True Heresy....see pics and flame away ;-)

[Tom Adams]

Finally finished with my Heresy refinishing project. After acquiring 3 more Heresy's to finish out my 7.1 surround, I decided to make them all the same finish for the HT room. Since a couple of them were in kinda bad shape (especially corners & edges), I decided to take my router to all of them and round off the edges. Yeah, yeah, yeah....go ahead, give me grief. Listen - they're my speakers.

Here they are before I started.

Here they are in work.

And here's the finsihed product.

Tom

[J.4knee]

Nice work. I think the rounded corners give them more of a finished appearance...well done.

I have 4 Heresy II's to refinish. I want to reveneer them so I don't see how I would be able to do that to mine as I have some serious corner dings and dents in them. I too bought mine for the expressed purpose to refinish them to my own preference for my HT. Again nice job thanks for the pics.

[SilverSport]

I have Heresys too and I think yours look beautiful.

Thanks for sharing!

Bill

[scott0527]

That's a beautiful paint job. You must be a pro. I think, in black, they look better with rounded corners.

[jacksonbart]

Really nice job, those look new. What type of black paint did you use, looks like it was put in the factory.

[Daddy Dee]

Very nice. Thanks for posting. I've got a pair of Heresy cabs that are pretty rough. The router treatment is a great way to redeem the cabs.

[lwhaples]

Tom, Can't see any reason for flame. They came out SUPER! Now to put them together and Enjoy! Larry

[Thumpelstiltskin]

Those look great, Tom! I wish I could do that kind of work.

Rick.

[johnyholiday]

nice ,now dont go sticking velco all over the motorboard, on my grills i just used the part that looks like a billion little j's an attacked em to the side beazel of the speaker, when you insert the grills it will grab the grill cloth, or go magnetic ,anything but velco stuck all over the place, i love a clean motorboard

[Tom Adams]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I too think they came out rather nice looking. If you only knew what I went through getting them to this point - wait a minute.....I bet some of you do. And now for the REAL story.

After making the decision to round over the cabs (which netting me a brand new Porter Cable router), came the job of wood putty filling in of dings and places where the router lifted up the top ply of the plywood. Next was sanding, sanding, sanding.

Then the painting process began. I wanted to achieve a look in sheen similar to what comes from the factory and still let some of the grain show. I read the thread where ????? used Rustoleum 7777 in a thinned down state. A friend of mine (Benny) at work who does car restoration said that shooting 7777 from the can would be easier than thinning down and brushing or rolling it on. It wasn't. After 4 cans of paint on just 2 cabs, I'd had it. No matter what I did, it looked like sh*t. I then remembered that ????? on here had talked about shooting his cabs with automotive paint.

So I went to a local auto shop here and the owner was more than happy to do it, but said he'd have to have one of his painters do it on the side when business permitted. I was in no hurry, so I said ok. Three months later, they still hadn't been touched. Add to this was an estimate of $100 per cab which = $500.

Benny asked how my speaker project was coming and I sang my sad story. Benny asked what the guy was charging me and I told him. He said that was robbery and said he'd shoot them for $150 plus materials. And what you see is his work.

The finish is 7777 thinned down to allow being shot from a spray gun. Benny told me that in hindsight he should've used a primer first to seal the wood (he's always painted cars and not wood) since the grain kept lifting on him causing him to sand and appy more coats than he thought. The result was 4 coats/cab.

They're not perfect, but a damn sight better that what I could've done and much less cheaper. I think they'll fit in the HT room just fine.

Once again - thanks guys for the nice words.

Tom

[fini]

Nice work, Tom! Whatcha gonna build next, now that you have that nice PC (best router brand, BTW)?

[Tom Adams]

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On 4/24/2005 9:19:34 AM fini wrote:

Nice work, Tom! Whatcha gonna build next, now that you have that nice PC (best router brand, BTW)?

----------------

Well...if you must know, I'd like to refinish my vertical horn Cornwalls the same way - i.e. round all corners and paint them black (man, I can hear the groans now). But that's gonna have to wait until the pain of this project passes.

However, I still need to re-do all the speaker grilles. Three of them are black, but they aren't in great shape. The other two are cane grilles which I'll probably re-make from scratch since I'm considering selling them to a good home.

And with some luck, my trim person will be here next weekend to install some trim work in the HT room. I'm beginnning to wonder if my HT room isn't the perverbial continuous project. Us Engineers are like that you know. We'd design something to death if given the chance.

Tom

[DizRotus]

Is the cabinet that started out lighter a Heresy II? If so, am I correct that the backs on IIs are not removabale, .i.e., the need for the irregularly shaped openings in the motorboard to permit installation/removal of the compression drivers?

[BS Button]

Looks real good. Could you show us (with a picture) how exactly you rounded off the edges?

[bigdnfay]

Nice work. The rounded edges look great. The finish is excellent. Did you prime them before you painted? I've got 4 that need a makeover. They're next after my current project.

Big D

[Tom Adams]

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On 4/24/2005 8:42:21 PM BS Button wrote:

Looks real good. Could you show us (with a picture) how exactly you rounded off the edges?

----------------

If I understand your question correctly......the corners were rounded over using a router and a 1/2" round-over bit. I then hand sanded them. Does that answer your question or were you needing a more detailed photo of the rounded over edge?

Big D => No, we didn't prime the cabinets before the 7777 was shot. We should have. I would strongly suggest you do that. It will seal the wood and prevent the 7777 from lifting the grain. The result will be A LOT less sanding between coats and make the job go quicker in the long run.

Tom

[r.cherry]

SWEET...

[Marvel]

DizRotus,

Exactly! Since all the drivers on the HII cabinets install from the front, the cutouts have to have those shapes. The tweeter driver won't fit through the slot itself, etc.

Beautiful work, Tom.

Marvel

[IndyKlipschFan]

Two words.. Just beautiful!!

I have a hodge potch of speakers for the basement HT. Three split La Scalas up front, and 4 Cornwalls in the rears with the Klipsch Amp ultra 2 and THX Ultra 2 subs added too. 7.2 ROCKS!!!

Even just in the framed stage, concrete and all, it is just Amazing!

Every single speaker I have, other than the subs, I bought used for the HT. Some as far back like the 1967 Vertical Cornwalls II. They all have nicks, some scratches, but will be behind a skrim so no one will know. Except me.

That said, I guess it is like having a older sports car, re painted and re done inside.. you also want it to look good under the hood as well.

I think by the routing and re painting, yours are "BETTER" than original. Maybe call them "Home Theater Grade" for sure! Congrats maybe if I get brave, I will do mine like this as well later! Rounded corners just look fantastic! The paint it wonderful. In case someone wants to see behind the skrim and see what is making all that wonderful music!

I give you a 10!

[D-MAN]

Why on earth would anyone flame you for those?!

They look GREAT

BTW, the local dealer had new black ones for $1K per pair.

That ought to make you feel good!

DM