Micklipsch

Thankfully no deep scratches, just that bit of chipped veneer and the burs on that corner. Perhaps after a light cleaning with a scotchbrite and some mineral spirits I can use this . Not sure which tone would be best though

I think so, too! I'll absolutely keep the updates comin'. Just waiting for some wood sages to chime in before I start crackin'.

This is the cleaner/ conditioner I have on hand. Just wondering if it's the best thing or if there's something better. Pics of the speakers show small little discoloration issues that I'm thinking will be resolved simply using a conditioner.

This was a surprising find, as I was only able to see it when the sun was beaming at that extreme angle on them. One of the tops of 1 speaker has very slight bubbling likely from a liquid as there are some slight discolorations around the area. I read about using a slightly damp cloth over them and ironing them back flat?

Tan colored wood filler here perhaps? And the other area is simply rough where I'm thinking maybe 000 steel just to debur then finish with best protectant?

This looks to be pen ink, and as you can tell I got a little too vigorous with trying to remove it.

Some sort of staining that ran down the side. Hoping a cleaner/ conditioner resolves that. Otherwise, a scuff on the riser and some drywall transfer probably from being handled foolishly. I fingernail scraped it all off. I'm thinking just sand the damaged veneers at the corners where it's hanging off and just let it be. Not sure how to remove that dark scuff without removing the lacquer color though, as the color came off pretty easy when trying to address the pen ink on the top of one.

Figure this'll be my first time delving into a restore so what better than to make yet another thread about it, right? Well, hopefully the nuance of it will help others down the line. I did research the forum as well as the Internet at large for resto projects and advice, but I'm hoping to glean more tailored advice from some of the seasoned pros here like @314carpenter, @OO1or my friend @Iteachstem. Some key things I learned was to use sanding as a last resort, and if you have to, feather the areas around the trouble spot to avoid divets, and that utilizing stripper can be less invasive than believed. I made an initial post regarding the acquisition of these as well as some initial pictures that can be found here: Couple upfront questions: Is Clear Oak a lacquer finish? What's an acceptable product to simply use to wipe down and clean it with? I have Old English Lemon Oil on hand. Is this acceptable for this finish? I'm thinking I can probably get away with just re-doing the tops, and using a good rejuvenating product on the sides. I'm going to post pictures of the trouble areas and would appreciate advice on how to best attack those areas. Posting pics in their own replies so folks can easily reply to the trouble area. Thanks!

I did, but did not notice the I didn’t have the passive. Heh!

I’ve been meaning to read the differences myself. It interests me personally as I’ve been exposed to my uncle’s fantastic Chorus IIs throughout the formative years and I was intrigued that they dropped the porting from the Is. Anyway, this is a decent thread of a gentleman’s subjectivity on the matter. Also, Huntley is like an hour from me.. ugh.

Price drop. If this is real, someone needs to grab these before I do something stupid…

Just when I thought I read it all, lol. That's a good idea too. And nice deal on your Quartets as well. Love it when stuff like that works out.

Interesting, I'll check that out if I end up removing it. How about the muck on all the cones? Read everything from repeatedly dabbing it with painter's tape to soft bristle brushes and a vacuum, but frankly, I don't think anything other than the ever-so-slightly damp, super wrung-out microfiber cloth is going to cut it. Possibly with a high speed fan or done in warm daylight. Wish they were easy like the CFs or KG4s.

Was it done from behind? How’d it turn out looking? My local audio guy was talking about clear adhesive from behind to achieve the most discreetness. For the radiator dust caps, I tried a mini shop vac to no success. Perhaps I go big league with the big shop vac or maybe the house vac but I’m not sure if it could damage the cone if the cap were to rip off. Going to try duct tape as well. My audio guy says he usually just ends up using an exacto knife carefully and just replaces the cap outright with new.

Last night while doing what any sane man would do while falling asleep (looking at audio gear), I fell upon a pair of Quartets on LetGo for, wait for it... $250. It gets better. I hit the person up saying I'd take them. Paraphrasing, it went a little something like this: Hey I'll buy your speakers. Anything wrong with them? None that I'm aware of. Cool. Can I audition them when I pick up? I don't have any equipment to hook them up to. Ok I'll bring my own. (Silence) Is that ok? What time tomorrow? Yeah I have a lot of stuff going on so not gonna be possible. At this point I'm wary of some shennanigans but for the price, it's worth taking a leap. And I did. Headed out to Evanston, 35 minute drive. Get there and he brings them out.... carelessly. The good: Sequential! Both grilles with emblems albeit one needs to be reglued back on. The bad: Right away, I have no idea if they're dead, blown, whatever. Again for the money, I'm taking a chance. I also probably need to slow down a bit anyway, but who the hell doesn't like finding awesome gear for potential steals, right? There's some dings on the cabs and a little staining, some roughness on a few corners of the risers. Radiators have the obligatory dents in the dust caps. Removed the grilles, and one of the 10" woofers has a decent tear! At this point I'm like buddy, I wish you would've told me about this. He acted surprised but it made sense why there was only 1 speaker posted in the pics on the ad. So I'm looking at it going, this's going to cost money to repair/ replace. Yada yada. I could give you, and he blurts $200, and his kid who was doing some translations, $180! I look back down at it again and go, I can do $150. Up to you. "Ok take them." So off I went. Lugged them out of the SUV, into the house, plugged them in, and just damn... they sing. The tear in the one woofer is purely aesthetic from what I can tell as there's no audible noise coming from it during excursion. So I intend to get away with carefully gluing from behind. From what I've seen of the market lately, these guys are going from $600-$800. So yeah, can't turn this down. The gamble worked out. I figured the damn grilles (which're in great shape in need of just a washing and the emblem reattached) themselves would sell for atleast $100 if I were parting out, so why the hell not take a chance? It paid off, and I'm happy. Pics to come...

Very cool. So the lack of emblem on the squakers are of no consequence then—purely aesthetics?

Also noticed my squakers just have the red K55V stamp, not the emblem like on the others. Chalk it up to factory being out of them perhaps.

I did basically that with my Epic's grilles as they were filthy from years of neglect in a basement. They came out real nice, too. But those have plastic frames. I'd be afraid to do that with fibrous frames--I didn't inspect closely but aren't H1s some sort of coated fiber board?

Yeah, I was sort of thinking that, and a friend was saying the same too. Patina… Great way of looking at it.

So about the grilles. Is it pretty common for these to fade to purple like this? Kind of irksome. Not sure if the burgundy was prone to it and black wasn’t. You can see where the folded over parts that touch the motorboard are the original burgundy, or brown, then the faces are 100% evenly faded. I was thinking maybe left in full heavy sun everyday for decades albeit odd because the cabinet finishes show zero sun wear. Then I was thinking were they erroneously bleached or something while cleaning, but then the folded over flaps would show this too.

Be happy to. Whats the 49 mean here? I searched through the heritage thread and didn’t see or missed its significance. It’s 49 on both speaker tags.

Originally I was just going to get something like those but the seller had these on and I thought it gave a clean fixed look.

I was thinking the same as I just ordered them while heading back to get faster. Free returns so no bigs