How to Restore Speakers with Wood Veneer
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2024
- I have some old floor standing speakers that were in pretty bad shape. The vinyl was bubbling and peeling and the speaker grill cloth was in terrible shape, but they still sounded good! They have been in my family since I was a kid and mean a lot to me so I decided to restore them using walnut veneer. Watch along to see how I did it and to learn how you can restore your speakers!
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Resources:
Speaker Grill Cloth Install Video: • How to Replace Speaker...
Disclaimer: The following contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of the links, I may receive a small commission (at no cost to you) that I can use to feed the platypus. And it’s always hungry.
Materials I Used:
(most products will be available at your local home improvement store)
Walnut Veneer: amzn.to/3uJ3rBi
Wood Glue: amzn.to/3sxfQW8
Tack Cloth: amzn.to/3gCrPw4
Wipe-On Polyurethane (Satin): amzn.to/3HMtH19
Speaker Grill Cloth (Black): amzn.to/3Bf3WEd
Speaker Cloth Adhesive: amzn.to/3Jmy2Zu
Hammered Machine Finish Paint (Silver): www.lowes.com/pd/Rust-Oleum-S...
Superglue: amzn.to/3oCOk8D
Felt Furniture Feet: amzn.to/3JgBiW0
Speaker Wire: amzn.to/3gLM6iF
Tools I Used:
(in order of appearance in the video)
Ratcheting Screwdriver: amzn.to/3E5tT95
Heat Gun: amzn.to/33dHFKr
Plastic Pry Tools: amzn.to/3HRcNyI
Putty Knife: amzn.to/3aprSbf
Utility Knife: amzn.to/33ZcT56
Router: amzn.to/3sEjgpm
Flush Trim Router Bit: amzn.to/3synjo3
Router Offset Base: amzn.to/3uIehY1
Random Orbital Sander: amzn.to/35Uluam
Sanding Discs (120, 150 Grit): amzn.to/2W2PBak
Scraper: amzn.to/3JjP8XQ
Brayer Roller: amzn.to/3H9gik6
Clothes Iron (any iron will do, but don’t ever use on clothes after!)
Centerpunch: amzn.to/3gBNBPM
Portable Drill: amzn.to/3qxstxH
Sanding Sticks: amzn.to/3JlkehH
Awl: amzn.to/3GHFiNB
Hot Glue Gun: amzn.to/369G2yH
Wire Stripper: amzn.to/3GK4SBV
- As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Music:
www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
Chapters:
0:00 Intro and History of the Speakers
0:44 Taking the Speaker Apart
2:28 Prepping the Speaker for Veneer
3:37 Gluing on the Veneer
8:22 Finishing the Wood Veneer
8:52 Replacing the Speaker Grill Cloth
10:56 Making New Speaker Grill Logos
12:27 Putting the Speaker Back Together
14:11 Doing My Best Mime Impression - Goodbye! 
Хобби
I've never attempted this side of speaker repair but I can honestly say that this video really gives me the confidence to try!
Speaker building and restoration is fun. I'm in my 70's and waiting for some caps to get here so that I can freshen up a pair of BIC Venturi's I built cabinets for back in the 80's.
I pretty much never comment on videos but this was exquisite. Detailed, informative and paced perfectly.
Thank you!
You're welcome! Appreciate the comment
I think this video was an awesome tutorial on speaker restoration! I also think the production / editing values are very high - something I know about from my career in film! It was fun to watch and learn from and VERY inspiring. I think Bill is a very multi-talented young man.
Thanks Ari for the kind words!
Now upgrade the crossover and add new wire inside 🙋♂🙋♂
The best restoration video I’ve seen so far
I do this for a living and have to say you’ve done a cracking job and exactly as I’ve been doing it for over a decade now. You can use a power sander on the veneer but only with light pressure. You’re better applying the veneer a little sooner whilst the glue is slightly moist and be careful how long the iron is applied for as excess heat destroys the glue which might initially stick but can provide a poor bond and fail with too much heat. Use a wooden block to move out from the centre to edges, removing air bubbles and also taking the heat out of the glue causing it to grab. Great job overall👍
Thanks for the tips! Stuff like that is super helpful
can i use b7000 for the cloth glue?
