Tweeter for Design Acoustics PS-10

[GoRNR]

SeattleMan- I did some measurements on my PS-10's and for ideal fit-up you will need a tweeter that is 3-3/4" outer diameter with 1" dome. You may want to verify the cutout size (hole diameter) on your tweeter location as well, as that will be important too. Toxcrusadr detailed the need for tweeter to work down to the 2000 Hz range in post #20. For reference here are some photos of a damaged PS-10 tweeter that shows disassembly to locate the bad/open spot in the voice coil and the person was able to affect a repair. It wouldn't be easy, but the photos show that the tweeter can be disassembled if you wish to give it a try. These photos are all "borrowed" from the Design Acoustics Group on Yahoo. The tweeter you have linked to is not an ideal mechanical match along with the different roll-off frequency (higher than desired- 3500 hz vs. 2000hz). Since the outer diameter appears to be a bit smaller with the Simply Speakers replacement you are looking at, you would have to drill at least two new holes to accommodate the different mounting screw hole locations. If you are forced to go that route I might suggest you actually rotate the driver 60 deg CW or CCW from the stock hole location/positions so as to avoid weakened area of the baffle board due to the existing holes. And drill three new holes. Again, not an ideal replacement and quite a bit of work for a driver that isn't a good frequency response match on the lower end of its range. Hope some of this info helps.

 

[GD70]

I still say wait for an original to show up on fleabay. In the past, every time I looked, there were several listed. Be patient. These are superb sounding speakers, stick with what the designers used.

 

[GoRNR]

As GD70 states, originals would be better. A bit pricey, but there are a pair of PS-10 tweets on the auction site right now..... search using "design acoustics tweeter". Cosmetic markings slightly different, but I believe a drop in replacement. If you can wait, a single may come up at a better price in the future. Good luck in your search. They are pretty nice sounding speakers and the sound image they project belies their relatively small size.

 

[GD70]

As GD70 states, originals would be better. A bit pricey, but there are a pair of PS-10 tweets on the auction site right now..... search using "design acoustics tweeter". Cosmetic markings slightly different, but I believe a drop in replacement. If you can wait, a single may come up at a better price in the future. Good luck in your search. They are pretty nice sounding speakers and the sound image they project belies their relatively small size.

They would probably work fine though the PN is different.

 

[SeattleMan]

It appears none of us have an instant answer for which of the hundreds of tweeters available today will be a close match for yours. But, folks are making suggestions here.

Sorry! I am new to this field and not able to digest all the technical terms posted here. I did connect with the person that offered a tweeter however he did not have the one I needed. I was struggling to comprehend the technical specs and this is why I decided to seek advise from expert in tis forum. All I needed was links to possible replacements, so I can order one. I did also register for the Yahoo group awaiting approval of my eligibility to post questions.

All I needed was an expert advise on what tweeter I can use to replace my faulty one and where to get it from. Please accept my apology if I have been unreasonable with my questions.

?? This was an offer for a free one if you could post a pic of yours.

It was also suggested to check out the Design Acoustics user's group. Someone over there may already have identified a good replacement.

Finally, the specs were posted so you can look for a tweeter of the right overall diameter with a 1" soft dome, 8 ohms, and about 90 db/W sensitivity, that goes down to at least 2000 Hz on its range. The one you posted from Simply Speakers says its lower end is 3500 Hz so it may not be a good replacement, unless someone has actually used it and says it works (cue Yahoo user's group). Places like Parts Express and Madisound have tweeters. Parts Express has ten 1" soft dome 8 ohm tweeters you can look through.

https://www.parts-express.com/cat/tweeters/17?N=19813+4294967118+4294964098+4294965079+4294964873&Ne=10166&Nrs=collection()/record[endeca:matches(.,"P_PortalID","1")+and+endeca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1

 

[SeattleMan]

As GD70 states, originals would be better. A bit pricey, but there are a pair of PS-10 tweets on the auction site right now..... search using "design acoustics tweeter". Cosmetic markings slightly different, but I believe a drop in replacement. If you can wait, a single may come up at a better price in the future. Good luck in your search. They are pretty nice sounding speakers and the sound image they project belies their relatively small size.

Is this what you are referring to

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDIO-TECHI...602162?hash=item43f8e58cb2:g:rfIAAOSwzaJX4YIM

 

[GD70]

Is this what you are referring to

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AUDIO-TECHI...602162?hash=item43f8e58cb2:g:rfIAAOSwzaJX4YIM

Yes.

