNum=CS722 
 
 
Above is the web site for the replacement parts. Looks like they are not available, but you can read the part numbers and see what the replacement price was then.
 
A check of E-Bay shows a set of foam ring replacements and volume knobs! 
 
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=Pioneer+CS-722&_sacat=0
 
 
 
 
I would get a soldering gun and just replace the wires with lamp cord, hook em up to an old amp and listen. If any drivers need replacement just replace them in sets and just go cheap as possible. You would be surprised how good low cost replacement speakers sound in such an enclosure. No need to get the exact replacement just spent $20 bucks tops to find drivers the same size, but always get two so the sound balances out. 

You know, I think it's great that a bunch of head-fi'ers would help a random kid with a sentimentality problem fix an old pair of tower speakers. I really appreciate it guys, thanks.
 
And yeah, the market price nowadays for a working pair would be around that much. But even if I have to go a bit higher, I would'nt really mind; I'd have gotten something from Harman Kardon or a lower-end B&O, but I'd just like to get my grandpa's old rig going. 
 
I'll inspect them thoroughly the next time I manage to visit him. Thanks!
 
P.S.
No, I do not know how to use a multimeter, but since I'm planning on turning this into a hobby, I may as well take the time to learn how to use one properly.
 
Edit:
Um, what's a woofer cone? I know I could just Google it, but I think an explanation here would make more sense )

Woofer cone is the cone part of the woofer (I literally and seriously mean that; I realized after writing it, it sounds like a smart*** response). See this picture:


The woofers are the bigger, lower-frequency drivers (or speakers) within the larger speaker (or speaker system). On old speakers the surrounds (the rubber/foam ring between the woofer and the basket) usually rot and get nasty; afaik newer designs are less prone to this (But since we don't exactly have 40 year old 800D's or similar sitting around to observe...). You can repair that if you're handy with a knife and glue (you buy a kit). The cone itself can be replaced on some speakers, but it's usually not worth it unless you're restoring something super-duper rare that will have huge resale value (you're basically rebuilding the driver).