'78 Decorator Cornwalls - To Decorate or not to Decorate?

[cornholio]

Hi, I have been lurking here for a couple of months and have enjoyed learning from the many great contributors here. In late Febuary of this year I loaded a pair of Cornwalls into a Wheelchair Taxi for a short trip to their new home. They were purchased to replace my old B&W Matrix 2 s2 in hopes of getting better low volume performance, (To suit my neighbors not myself! ) and for their ability to be snug against a wall. So far I am very happy with them, esp the character bass and forward presentation, and am hoping to impove the sound with new caps and tube amplification soon. My current amp (older Roksan Caspian which is probably way underdriven at my quiet listening level) works quite well, but you guys are pretty adamant about tubes so I should probably at least try them.

Right now I am hoping for some advice or ideas on what to do with the raw finish. They look really nice but since they have a big black TV on a black stand between them I think they may look much better in a darker finish. Gloss Black was my first pick but a friend has suggested a Cappiccino Stain may be nicer. He said the stain would bring out the grain in the birch nicely but I'm not sure if that is a good thing. As you can see in the pics they look quite different from one another. They are not consecutive serial numbers (# 15S198 & 15S143.) Aside from the plywood being way different the woofs have different size dust caps.

Can anybody please give me an idea how much time passes between 55 cornwalls being built in 1978? [^]

Anyway I would rather have these than non decorators with consecutive serial #'s

They are in near mint shape - a bit dry on the sides and there is a but of tape residue from the original owner (Red Green?) where he taped his homeade grills, but aside from that they look new. Speaking of grills I wounder if glueing some grill cloth on the inside of the woofer hole would work and give a nicer look? there is about 1/2" of bare wood around the woofer to work with.

Back to the painting thing, I know somebody with a gun who I could probably get to help me by giving him some of my old gear, but I live in an apartment and it would be a huge pain to pack them a few hundred yards every time a coat is applied. Staining could be done in my apt I guess, but I'm not sure if staining would really be an improvement on leaving them raw.

Also i found a link that claims you can do a nice gloss black paint job without spraying, I would like to try this:

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45483.asp

What do you guys think?

Here are some pics, the first three are from the seller, and the
RedRoom is where they live now. The red is not that bright in real
life. When I get the tube amp all of the gear and messy wires will be moved next to my sofa, and the TV stand will be a solid black pedestal (the shelves flip)

My Camera is crap and I don't know how to use it

thanks for reading my post.

[HudsonValleyNoah]

looks like the woofer on the right (in the first picture) with larger dust cap, got a re-cone job or at least a new dust cap installed.

Not nice on a decorator corn (IMHO)

Otherwise they look REALLY nice.

I would not stain; I would not paint.

I would pick up a matching woofer (match the left one with the flat dust cap tip...)

But I am bothered by small cosmetic things, when very noticeable.

Also, I would NOT add grill cloth to them.

[Budman]

i agree with Noah from the above post. do not decorate. those are very very nice. i had a mint pair just like those. regret selling them.

if they were beat up i would say go ahead and do what you want with them. kinda rare to see decorators in that condition.

[Groomlakearea51]

Agree with Budman and Harry; they are way too nice!!! You might want to oil them at best. If you are "desperate" to refinish them (wife says so, don't fit in decor, etc.) You might rather trade someone for a "conventional" pair before refinishing them. Birch is tricky to work with in regards to staining as it is quite hard, and unless prepped correctly has a tendency to absorb stains unevenly. Before adding any "finish" such as a stain, sealer, etc. they should be lightly sanded with a random orbital sander and #600 grit pads. That would take care of light scratches, smooth the finish and open the pores of the wood just enough for other actions. Just be careful, very careful. Too much sanding, too coarse of a grit and you will eat into the veneer and ruin it.

[cornholio]

Thanks for the replys! and I must apologise about the original post, at first the pics were linked to full pics on imagevenue, and I must have made the settings wrong so there were NSFW pop-ups for some people who clicked the pics. Thanks to Amy for putting all the pics on a single attachment and reposting my post.

You guys are kind of telling me what I wanted to hear - I do like the raw look but thought they would look real nice in gloss black with that TV between them. My friend had me curious about the cappachino stain but for the most part I was not interested in staining the wood, it was between gloss black and just leaving them the way they are, and leaving them is easy and foolproof

[4tay]

You guys are kind of telling me what I wanted to hear - I do like the raw look but thought they would look real nice in gloss black with that TV between them. My friend had me curious about the cappachino stain but for the most part I was not interested in staining the wood, it was between gloss black and just leaving them the way they are, and leaving them is easy and foolproof

I hate to cover up a nice woodgrain with paint...I lost my joy for black paint a number of years ago. The natural finish looks good as is, it can be enhanced with tung oil or a clear poly to give it a gloss. The closest thing I'd ever do to paint on something like those would be a transparent stain. But no paint...ever. Nice speakers, I wish I had some.

[hklinker]

I took a pair of the raw birch and applied a Red Mahogany stain made by Cabot. I finished them with shellac and three coats of beeswax. They match the woodwork in my living room so the wife is happy. Here is a link to the project so you can see the finish.

http://community.klipsch.com/forums/p/124427/1257822.aspx#1257822

Herb

[4tay]

I took a pair of the raw birch and applied a Red Mahogany stain made by Cabot. I finished them with shellac and three coats of beeswax. They match the woodwork in my living room so the wife is happy. Here is a link to the project so you can see the finish.

http://community.klipsch.com/forums/p/124427/1257822.aspx#1257822

Herb

Beautiful! That is exactly what I am talking about! [Y] That is so much nicer and more classy than paint! []