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Wow, you have a good eye looking just through my pictures. I can put my fingernail into the gouge, and it is exactly as you describe, And as you said, I think I've got to even it out as best I can, blending into the surrounding wood, then that's about all I can do. I did very lightly sand the gouge since my last post just to test the sanding, and sandpaper takes off that finish, fast! A damp rag took off the dust and the light areas just sanded turned much darker, and nicer looking. I plan to follow Mr. CF4's suggestion to apply "staining & a coat of poly..." The staining I think I get, to be applied with a cloth, (or foam brush?), two coats, then go with his recommendation of Minwax Golden Oak. http://www.lowes.com/pd_45803-24-221024444_4294684394__?productId=50063941&Ntt=minwax+stains&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dminwax%2Bstains&facetInfo= What do I use with the "coat of poly?" Will that be a rattle can application? http://www.lowes.com/pd_45873-24-33055000_0__ Or this? And, do you recommend semi-gloss, gloss, or matte finish? My instict is for semi-gloss. +++ Last question, I promise! (for now) The exterior wood appears to have almost micro-fractures when viewed closely, maybe from drying over the years. But it looks like some kind of wood conditioner would take care of that. Obviously I would like to preserve the wood, but I'm afraid if I put a conditioner on the finish, the stain would not absorb into the wood. Maybe the poly is the sealant I am thinking the wood needs. Suggestions? This next product says: Required before applying any Minwax Water Base Stain to get the best results Helps prevent streaking and blotching to ensure a beautiful, even stain for all water-based stains http://www.lowes.com/pd_144780-90-66051H_0__?productId=3434056&Ntt=wood+condtioner&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dwood%2Bcondtioner&facetInfo= http://www.lowes.com/pd_144780-90-66051H_0__?productId=3434056&Ntt=wood+condtioner&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dwood%2Bcondtioner&facetInfo= Again, I don't expect everybody to do my thinking for me, but I've never done this and I learn best from the experience of others (I tell my son that's the "easy way" as opposed to his way of making every mistake for himself, "the hard way." ) If I were making my own game plan, I would use the Minwax pre-stain (above), the Minwax Golden Oak stain (two coats) using a rag, and then brush-on on the poly. Feel free to suggest something better, as I prefer to do things "the easy way." I'm only going to have one shot at this, and I want to do it right.

Thanks CF4. You may not think it's much, but your comments/observations are very helpful, because I'm just not sure what I'm looking at. Since our last coversation an hour ago I pulled the horn and got a good look inside. The foam looks very new, which is what was throwing me off. There are essentially 2 pieces of 1" thick medium/light density foam, and they are loosley of "placed" in the cab , back-to-back no stapling or gluing, in three sections, top, middle, bottom. I pulled the foam out a few inches so you could see the separation between the individual pieces. The wire is very thick, and the casing is very pliable and soft to the touch. The speaker is upside down so the bottom of the pic is the top of the speaker.

I was hoping you would weigh in at some point, Mr. CF4! I was lurking before I got my account yestereday, and I knew anybody with "Klipsch and CF4" in their name would have some helpful tips for my particular needs. Also, it was helpful to know that the XO is factory. Is bracing factory, and are some sheets of foam which are placed not flat, but loosely on the sides/back, factory as well? The foam looks fairly new. Here is one of the serial number tags, along with the specific color. "MEDIUM, OAK." (the s/n on speaker 2 is consecutive) And what can I do about that gouge on the left side of Spk1? It's pretty deep, like it would take a wood filler to make it even with the rest of the veneer. I didn't know if filling it would make it look better or worse.

You are a man of few words! Are you saying you didn't sand or put any kind of finish on the original wood? And then you sprayed how? I presume with a rattle can? And then there was no buffing after that? I may be following in your footsteps, and I have zero experience refinishing wood, but I sure would like it if my project turned out looking like yours!

Outside cab pics are now posted in Post#1 (thank, Mr. Mung!) I think I 'll post some other pics in later posts so I don't end up with a ton of pics in one place. +++ I am in West Virginia, about 2 hours from Columbus, 2.5 to Cincinatti, 2.5 to Pittsburgh. +++ These speakers are looking really clean on the inside, and I found a horizontal brace in the middle of the lower woofer, but it looks factory. The XO components look like they could have come from Parts Express last week, and they have been held in place with zip ties and hot glue melt. Not shown is a sticker attached to the plastic Kilipsch XO box which says "assembed in Mexico." It looks out of place next to the sticker with the serial number.

Fixed! And thanks, I hate making mistakes! "He who corrects my mistake giveth me a gold coin." +++ And...I'm glad you're here! I've been lurking before I signed up, and I saw that you had two woofers. If I HAD to find them, I probably wouldn't have found them in a year! Everything seems good so far, but I'm far from done testing. I was thinking about those woofs, but I want to see where I am to see if I need them. I was also thinking those would be pretty nice for a matched DIY MTM center speaker.

my sub is bigger than your sub That's not what your wife told me last night... But seriously, folks... +++ I found what was rattling around in speaker 2 (Spk2), it was the nut that held the Red binding post, so that's has got to be the easiest fix of the day! I also learned that Klipsch attaches the XO to the back of the plastic "box" that holds the binding posts. I'm not sure it's supposed to look at in terms of age, but that XO looks awfuly clean! I've got pics, be patient with me a while longer. S1 works, all three drivers, so that's good. I just tested it with on old 100wpc Pioneer receiver on radio mode. When I'm done figuring out what to do next, I'll move the speakers up to the living room with my Onkyo NR-717 TX, about 110 wpc. Sancho said to plug it in and listen to it, then figure out what to do with it. After I brought it home, it was in such poor cosmetic condition it kind of freaked me out, and I figured it was pretty bad on the inside as well. I'll post pics, maybe it's not in as bad shape as I feared? That's where you guys come in.

Thank you, Sancho. Man, you're fast! I just upoaded a photo, but I don't know where it went. The Picture Icon (above in Editing) keeps asking me for the URL. Suggestions? (I'll check back in later. I'm going to try to hook up that second speaker, now.)

This is my post #1. This Klipsch discussion board was highly recommended. My name is Dave, and I am in need of a little help. I picked up some Epic CF4's off Craigslist today. They are in rough shape, but how rough I don't yet know. I went to wire them up and the connecting piece between the Bi-amp posts were gone, but that's OK, when I went to put some wires to connect the high pass and low pass posts, the first post fell off. Here's what I know so far: Epic CF 4 Medium Oak S/N 251499124 (Speaker 1) aka Spk1 S/N 251499125 )Speaker 2) aka Spk2 The finish looks like someone used the top of it to put drinks on, it is sticky and water stained. The side of Spk1 has a major gouge out of it. The top of Spk2 has water stains on it. All four plastic ports fell out (5" long ports) S2 had a connector simply fall out The finish in general looks sun faded, so the finish is uneven overall. This will be a work in progress. All comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated. What you may want to know about me, is I love speaker stuff and I've wanted Klipsch for years. This is my second Klipsch (RW-12d bought new last year). I am a rookie here, but not a posting rookie in audio, so feel free to use jargon shortcuts. I don't take things personally, so nothing you say will offend or bother me. Please feel free to speak out, and be brutally honest; I can take it. And I always post with a smile on my face. :) (I'll stop here and edit this first post a little more later, as I have to find how to upload pics off my hard drive)