• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Design Acoustic Dodecahedron Speakers

Charivari

Charivari

Fighting Naïve Realism
Hello all, I've just come back from my favorite thrift store with a pair of the ugliest speakers I have ever seen. I've just dragged these in from my truck and am quite excited about having such odd looking speakers, so I couldn't help from posting about them right away.

The only identification I can find is a tag that reads "Design Acoustics" with a little graphic, handwritten serial number, and California address.

They are 20 inch tall dodecahedrons with what appears to be a 10 inch driver on the bottom panel, a 5 inch on the top, and 3.25" tweeters on all the remaining sides. Of course, the 10" drivers are in dire need of refoaming, but the remainder seem alright. The tweeters are mounted on the surface of the "box", but the larger drivers are mounted behind the wood.The panel with the 10" driver appears to have been where they were screwed onto some sort of a stand. Upon the edge of this panel is the standard banana jacks and some sort of a strip with five screws and two white wire jumpers.

The construction appears to be 3/4" plywood with well-fit seams. Behind the turquoise grill covers (told you they were ugly) there is evidence of some quality dark wood veneer, but most all has been painted black.

I assume these were meant to be some sort of point-source or radiating sphere speakers, but I have absolutely no clue as to what they are. Google has yielded no results, though I don't know a model number to look for.

Does anybody know anything about these unusual speakers? Does anybody at least have any idea what model number these might be? I'm afraid my digital camera is nearly defunct and any pictures I might take would be nearly unidentifiable.

Thank you for any help.
- JP
 
Register to hide this ad
According to Orion, DesignAcoustics is an Audio-Technica Company. Looks like they made numerous speaker systems beginning about 74 and up thru 93. My Orion is a 95 so someone with a newer one may have more info. Looks like the earlier D series (thru about 82) were the better systems. Sorry couldn't help more.

Best
John
 
House de Kris said:
Sounds like the D12 to me. The first hit on Google is this.
Click to expand...


House de Kris, you are a better user of Google than I, it would seem. Yes, those are what I found, provided you make them black and bright turquoise. Unfortunately, I saw nothing near them similar to those stands in the picture.

At any rate, do you or anyone else have any idea as to their specifications and the like?

For further information, I figured out how to pull the bottom panel off to have a look inside. Everything is neatly laid out and labeled, which is nice. I discovered that the panel sharing the connections actually sports a 11.5" long 3.5" diameter port.

Thanks,
JP
 
I remember reading about these (and seeing their pictures) in Stereo Review back in the 70's. A number of companies were attempting to produce "omnidirectional" speakers at the time. Bizarre looking, I agree - never heard them. I'll see if I can dredge up the article.
 
RichPA, those are the same speakers.

I'm tempted to go back to Goodwill and see if the stands might be in back. Odd, I was quite undertain whether I wanted to pay the $17.99 for the pair at the store, thinking it quite high for an unknown. Now, I'm starting to get excited about what I may have found.

I look forward to the article if you can find it without too much hassle.

- JP
 
The Design Acoustics D-12 was the first offering from the company. It was based in Torrance, California, in an industrial park typical of Southern California. The D-12 was heavily hyped and received rave reviews from Julian Hirsch in Stereo Review. This model was followed by the more conventional D-6, a large box speaker with multiple drivers positioned aound a chamfered front baffle. About a year after the initial success of the two speakers, Design Acoustics issued a D-4 floorstanding speaker. This model was inexpensive but very good. I owned a pair during my college years, purchased used for less than $200. The D-4 used multiple drivers positioned around a trapezoidal tower. There were three cone tweeters, a cone midrange firing to the front, and a 10" woofer firing from the rear baffle. The D-4 might be seen as a predecessor of the DCM Time Window. It was roughly the same height as a Time Window. I gave up my original Dynaco A-25s to acquire the D-4s. I thought it was a good maneuver at the time. I sold off the D-4s after maube three years of use, for the Infinity Monitor Jr. three way standmounts.

The Design Acoustics line was better than average for the time. I wonder how many orignal Design Acoustics speakers are still in use.
 
Couldn't find the article, but like Russkish I recall it being a rave. For $17.99, I think this is pretty much a no-brainer - a collector's item for sure!
R
 
Hmmm... I had a pair of those back in high school...

Someone gave them to me except mine where on casters.

Mine lacked in the highs, but since I didn't know what I had,
I gave them away to someone else and moved on.

