Any way to fix a bad sounding Design Acoustics PS10 Speakers (I may have been scammed)?!

[selfilm]

Hi Everyone,

The short story is: I now demo all speakers before purchasing used. I did this with a pair of, what looked to be good condition Design Acoustic PS10s (the bass speakers had been re-foamed). The speakers sounded good when purchased, but after I got them home - all highs were gone and it had no good sound in top end. It appears the seller had turned up his treble to trick me in the sale. I know this because he admitted the receiver was set to 2pm on Treble, and when I told him I was dissatisfied and requested to return them having not known he was messing with the eq when demoing, he wouldn't take them back (he knew they had a problem and covered it up when demoing the units). That said, I only paid $60, and I'm trying to make lemonade out of lemons here by reviving the speaker. I've though of replacing the tweeters (Dayton Audio Soft Dome Tweeters? Are they good?), I thought of De-Oxit being put on the manual highs tuning knob on the front of the unit (clan it from back), but before I start wasting any time on this, am I going down a road that's just a rabbit hole without an end in sight. I feel like there's something here to fix - both speakers have the exact same lack of highs and clarity, so I figure it can be fixed. Maybe even more preferrable is to take these units to someone who specializes in repairing speakers, but I know of no such repair shop (I live in Brooklyn, NY so if anyone has any suggestions)? Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

After this, I'm considering only buying new components, the heartache may not be worth the fun of the game.

Sincerely,
Scott

 

[elitopus]

Do the tweeters actually work though? If they do work (not blown or damaged), I don’t see anything wrong with him using the tone controls to get the best sound from the speakers.

Now if the tweeters were blown and he boosted the treble to try and hide that, that’s different.

The speakers might just be laid back sounding naturally….

 

[knotscott]

Before just replacing the tweeters, I'd start by trying to diagnose a cause......simple things first: Are the tweeters connected? Is there an issue with the treble switch on the back ? (if it has one) Can you disconnect the tweeters to confirm that the tweeter coils even have continuity ? I'd check over the crossover too....maybe something came unsoldered, or has gone bad.

 

[selfilm]

Do the tweeters actually work though? If they do work (not blown or damaged), I don’t see anything wrong with him using the tone controls to get the best sound from the speakers.

Now if the tweeters were blown and he boosted the treble to try and hide that, that’s different.

The speakers might just be laid back sounding naturally….

To answer your question, everything does work. But any other speakers, I connect to the same speaker, wire and amp, need zero trouble adjustment. It is a clean, warm and strong signal that needs no adjustment. Both base and treble are neutral and it sounds great. It’s only when I put the Design Acoustics in play that all the sound goes away. That tone control for speakers shouldn’t have to be set to 100% either

 

[selfilm]

Before just replacing the tweeters, I'd start by trying to diagnose a cause......simple things first: Are the tweeters connected? Is there an issue with the treble switch on the back ? (if it has one) Can you disconnect the tweeters to confirm that the tweeter coils even have continuity ? I'd check over the crossover too....maybe something came unsoldered, or has gone bad.

That treble adjustment (it’s on face of speaker) works but shouldn’t have to be cranked to 100%. Speakers work when all treble is kicked up, but that’s definitely not how any other speaker works connected to the exact same wire. Other speakers work perfectly well, are completely clear and strong. The speaker loses all high-end in all mid range when connected exactly the same

 

[BmWr75]

Speaker crossovers probably need to be recapped. I've bought vintage speakers from the 60s that had no highs at all. The tweeters were good. Replacing the capacitors in the crossovers fixed that problem 100% and it an easy fix. Don't replace tweeters that are functional.

 

[spark1]

Sounds like you should stick with new speakers.

 

[Sandman1221]

I bought some used speakers back in the early '80s, they had treble and bass controls on the backside, of course I had to play with those controls! And that messed up the EQ and could not get them back to normal. Took them back to the shop and the owner fixed them by removing the pots for the treble and bass.

On the Design Acoustic PS10 there is just a Treble toggle switch for either flat or -3 dB, I would try to clean that, and lastly removing it and bypassing the -3dB resistor?, depends on what is on the board inside of the speaker.

If they sounded good during the demo, then you know the tweeters are good, and presumably the crossover caps too. And you said you played with the treble control on speakers, that may have messed them up and now you cannot get back to where just a little Treble on preamp gets them sounding good. -3 dB is significantly less.

The Design Acoustic PS10 "a" model does not have the Treble toggle switch.

 

[selfilm]

Speaker crossovers probably need to be recapped. I've bought vintage speakers from the 60s that had no highs at all. The tweeters were good. Replacing the capacitors in the crossovers fixed that problem 100% and it an easy fix. Don't replace tweeters that are functional.

I am a handy person, do you think this would just be a matter of soldering? I’ve never done anything like replaced capacitors. Is this a long entailed process to actually get into the speaker, find the model of the capacitor, and replace them? My fear is to get so far into it and then not be able to finish the job.

