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1982 raw birch cornwalls vs. 1984 walnut laquer Belles


avman

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I just bought a pair of Katrina-flooded 1984 WL Belles. they were

flooded 11" deep, but the water receded in about 24 hrs, and other than

the water line showing on the veneer, they seem fine! no

warping/seperation/buckling of the cabinets or veneer, and they sound

GREAT!

my 'problem' is that I will have to replace my '82 cornwalls with them,

and 'on paper' the cornwalls show 38Hz capability whereas the belles

show 54Hz as their low-end. the cornwalls also have much higher peak

power-handling capability, although I can't imagine ever over-powering

the belles (and I do like to listen loud)

can anyone tell me their impression of the 'Belles vs. Cornwalls' ?

I will be using a 2001 Heresy as a center-channel and a pair of '84 Heresys as rear surrounds

also anyone know how to remove the bass grilles so I can access that area of the speaker to clean them out?

they have AB x-overs, anyone swap-in new x-overs, and what difference did it make?

last, what is the best way to remove the walnut laquer so I can 'clean

up' the veneer and re-finish with a light-color (honey-oak?) finish.

thanks, avman

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avman--

The bass grilles are tacked on. You'll need a putty knife (not a screwdriver) to gently pry them off.

I've used a liquid stripper to remove the lacquer off a pair of Belles. Gentle scraping with a non-metallic scraper (plastic), along with some scotchbrite pads will do the trick. Follow the directions on the container. I used Citristrip:

http://www.refinishfurniture.com/citristrip.htm

You'll wanna dump those AB x-overs. Lotsa choices for replacements...Good luck!!

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Keep that pry bar in your pocket avman.[;)] At least in my '81s the grills are held by screws from both the top and bottom and one brad in the center. To access the screws the top must be completely disassembles as does the bottom ingluding the dog house cover.

I knew I should have taken a bunch of pictures.[:'(]

Rick

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Ah, crap, Rick! You're right! (Can you hear my forehead slap from 3,000 miles away?). There are tacks, but, as you point out, more importantly, screws from the top and bottom! One must nearly take the whole top section, riser, and woofer cover off to access 'em all.

Gawd, I hope I got that right...;^)

EDIT: Uh, that's just what Rick wrote. I'd better have a beer.

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thanks guys, complete disassembly isn't likely, unless I have to do

that for some other reason. the grille cloth is in great shape, and I'm

not so sure that the grilles need to come off for internal cleaning,

unless someone makes a strong case for doing so. I know-they were

flooded, but they really aren't that bad, and they play flawlessly.

howzabout the cornwall vs. belle comparison?

avman[:)]

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