Kinda neat to actually see another pair and know what I had.

Scott
 
I think the D-12 was not a very popular commercial item. I would bet there were not many pairs sold, because of the appearance. The D-6 was a traditional looking speaker, and probably became the best selling speaker from Design Acoustics. The D-4 was also an aesthetically pleasing speaker that got a rave review in Stereo Review. All of the Design Acoustics speakers received strongly positive reviews, which in the long run helped them survive for awhile in the turbulent 70s marketplace. I really enjoyed the D-4 when I had it, beginning in my senior year at the University of Southern California. This was a very neutral speaker with excellent high frequency dispersion thanks to the three cone tweeters. Two wee mounted high and one low. The midrange cone fired directly forward, the 10-inch tweeter fired from the back. This created a decent stereo panorama. The DCM Time Window followed a few years later, and was an even bette design based upon a similar theory.
 
Anyone who doesn't love the D12s should turn in his audio nut credentials. Certainly the omnidirectional idea has its problems, and shipping those things had to be a nightmare (what did they do, roll them along?), but for simple glorious goofy coolness, they are tough to beat. I remember them from when they came out -- I think tech hifi had them, but the only pair I have seen since then was in a used record store in Portland Oregon (which had them on stands up near the ceiling, oddly enough).
I would guess that it would be worth seeing if goodwill has the stands, since they probably don't do too well on the floor. Though you could hang them like giant christmas ornaments.
 
Russkish,

At first I thought these may have been some small DIY jobs or the like simply because of their unusual nature, though the quality of the craftsmanship in making the sides fit left me uncertain. It’s nice to know that these were legitimate speakers and that similar models found market success. I suspect that if the D-4s of yours sounded good, then these should as well, once I refoam them. That is if the drivers are the same, which I suspect.
My room isn’t all that large, though, so I am worried that the effect may not be all that great once they are running.

RichPA,

It is unfortunate you were unable to find the article, but I do appreciate the effort you undertook. Thank you for that.

Nat,

When I saw these, I couldn’t resist grabbing them just for their weird appearance. The price was putting me off a bit, seeing how these are the second most expensive pair of speakers I’ve picked up at this Goodwill, following my $20 Magnepan MG-Is, but in the end the weirdness won me over.
Bringing these back home in the back of my truck made me quite self-concious due to all the weird looks I would receive at each signal light. Fortunately, my neighbors are used to seeing me drag the odd speaker home and merely shook their heads when they saw me. That is, after they were done staring in disbelief.
This morning when I first went out to my living room where they’re sitting on the floor, I envisioned them as some manner of alien pod, all they needed were some lights and smoke. The open access plate on the one could readily have had some bald green head sticking out.
As to shipping, I do think rolling them would be a good idea. When I returned after a final exam this morning, I held an amused thought of putting a number on each of the sides and giving a roll of the dice. Though, I believe the woofer would most likely affect the randomness of the result.

So, now that I know I have something fun to play with, does anybody know what the jumper strip is for? Various wires connect to it from the crossover, so I assume it serves some purpose of frequency adjustment. Correct?

Thanks for all the replies.
- JP
 
I cut this out of a mid 70's Playboy. They were showing off some wild speakers (EPI 1000's, Equasound 2's, etc.). Not much info, but something....
 
Well, I've just returned from an unsuccessful search for the stands. Still, I left my number with an employee who claimed to have seen the stands come in, but had been unable to find them when it was time to put the speakers out on the floor. I wonder if I should be concerned that Goodwill employees recognize me on sight as "the speaker guy."

Crotalus, what does it say about us as hobbyists when we save the pictures of speakers from Playboy magazines and throw away the rest? :)

- JP
 
Holy Buckminster, Batman! It's the Singing Soccerball!

Just don't get ripped and roll them to calculate the hit points against the demigorgon.
 
Well everybody, I've been guilted into taking photos by all the folks kind enough to take the time to find any images of these odd speakers. Please bear in mind, my digital camera is of very low quality and these are by far the best pictures I can pull out of it. So, enjoy.

- JP

Here they are, kicking back on the couch
 
Seeing these D-12 speakers again brings back a lot of memories. They look on the surface to be in decent shape. Looking at them reminds me somehow of the Cinerama Dome Theatre in Hollywood. Don't ask me why. Hope they give you some enjoyment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom