Poking around Design Acoustics PS-10A

[GD70]

Yes, precisely! The thread that I remember reading mentioned some modifications to the tube enclosures for the mid drivers to fit in the larger magnets, so it sounds like a fairly major surgery on the speakers -- maybe not something to be considered lightly.

When I had them, I never felt the bass was lacking. Do you, and is this why you’re thinking about a woofer swap?
If you position them close to the back wall, bass should be great, and sounded best to my ears. The down firing woofer is Omni directional so you can play around with room position a lot with these.

 

[Wombaton]

When I had them, I never felt the bass was lacking. Do you, and is this why you’re thinking about a woofer swap?
If you position them close to the back wall, bass should be great, and sounded best to my ears. The down firing woofer is Omni directional so you can play around with room position a lot with these.

Will need to listen to them quite a bit more before I can make an informed opinion. But I expect them to perform well as they are, unless wrong attachment of the woofer surrounds produces problems. Only in that case, I guess, we will need to brainstorm about further possible fixes and if it is not white glue that binds these surrounds I am not sure if I can save the cones.

 

[Andy McKay]

To add slightly to this, I picked up a pair of PS-10's fairly cheaply a few weeks ago. When I got them I could see that the woofers needed to be reformed, so I wasn't surprised when I pulled off the bottom panel to find that there was plenty of rotten foam. I was surprised to see that they weren't the original woofers. The previous owner had replaced them w/ a pair of Pyle 10" woofers that fit quite well. I went ahead and reformed those and they sound fine.

I had my eyes out for a pair of original woofers and found a pair on eBay that are currently in the post. I'll be refoaming these as well and putting them in. If there's any interest in seeing what model the Pyle replacements are, I can record any part numbers I find when I replace them.

And reading through this thread has prompted me to go ahead and recap them to get them back as close to "new" as I can.

 

[Wombaton]

Ok, looks like I am all done here. Finally recapped the second one, closed and tested both. I used a Kenwood KA-5002 amp I'd recently rebuilt and listened to whatever was sitting in my CD player at the moment, which happened to be the deluxe edition of Mike Oldfield's 'Five Miles Out.' Maybe not the optimal selection for testing thunderous bass, as the juicy part begins ~20min into the first track.

PS-10s definitely deliver the goods, IMO, and I do not find them lacking bass. They are also really nice at 'imaging' (if I am using the correct term here), as I guess that is what the 'PS' thing is actually all about. Some sound effects, like drum strokes, were very 3D, making vibrations of the drum skin feel almost palpable. Naturally, I still need to get proper stands for these speakers (as already discussed in this thread) and play with their placement, which should tighten the bass a bit, I think. And, of course, I need to listen to them some more to break in the new capacitors. But so far mostly good impressions and, BTW, the woofers are behaving well, so I hope they might still work with surrounds glued on the wrong side.

Because of their compactness, these speakers will be really useful around the house, especially if one's goal is to bring hi-fi stereo to every room.

@Andy McKay: although I have no idea how reputable Pyle drivers are, it will surely be very useful to have part numbers of the 10-inchers that fit PS-10s. I assume that cylindrical pipes that protect the mid drivers were not altered in this conversion? THX.

 

[Andy McKay]

Got my replacement drivers in. Foam is glued (with the ring behind the cone) and things are gonna dry up over night. Then we'll take a look to see if there are any model numbers on the Pyle drivers.

 

[Andy McKay]

Got them swapped out. I took the Pyle's out:



I looked for some indication of a model # and found:



However, I've yet to come up with this in some Googling. On the inside of the cone, I found the number 6117-2, which also didn't get me anywhere.

Looking at the size differences of the 2 drivers:


(terribly out of focus photo...)

There's not a huge difference, maybe 1/8-3/16" between the back of the mounting face to the back of the magnet. This is close enough to allow them to be mounted in the PS-10 box w/o modification to any internals.

Now to look into recapping the crossovers. There's a pair of crossovers on eBay that I may grab, to serve as a backup in case I screw something up while recapping.

