Design Acoustic PS-9 - Refinishing

peterfranks

Super Member
I picked up a nice pair of Design Acoustic PS 9s. Great cabinets and grills. Downward firing woofer needs re-foaming. But another item needs attention. The speaker fronts are covered in a very thin, dense foam finish. On these speakers the foam has broken down and turned to a sticky goo. Following is my solution to replacing this mess.

Thankfully a razor blade easily scraped off the deteriorated foam. It would appear this MDF front board was covered with the foam, including the edges, then glued into place in the cabinet. So yes, I had to dig goo out from the edges too. Obviously remove the drivers and the grill mounts.


13024915955_b5873801e1_b.jpg


13025307434_dd14054f31_b.jpg


It took about 90 minutes to clean one speaker face. But it came out nice.

13025084903_a90f04af81_b.jpg



Went to Joann Fabrics and found the perfect vinyl for recovering of the front face. Bought a 10 inch wide piece for $5.50 - enough for four PS 9 fronts.

13025083093_93663a84f2_b.jpg


13025086303_36e00c3157_b.jpg



Had this in my shop - gave the back of the vinyl a good coating with spray-on adhesive - almost instant set.

13025092773_e824fb2041_b.jpg



The vinyl glued into place.

13025316364_0db9ee2044_b.jpg



This vinyl has a basket weave pattern. Looks fantastic.
More pictures to follow.

13025318104_31589d76f1_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well done. The original foam reminds me of what comes on timeframes, doesnt appear to be as much of a headache though.
 
Well done. The original foam reminds me of what comes on timeframes, doesnt appear to be as much of a headache though.

Getting the foam off wasn't bad but the goo gets all over everything, and tools and blades have to be wiped down in alcohol to get clean. :yuck:
 
Thank god my PS-10's aren't like that! Nice job removing it and I like your solution. I look forward to your opinion on their sound. The 10's are very good. I found they like to be near the wall for good bass.
 
Thank god my PS-10's aren't like that! Nice job removing it and I like your solution. I look forward to your opinion on their sound. The 10's are very good. I found they like to be near the wall for good bass.

The goo gets over everything - gotta be super careful what you touch and have alcohol ready for clean-up.

My son has a pair of early PS 10s - wonderful speaker. I should have these up and going in a couple more days and will give them a good run. The one thing I did notice was the woofer is 8" but has a surprisingly small magnet. I thought it would be a little beefier of a driver but is fairly light. We'll see how it performs.
 
Drivers, badge and grill mounts reinstalled. Looks factory original.

Need to finish up woofers and reinstall.

13045452283_4f4dd5c7f1_b.jpg


13045446103_69baa7e79d_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
Looks like that could have been factory original! Post a few woofer pics. Curious how it compares to the 10's. It too has a smaller magnet because of tight space with the mid tube in there.

My brother had the 10's new back in the early 90's, and they cranked at many parties. I grabbed mine two years ago to add as a second set for the living room TV setup. Needed to refoam the woofers. Mine are also the earlier model.
 
Finished PS-9s

Drivers re-foamed and installed and finished product.

Will hook these up tomorrow and see how they sound .....

13071205785_1a39cf12f5_b.jpg


13071208345_46cde70023_b.jpg


13071335673_30f57d37ae_b.jpg
 
They look great Peter! If one didn't know, they would think that's how they came from the factory. Looking forward to your listening impressions.

Glenn
 
They look great Peter! If one didn't know, they would think that's how they came from the factory. Looking forward to your listening impressions.

Glenn

thanks - will hook them up to my 2238B tomorrow. Have some other speakers to check out - going to compare them to some Polk Monitor 5s. A/B
 
I wonder why they never made a slightly larger version with a 12 inch woofer. Bet it would have sounded great, and been pretty popular because of the small foot print.

I've pondered the idea of building some some day.
 
I've been listening to the PS-9s all afternoon hooked up to my Marantz 2238B. I had them on "A" speakers and a set of Polk Monitor 5s on "B". Neither set has been recapped.

First impression is the PS-9s are brighter than the Polks but clear, and the highs and mids seem balanced, not overly bright but detailed. What did standout was the bass. The little 8" driver makes more than enough but it seems boomy at times. I always run with treble/bass/midrange flat but had to dial back the bass a couple notches. That helped but it still didn't sound the way I like. The Polks on the other hand get the bass just right. But they are warmer speakers and not as bright as the PS-9s - not as detailed on the highs and mids.

Overall, the PS-9s are good speakers. Great for casual listening but might be a little fatiguing depending on what you are listening too. I wish I had them side-by-side to some PS-10s to compare.

I'll listen some more. They won't make it into my listening room but they were well worth repairing.
 
Back
Top Bottom