@@StagnantMizu yes, of course. With care, you can also use hot met (sparingly applied) for polyester fine weave for things like grille cloth edge fixings. Best of luck with your projects. Always sensible to try new methods/glues on a test sample first👍
Thank you for this video. I need to recover some mdf bookshelf speakers and this is the perfect guide for me. And I now have an excuse to buy more implements of destruction (router and heat gun).
My toxic trade is that I think I can do this on my own LOL
I believe in you
Why doesn’t this have more views? I never thought of dressing up items like this with veneer but the idea really opens a realm of possibilities
Published the video earlier today so you're one of the first to see it!
This was absolutely fantastic to watch. You orchestrated the video perfectly. So much so, that I will be trying to duplicate your handiwork with a couple of Bose 301 speakers whose vinyl had peeled away. I greatly appreciate all your links as I was greatly interested in the router offset base. Bravo for truly a great video. Ciao, Rocco
Awesome! Let me know if you have any questions when you're working on your speakers
That was a really well done make over. Nice touch with the painters tape too. Thanks for sharing :0)
You did an amazing job, they look awesome! I also think the lighter veneer makes them look more modern. Black wood veneer was all the rage in 90s speakers.
It's always funny looking at back at what was in style in the past. Wondering what's in style today that people will wonder in 10 years why the heck did we ever like that?? My guess is gray wood floors
well done. old is gold if maintained like this.
Amazing job - so well edited and a professional outcome.
Thanks!
Dude.... I'm so proud of you. That was excellent, excellent work.
Thank you! Appreciate the compliment
wow, they turned out pretty good 👍🏻
He’s pretty damn handy with that router. I own one, but I’ve never learned how to use it properly. This video makes me think I need to start practicing!
When it comes to subscription you had me at "Hey there, i'm Bill". Totally made my day. Cheers!
Thanks for the video, nice explanation about applying the new grill cloth
You're welcome!
REALLY good video! Take pictures of the wiring lol, excellent advice. Nice job matching grain and even steaming to hydrate and raise out the router bit denting. I like the wood glue/tack up idea over contact cement, more flexible realignment/open-time window. And, possibly even adhesion over your radius at the edge. Great video.
Can't begin to count how many times I've started a project without taking pictures and the forgotten how it went back together when I got to the end
Great job! It looks really great! Congratulations!
Thanks!
This is pusing me to do the same on my Cerwin Vega AT-12's, they're a bit busted on the back so I'll be repairing that. You my sir got a new subscriber.
You did an excellent job and an even better run through. Thanks subscribed
Excellent piece of work.
Thanks! I'm really happy with how they turned out
Great job. You're a patient guy.
Thanks! Didn't used to be. I've learned what it takes to get the results I want
Great video, very detailed. They look awesome! I just bought a pair of vintage Sansui speakers and want to refinish them. The old veneer is peeling.
How bad is the veneer peeling? If it's not bad you could use a glue shringe to inject wood glue underneath, wait for it to tack up some and then iron it like in the video
And beautiful work!!
Beautiful job they came out awesome great job
Thanks!
Nice job! I especially appreciate the fix for router roller guide scars.
I was pretty proud of being able to fix those!
Very nice. Helping a friend refinish some Klipsch and you’ve got a great example to follow!
Awesome! Glad the video was helpful
Excellent job! Well done
Thanks!
The average folk can’t do this , LOL! Amazing job! Safe to say you’re a craftsman!
Nice project, lovely results, lessons learned! :)
Thanks!
They look really cheap speakers though.
I received a pair of similar looking speakers a couple years ago. A co-worker offered them to me for free, or else he was going tho throw them away, as he was tired of moving them around. I brought them home, re covered the grills, looked into the brand as I hadn't heard of B&W's before. Turned out that Bowers & Wilkins are high end speakers made in England, and he had just given me an $1,800 pair of them, plus a center channel B&W and two Paradigm surround speakers . They are hands down the best sounding speaker I've ever owned!
That's awesome! Glad they didn't get thrown out
Nice video! Rarely do I see someone turn black speakers to brown. In my experience, it's way more common (and much easier) for people to turn their old brown laminated speakers to black or other color. Spray paint is the most popular option. A 2-tone paint job can also make the speakers look pretty impressive.
