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I once worked at Design Acoustics ~1976

..... an old thread resurfaced......
I see a pair of Audio Technica PS-8a's for sale for a reasonable price. Should I scoop them up?
 
Just bought a pair of d-1's....for $20.00

I did not know what to expect. I bought them for the beautiful cabinet for a DIY project and thought they wouldn't sound very good.....to my surprise they are incredibley warm and full....They are Gems to me!!! I knew nothing of this company OR it's speakers til i found this thread....Surly someone can provide some info? Thanks. steve
 
I worked with Neal at Design Acoustics off and on between 1976 and 1980 in the woodshop during summer vacations. The D-1's were one of the last George Sioles designed speakers along with the D-8 and the upgraded D-12a's. Most D-1's were in aluminum cabinets with wood front and back panels although some were made with nice all wood cabinets. The little dispersion devices mounted in front of the recessed Peerless cone tweeter was cast from resin in little molds and they look pretty rough. The whole idea was to deflect the cone tweeter's output to increase dispersion since they tend to beam. DA was also using Peerless dome tweeters at the time but the use of the cone tweeter reduced cost and the domes tended to have a peaky response. George always designed his speakers by ear and they all sounded good. Recently a pair of D-1's appeared on fleaby that had D-2 connection plates on the back. D-2's were a column speaker wrapped in cloth with a dome tweeter on top while the D-1's were small bookshelf speakers.

The original Torrance, CA based D-A was sold to Audio-Technica in about 1980 and the subsequent PS "Point Source" model line was completely designed by A-T as all they really wanted was the established name and reputation of Design Acoustics.
 
Thanks for the info.....Great speakers in beautiful boxes!! here are some pics of them.. Can they be dated by Serial #'s ? 100107/100108 ...and what would they have cost?
I love those dodechedroidy ones and now have gas for more DA's!!!
 
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Sir.Byrd said:
Where did you get those speaker stands?
Click to expand...

I bought the D-1's and a pair of Paradigm model 7se's and stands for $60.00 .....there is a nice pair of Infinity Kappa's there i could get for $400-500...might have to!!!
Also bought some MK s-1b's these week....
 
Hey ... this is an old thread but still a good one. I last heard a pair of D-12's, I think that was the model number ... when I was out in Portland OR a few weeks ago a record shop out there had them blasting away on some metal, and they sounded great.

I worked at Koss in the 70's and we had a pair of them for evaluation. I got to take them home and live with them for a few weeks. 1976.
 
Hi Nealaz & welcome to AK!

I am a fan of Design Acoustics speaks. Missed a chance to own a pair of PS-8s. I have been looking at a pair of PS-88s that look nice.

Rome
 
Sorry to revive a dead thread but I'm possibly acquiring these Point Source speakers but cannot find any info. I canf find any that resemble these. Any help on a model or info would be much appreciated. The covers say point source but that's all I have to go on.
 

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Those do not look like anything Design Acoustics (either the original company, the Audio-Technica ownership years, or the current company) ever manufactured. There is no ID on the connection plate and Design Acoustics speakers didn't use passive radiators.

The PS "Point Source" name was assigned by Audio-Technica to the models they designed but the speaker pictured above does not appear to be from Design Acoustics even if it has Point Source in it's name or model designation.
 
stickman said:
Those do not look like anything Design Acoustics (either the original company, the Audio-Technica ownership years, or the current company) ever manufactured. There is no ID on the connection plate and Design Acoustics speakers didn't use passive radiators.

The PS "Point Source" name was assigned by Audio-Technica to the models they designed but the speaker pictured above does not appear to be from Design Acoustics even if it has Point Source in it's name or model designation.
Click to expand...
 
I did end up finding a tag. Point Source PS201. Attached is the picture. Not sure if it helps. I only paid 40 for them and they sound good so I'll call it a win either day.
 

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Ianschog, those are definitely not from Design Acoustics as the tag says they are from the "Contemporary Products Company" which I have never heard of before. As long as you like how they sound, that is all that really matters.

Gregg 73, I worked at the original D-A in Torrance, California off and on between 1975 and 1979 while going to college. The company was sold to Audio-Technica not long after I left. I am somewhat familiar with the A-T "PS" Point Source series speakers but I have never seen a pair of those PS-103's before. I'm guessing they are an extremely rare model. If all of the drivers are original and work properly, then that would likely be one heck of a deal!
 
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