 

[Andy McKay]

After listening to the speakers for a little while, I can say that I'm reasonably impressed with how they sound. I have a weird-shaped room that's never going to be great for acoustics, but the speakers do well enough in it.

 

[Wombaton]

Got them swapped out. I took the Pyle's out:


There's not a huge difference, maybe 1/8-3/16" between the back of the mounting face to the back of the magnet. This is close enough to allow them to be mounted in the PS-10 box w/o modification to any internals.

Now to look into recapping the crossovers. There's a pair of crossovers on eBay that I may grab, to serve as a backup in case I screw something up while recapping.

These Pyles have much heavier magnets and look sturdier overall. It is great to know that they still fit inside PS-10 cabinets.

@Andy McKay: Just wondering -- do you have any plans to compare how these speakers sound with Pyles vs original woofers?
That would be most interesting. Also, I'd suggest not wasting $$$ on spare crossovers unless they are dirt cheap. These are really well made and virtually impossible to screw up. If you want to be extra careful, just use a wet rag to 'mask off' the wires as you are poking around with a soldering iron. That should keep their plastic insulation jackets in pristine condition even if you touch them with something hot.

 

[Wombaton]

New catch ===> New project (in a new thread)?



A result of a recent trip to remote areas of north MA; picked up for pocket change.
I wonder if anyone can identify these correctly [let's make this into a little challenge]?
The tweeters look original, but woofers and passive radiators could be modern replacements.
Will need to uncork them to see what these drivers actually are.
Hooked up to my present 'guinea pig' amp and playing right now, actually.
All drivers work but sound a little rough -- will need a recap for sure.

 

[Andy McKay]

These Pyles have much heavier magnets and look sturdier overall. It is great to know that they still fit inside PS-10 cabinets.

@Andy McKay: Just wondering -- do you have any plans to compare how these speakers sound with Pyles vs original woofers?
That would be most interesting. Also, I'd suggest not wasting $$$ on spare crossovers unless they are dirt cheap. These are really well made and virtually impossible to screw up. If you want to be extra careful, just use a wet rag to 'mask off' the wires as you are poking around with a soldering iron. That should keep their plastic insulation jackets in pristine condition even if you touch them with something hot.

The low end was a bit, I guess I'd say, "boomier" with the Pyle's. This is tamed a bit with the stock replacements. I'd initially attributed this to speaker placement that I was going to mess around with, but it is more subdued now. It is definitely an improvement.

As for the crossovers, they're not terribly expensive. I see it as a learning exercise and don't mind spending money on hobbies. I've spent far more money on far worse things...

 

[goodolpg]

New catch ===> New project (in a new thread)?

View attachment 2177053

A result of a recent trip to remote areas of north MA; picked up for pocket change.
I wonder if anyone can identify these correctly [let's make this into a little challenge]?
The tweeters look original, but woofers and passive radiators could be modern replacements.
Will need to uncork them to see what these drivers actually are.
Hooked up to my present 'guinea pig' amp and playing right now, actually.
All drivers work but sound a little rough -- will need a recap for sure.

Kind of reminds me of a Genesis tweeter.
No idea about the rest.

 

[Pete B]

Genesis II, excellent sounding speaker with the correct drivers.
Original foam was green but most refoam with grey:
http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/gen2.htm

 

[Wombaton]

Genesis II, excellent sounding speaker with the correct drivers.
Original foam was green but most refoam with grey:
http://www.humanspeakers.com/genesis/gen2.htm

Absolutely correct! Me thinks now, there is a chance that these modern replacements may actually be some previous generation of legit replacement drivers from HUMAN speakers because (1) they look like good quality stuff, (2) they have matched designs and (3) they sound pretty good. High-frequency drivers are not bad but could be improved. Will need to peek inside and investigate.
This is a vinyl veneer version, but if I like them, could serve as a good test project for trying application of wood veneers.
I've also got an impression that these are excellent speakers, not cheap when purchased new in 1978-80, but of course not the best in Genesis line.

 

[Pete B]

It is very possible that those are Human replacements, send a picture to him.
People who don't want to refoam sometimes just buy the replacements.
Recap them if they need it.
I have a pair of Genesis II+ and they are excellent speakers.