New Decorator Cornwalls - Prettying them up (esp. the woofers!)?

[meagain]

I picked these up at an estate sale. At some point, someone added trim, grills, and the top has a beveled wood channel trim for their tinted glass tops with silk pads under them. To me, this was nicely done. I'm not crazy about the apparent Walnut stain on the birch as I'm a firm believer Birch doesn't do well with dark stains. There appears to be a poly or lacquer finish. I'm not yet sure what I'll be doing with these or if I'll even keep them.

But what really gets me - is the nasty looking woofers. This one has a 'spill' on the cone. Both cones are a grey color. If I keep them, I'd strip and refinish lighter, or even some day try veneering in something interesting. I like the grill-less look so 'something' would have to be done to these butt-ugly woofers. Probably just buy a new jet-black pretty pair from BEC & sell these on Ebay. Or..... And this may be a dumb question, but......

Is there anything/any product available one can buy - like a spray on product - that I can spray a light dusting of black on them to spruce them up a bit? Black them out without ruining them?

[Daddy Dee]

Congrats on the decorator Cornwalls! They look good and will be excellent candidates for refinishing for truly fine looks.

Bob Crites' woofer would be the most attractive (and effective) option IMO. Eminence builds those woofers for Bob to the same spec as the old K33, before Klipsch changed the spec upon discontinuing the Cornwall. Thus, it is an exact sonic match for the CW. Also, you will love the way they look. If desired, you could recover the price you pay for Bob's woofers by selling the old one's on Ebay. The boxes Bob uses to ship would be handy to ship the originals, too.

I've seen products, (sorry, no specific recommendations) which would spiff up the old ones. One would need to be careful to not add mass to the woofer cone, as this would have an impact on the characteristics of the woofer. Some of these products claim they would not cause this issue.

[Klewless]

If they were mine, I'd just have them re-coned. Not terribly expensive. You might even be able to get black cones to match the horns.

[meagain]

Thanks. I surfed around a bit and actually don't find the prices to be inexpensive. Plus if I found someone, would have to worry about how pristinely they do it. I think it would be more cost effective to buy new and resell mine. Plus it's spring and I have to tend to other worries outside.

I'm also concerned about the trim strips. Boy, it sure looks like they are ON there. I can't even see a point where I could get a thin pry tool under them. God only knows what type of glue was used. For all I know I'd be pulling off a chunk of cabinet with it. Whoever put them on didn't do this 1/2-****d.

[Marvel]

Lisa,
Someone on the forums used a black spray paint of some kind and redid his Heresy woofers (I think they were from Heresys). Incredibly light coat and did not change the sound but made them look great. It was Michael Colter, with help from Michael Hurd:

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/5/587781/ShowThread.aspx

It' s a vinyl spray paint. This opens on page 5, which has some pics. The thread wandered to photography.

There is a guy who did the same thing on the Lansing Heritage forums who did the 123A woofers with a new white, to cover the yellowing. No change in sound and they looked brand new.

Bruce

[johnyholiday]

Colter="Vynil Colter Cone Treatment", if those dust caps are vented don't paint the vent,

[meagain]

EXCELLENT! Marvel - thanks for the link. They look smashing Colter.

I'll probably hurt resale value if I do this and change my mind to go to BEC's.... but heck... you never know. If I do this 'right', they might be perfectly sellable. Or even more so.

Now - I don't suppose there's any way to get the drip parts off first? I guess not. Hopefully, this paint is available at HD. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!

[colterphoto1]

I had to go to auto paint shop. You can look up SEM on Google and there is a tab there to locate your nearest dealer. It's about $10 per can, but mine did 2 12" woofers and I did the cabinet cutout edges (with a lot of masking), and the backs with one can. The part number is on the other thread.

I used a large soft bristle artists brush to remove dust from the woofers first. Since this is a vinyl top 'plastic' coating, it kind of self-seals and primes. I applied a light dust coat first, then two coats at different angles for full coverage.

I didn't even mask off the woofer surrounds. The SEM paint is so flexible, I tested it on a piece of 2" masking tape first. Applied a couple coats, pulled tape from the surface, could not only bend it, but could crinkle it into a ball, unfold and the paint would still be adhering, point is that this paint is very flexible and I don't think hurts the surround or speaker flexibility one bit.

And it's waterproof, if you happen to have naughty kitties around the house.

M

[IndyKlipschFan]

Great post Michael (Colterphoto1)

I will second the end result, they look basically brand new..

If you do the rest be sure you do the bottom of the inside of the Cornwall too so if your looking at the holes in the bottom.. that is a flat black too.. I looks 100% cleaner and well done!!!!

[meagain]

Yea, the inside of the ports look pretty skanky too.

Colter - thanks for posting the info. I would have looked at Home Depot and wasted a trip. I'd do this tomorrow if I didn't have so much on my plate. It might take a few weeks to get to it. Boo.

Does it take long to dry properly? Wondering how much downtime I'll have. I'm using one of these as a center for HT right now and if it needs a day or so to cure, I'll need to plan a bit.

[colterphoto1]

no more than normal spray paint. FIrst, remove all drivers and rough up the openings slightly with Scotchbrite pads

I masked off the inside of the openings with blue tape, pressing firmly in place.

Then make a brown paper 'template' of the openings by pressing paper onto speaker face and running fingers around edges of cutouts, 'marking' their size and location, Fold paper in half, cutout all openings slightly larger than you marked. (about 1/2" on each side larger)

Then place the paper over speaker, use blue tape to attach all edges to face of speaker, overlapping on corners and woofer hole. Use exacto knife to carefully cut out the rounded corners and woofer.

I wrapped more brown paper around the sides and top of speakers, insuring that no overspray would hit the wood veneer.

Spritz on a first 'dust' coat, then two normal coats, allowing for drying time between. Remove all the tape soon after last coat is applied, you should have perfect, deep black edges to all openings.

I'd put new banana jacks in the back panel while the box was opened.

Michael

Michael

[eq_shadimar]

I have been thinking about doing the same thing to my woofers. Some one suggested going to an art supply store and getting some black paper dye (one person even suggested india ink?). This would be almost no weight and absorb right into the paper cone.

Any thoughts on that?

Laters, Jeff

[meagain]

I would think you would want a dusting 'on' the woofer and not something that would absorb into it. That would be like putting water on it.

Colter - I'll have to look into the banana plug jack thing cuz spades don't float my boat. PITA. The cornwalls I bought from Smilin' had Cardas binding post thingies which is very nice. I'll have to study them to learn how to install.

Colter - Do you have pictures of the finished cabinet.

[colterphoto1]

The vinyl spray paint suggested does not 'soak in' instead bonds to the surface. It's tough, light, flexible, and water repellant. Everything you need.

Meagain, there's threads on the posts, but here's what I use . The photo number is the Parts Express catalog number.

[colterphoto1]

here's the edges of the horn section

[colterphoto1]

cones before/after

[colterphoto1]

okay that was before, here's after a couple shots of the SEM paint black satin

[colterphoto1]

Here's the painted backs with new dual banana jacks

[meagain]

Colter - Thanks for the pics.

Anyone have any idea what they used here for a grill for the woofers on this pair?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=9714866733&indexURL=1#ebayphotohosting

[meagain]

Maybe I answered my own question: woofer covers http://www.zzounds.com/item--RAXRSG15