 

[selfilm]

I bought some used speakers back in the early '80s, they had treble and bass controls on the backside, of course I had to play with those controls! And that messed up the EQ and could not get them back to normal. Took them back to the shop and the owner fixed them by removing the pots for the treble and bass.

On the Design Acoustic PS10s there is just a Trble toggle switch for -3 dB, I would try to clean that, and lastly removing it but that may require a resistor to be added?

If they sounded good during the demo, then you know the tweeters are good, and presumably the crossover caps too. And you said you played with the treble control on speakers, that may have messed them up and now you cannot get back to where just a little Treble on preamp gets them sounding good.

Your point as well taken, the tweezers are probably OK considering they can be made to sound good. This does have something to do with the capacitors needing replacement, or, another question, would using deoxit on the treble control via app plausible solution?

 

[selfilm]

Do the tweeters actually work though? If they do work (not blown or damaged), I don’t see anything wrong with him using the tone controls to get the best sound from the speakers.

Now if the tweeters were blown and he boosted the treble to try and hide that, that’s different.

The speakers might just be laid back sounding naturally….

I have read many reviews of this speaker system, and it should not sound the way it does for me. If it were just a little laid-back, I could live with that.

 

[Sandman1221]

Your point as well taken, the tweezers are probably OK considering they can be made to sound good. This does have something to do with the capacitors needing replacement, or, another question, would using deoxit on the treble control via app plausible solution?

If they sounded good, then tweeters and caps are good. Assuming he did not have any other speakers powered on at the same time during the demo (that would be very deceptive). And seller adjusting Treble on preamp to 2 pm is not much, since it can normally be turned to 6 pm.

So maybe speaker Treble control is now stuck at -3 dB, that is a significant reduction, or if something in the switches got damaged when you played with them it could of cut the tweeters out completely.

Design Acoustics removed those Treble toggle switches in the later PS10 "a" series for a reason!

 

[BmWr75]

I am a handy person, do you think this would just be a matter of soldering? I’ve never done anything like replaced capacitors. Is this a long entailed process to actually get into the speaker, find the model of the capacitor, and replace them? My fear is to get so far into it and then not be able to finish the job.

Yes it is simple soldering. You can pull the woofer and look inside the cabinet to see the crossover. The capacitor values should be printed on the capacitors. Open them up and take some pictures, share them with us. We will be glad to help.

 

[Sandman1221]

As for trying to clean Treble switch, set speakers on their fronts, spray a" little" Deoxit or WD40 onto toggle and let it drain into switch for a few minutes, then work switch back and forth and repeat, then test speakers. You can use a cardboard tube from a paper towel roll to isolate the tweeters for your ears.

But the toggle switches may have failed, so removing them may be the best solution.

 

[BmWr75]

Found this thread in another forum. Has lots of good pictures. Shows the crossover. Somebody in the thread said the caps all tested good in their pair. So, if you can make these speakers sound good using the tweeter adjustment pot on each speaker or your amp tone controls maybe not worth tearing into them.

Design Acoustics PS-10

Nice (but little known) little speakers. I think Glenn has had some experience with them. They have "wood-grain vinyl" cabinets--the curse of the 80s. Woofer is downward firing and the surrounds needed to be replaced. Ordered new 10" foams from SpeakerWorks. The foam attaches to the back of the c...

community.classicspeakerpages.net

 

[Boonaroo]

The DAs do have a slightly more laid back high end because of the fabric tweeter. That being said, the caps in the crossover are likely 40 years old now and out of tolerance. That is a simple fix and a great way to learn about how a speaker functions.

Simply remove the base plate and the the woofer on the bottom. IIRC the crossover is either attached to the terminal plate or very close. Label and detach the wires to the 3 speakers and look at the crossover. The values of the caps will be printed on them. You can order the replacements from Parts Express. Remove the old caps from the board with a soldering iron and replace with the new ones.

There could be other less obvious problems within the tweeters, but refreshing the crossover is always my 1st step in restoring older speakers.

 

[crazy-in-az]

I had the same speakers with the same problem. Deoxit on the tweeter control solved the problem. It happens, it's all part of the game.

 

[BmWr75]

I had the same speakers with the same problem. Deoxit on the tweeter control solved the problem. It happens, it's all part of the game.

Excellent advice. I've had vintage receivers that wouldn't play out of one or both sides. Deoxit sprayed or dripped in the volume, balance, treble, bass and/or other switches solved the problem.

 

[selfilm]

I had the same speakers with the same problem. Deoxit on the tweeter control solved the problem. It happens, it's all part of the game.

Gosh, I just sent them out for looking at by my tech. I didn't have the bit of time to manage getting the DeOxit in there. Let's see if he's reasonable with me on the whole deal. Just missed this message before they went out... Thank you

 

[selfilm]

Yes it is simple soldering. You can pull the woofer and look inside the cabinet to see the crossover. The capacitor values should be printed on the capacitors. Open them up and take some pictures, share them with us. We will be glad to help.

As I just mentioned, I sent them out thinking this was going to be too big of a time suck. Hopefully my tech is reasonable with me, I will keep you posted - I do very much appreciate your offer to help! Thank you, Scott