Design Acoustics PS-10a - (AKA If at first you don't succeed, buy, buy, again)

bob smog

Creebling at the Turntables
During a recent thrift visit, I picked up a pair of Design Acoustic PS-10a speakers.

Here's the Salvation Army price tag - note the date of 4-8-17 and price of $19.96 (1pc).

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Since the speakers are an unique design, I was interested, but not at $40 for the pair, especially since the woofers were rotted.

At this point, I realized that I was in Goodwill, not Salvation Army. Apparently, these speakers were a "catch and release" and ended up being re-donated to Goodwill.

Hmmm - what to do? No way to test and someone else gave up on them. Additionally, they only had the SA price tag - no Goodwill price.

I took them to the cashier and pointed out the SA tag. She gave me the pair for $6.99...
The kicker is that I am certain I saw these same speakers over a year ago when they were at SA and passed because of the price. Never say never....

Here's some pics. The drivers all work and I have the grills. The foam on the woofers is completely shot. My listening test showed promise, so I will refoam and post progress here.

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Starting work on the woofers. The foam surrounds were almost completely gone.

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A thin guitar pick works well for cleaning the cone.

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Using an Exacto to remove the glue on the frame - tough sledding.

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Wotta deal. The PS 10/10a is a great speaker and produces astonishing bass for its size. I think the biggest downside is the vinyl veneer.

Looks like the 10a has wood veneer to my eyes. Can any 10a owners confirm?
 
Nice score.
My 10s are picky about what they're connected to, so if you are as underwhelmed as I was, try different units to power them.
 
Looks like the 10a has wood veneer to my eyes. Can any 10a owners confirm?

Nope, vinyl. I recently picked up a pair of 10A's and I too thought they had real wood veneer. I don't care though, considering that they look pretty good for vinyl, and they sound very nice. I'm thinking they need a recap since the mids are a little forward and the treble is more laid back.
 
Nope, vinyl. I recently picked up a pair of 10A's and I too thought they had real wood veneer. I don't care though, considering that they look pretty good for vinyl, and they sound very nice. I'm thinking they need a recap since the mids are a little forward and the treble is more laid back.
You sound like I did with multiple receivers and amps, until I hooked my NAD AVR to them. I'm hoping one of my projects will sound as good.
 
You sound like I did with multiple receivers and amps, until I hooked my NAD AVR to them. I'm hoping one of my projects will sound as good.

Yeah, the only amp I tried them on is my Audisource AMP310. I may try them with my Denon AVR-2308ci next, followed by the Realistic STA-960 receiver in the living room. So many options...:music:
 
Looks like the 10a has wood veneer to my eyes. Can any 10a owners confirm?
I have a near mint pair of 10As. Vinyl wrap, not veneer, but nice looking oak/vinyl if that is not an oxymoron.
Be careful removing the plastic rim around the woofer. It could easily be broken.
 
I have a near mint pair of 10As. Vinyl wrap, not veneer, but nice looking oak/vinyl if that is not an oxymoron.
Be careful removing the plastic rim around the woofer. It could easily be broken.

There wasn't a plastic rim around the woofer. Only the remainder of the foam and glue.

Anyone have a pic of the rim?
 
A surprisingly decent sounding pair of speakers considering their size and cost, well worth the effort to re foam them.
 
My brother bought a set back in the early 80s and they were great speakers. He did add a sub which helped, but bass was satisfying on their own. They got very good reviews back then.
Jump ahead 30 or so years and I bought a set off eBay for a hundred in pretty good shape, also needing a reform. Mine were earlier with a “spit wad” style dust cap. Reform was straight forward and they sounded great. By brother unfortunately tossed them in the garbage years prior because of the rotted foams, and was unaware of replacing them.
I built custom stands for them and sold them to my brother for what I paid and he loves them.
 
Finished cleaning the frames. Took about 1 hour each.

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New surround glued into place. I used a 50 hz tone from my phone to center the coil. Worked like a charm. Need to let the glue dry, and then put them back together.

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Everything back together.

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Initial listening impressions: very nice and balanced. I wasn't sure what to expect since I had only hooked these up for a quick driver test before the refoam. I was surprised by the clarity and detail, without being harsh. Bass is definitely there and nicely defined. I listened to classical, jazz, and rock.

Small fly in the ointment. It seems like one of the tweeters has a low output. I've eliminated the source and it follows the speaker. I suspect that the ferrofluid has dried in the tweet. Grrr.

I will definitely see if I can repair this with a fluid refresh. The speaker with good tweet sounds phenomenal. I'll probably recap while I'm in there. Speakers are definitely keepers.
 
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