 

[teal'c]

Price is a bit ridiculous. I paid seven dollars more for two complete working PS-10a. Local CL just had an ad for two working PS-10s for forty five dollars.

 

[Donkey Karma]

I still say wait for an original to show up on fleabay. In the past, every time I looked, there were several listed. Be patient. These are superb sounding speakers, stick with what the designers used.

I mirror Glen's thoughts here. But to each their.....

 

[janikphoto]

I skimmed all the posts, so maybe I missed it... but, did the OP do enough testing to verify his tweeter was even bad?

 

[SeattleMan]

Or something that makes listening to music a lot of fun.

To be more useful, just jiggle the hell out of the switch, if there's a switch. Or turn the hell out of the dial, if there's a dial. Do it a bunch, 30 or so times all the way in each direction. The tweeter may magically come back to life, or at least make noise. If you hear noise at all, chances are the contacts (how the signal moves through the switch or POTentiometer) are just dirty. If you get lucky and this is the case, report back and we'll talk you through that.

If this doesn't work, do as Tox says and get a $5 multimeter at Harbor Freight. I got one for free with a coupon, but I had to buy a screwdriver. The cheapo one will work well enough for this. But first, get to jiggling or turning!

There is light in the tunnel. I disconnected the tweeter, checked the resistance and saw 0 and thought I should throw it away - something I did - gave tit to my son to experiment with the magnet. He was abusing it for a couple of days. Then when I connected the speaker I realized that with the tweeter disconnected it does not work. What I then did was to put it back however this time I replaced the tweeters to give it a try. The working one was now not working. Then I started turning on and off the switch. After about 10 times some noise started coming. Later ... the tweeter was working fine however it need some adjustment with positioning the switch. Now the "bad" tweeter. It is now working fine. Not sure how this is possible after I am 100% sure I measured it and resistance was 0. Maybe next time I will run all the non-working things at home by my son

I have one last question. Do I need to disconnect the panel and apply DeoxIt to the switch or any other component? I mean, to avoid the need to constantly adjust the switch. Or ... is there anything else I will need to do?

Thanks all for the guidance!

 

[toxcrusadr]

Well, you said you got a meter but you didn't actually post the results of testing till now.

It would actually be rare for a driver to show 0 resistance. That's a dead short between the terminals. Much more likely for the voice coil to either corrode or overheat and open up, which should give very high or infinite resistance on an ohmmeter. If your meter is digital, it may have any number of ways to display infinite resistance. I have one that says 0L which is an error code and not zero. Accidentally touching the two probes together or putting them both on the same lug on the tweeter or touching them both to the magnet of the driver will all give zero resistance.

Anyway, yes you should clean that switch with deoxit and maybe that will cure all your problems.

 

[tyella]

Congrats!
Yes, you need to access the switch in some way.

First off, get some Deoxit. It's magical stuff and handy to have around for other electronics stuff, not just stereos and speakers.
Either pull the woofer and the fiberglass (or whatever is in there) or pull the panel off the back. It's usually safer to pull the woofer, as the panels of some speakers can be thin and "bendy" or even "breaky." Spray inside the switch and work the hell out of it. Make sure the Deoxit gets inside the switch. Think about how the switch works, metal on metal contact conducting a current, and make sure you get the spray into where that happens. Don't hook the speakers up for several minutes as the excess liquid evaporates.

That should work. If not, come back for more!

 

[GoRNR]

Definitely sounds like dirty or worn switches as tyella responded. Deoxit is your friend as stated. You may well have had a bad connection at the spade lugs that slide onto the drivers too. I've seen different speakers develop resistance at the spade lugs due to lugs relaxing. It may be worthwhile to verify the spades are tight too. I usually will slide the spades off each driver and slide them back on a couple cycles worth. If the spade seems loose, slide the female side off again, give it a gentle squeeze with pliers to close it a little, then verify it slides on more snugly/tighter back on male side. After 30 years the spades can relax a bit and lead to increased resistance or even an open circuit.
Glad the trashed tweeter was still around for troubleshooting. Maybe it didn't suffer "dome depression"??

 

[wacnstac]

I'm faced with replacing a tweeter now in my PS-10 speaker. I noticed that the mid range and the tweeter are wired out of phase with the midrange having yellow go to positive and the opposite for the tweeter. Can someone verify that this is correct before I put it back together? I'm deoxing the pot tonight.