Yeah, a lot of those brown laminated speakers haven't aged well at all. I think the walnut veneer is pretty timeless
Awesome build my friend
Thanks!
Awesome im going to do some speakers that are super rare but are in need of a restoration you inspired bro thanks
Love to hear that. Good luck restoring your speakers! Let me know if you have any questions
Great job. Really enjoyed this video. Thank you!
Appreciate it!
Nicely done. Exactly what I needed to see. I was mentally stuck on how to veneer the lip on the front. Your idea of shaving it off with a flush trim is money.
Awesome! Glad the video could help
Vary well done I will try this Bill thanks for doing this I appreciate it Ray
You're welcome!
I have some Klipsch La Scala's that need to be veneered. Apparently, from the seller, I rescued them from a college dorm/band practice space. Your video gave me the confidence to give it a shot. Thanks!
That's an awesome find! Let me know if you have any questions
@@ProjectBilld I actually do have one question after finding the veneer I need. Is it normally expensive? It's almost $100 for a 4x8 sheet of white birch veneer and I need 3 sheets 😟
That seems like a pretty reasonable cost to me. Definitely not cheap but when you consider the cost of those speakers it hurts a little less
@@ProjectBilld that is true! And it'll increase the value when I put them up for sale. This was a project I wanted to take on and I also wanted to see what they sounded like 😉 thanks for your help!
Great video. I wish everyone was good at explaining important steps
Thanks!
Those look amazing! Such a well laid out video with good instructions.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the video
Excellent! Thank you for the great video
You're welcome!
Beautiful work..I’m starting the same project soon!..Thank you sir!
You're welcome! Good luck with your speaker restoration
Great video. Congrats on a super refresh for those speakers. I'm about to do this with a new pair that I'm building. They 48x17x12 so a decent sized box. Going to do white oak for the veneer over the plywood. Anyway great video!
You're welcome! I bet those speakers are going to be awesome
Really nice job 👍
Thanks!
Very nice!
This is so good to to learn, if you don’t mind some DYI.
amazing work
Thanks!
Great job ! :) I would share more shoots after restoration just to show how nice it is. BTW i restored similar Sony speakers today 🙃
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words and suggestions. Enjoy your restored speakers!
Great Job and video
Thanks!
Honestly, really underrated speakers
I certainly agree! They sound much better than I'd expect given the cheap internals
Fantastic finish, looks much better than the original!
Thank you! It was a fun project
Nice job!
Thanks!
Nice work!
Thanks!
That was satisfying. Great work!
Very impressive!!
Thanks!
Awsome job
Thanks!
Nice work.
Thanks!
Excellent
One thing to consider when doing this is to replace the speaker grill fasteners with magnetic ones. They work better and give a cleaner look as they would sit behind the veneer.
That's a good tip, thanks!
Good job and thank you! I subs!
Great video!!!
Thanks!
Nice video, good job, much nicer now.
With relatively little tools achieve great results.
There’s something in me wanting to comment on missing a chance an easy sound quality upgrade as well, exchanging and adding components and dampening. But thats not the essence of the project, and anyone watching can fill that in themselves.
Wow nice Job
Thanks!
Nice. Job
Perfect!!
Well done
Thanks!
Thanks!
Good Job Bro👍
Thanks!
nice job!
Thanks!
Seeing this speakers disassembled I can say those are some high quality speakers. Just the crossover itself is a work of art. and that inert baffle, internal bracing and damping. Joy to see. Great job on the veneering though. Educational.
Internal bracing is important on a lot of speakers but I don't think it is so important on tower speakers where the sides are very narrow. Simply would not make that much difference. Yes the drivers were cheap but perhaps they still sounded good. the first order crossovers only for the tweeters is typical for inexpensive speakers. inductors significantly increase production cost. If they were mine I would do a test with a calibrated microphone on the woofers then the tweeters and most likely build a second order crossover. I would not say that baffle is inert I am sure it was sized accordingly. This guy is a good craftsman and did a great job on this project. He never claimed to know a lot about crossovers. He preserved these speakers as a family heirloom. He can always upgrade the drivers and crossover later if needed.
Not really, very cheap wood used.
Wow, you really improved on the look of these!
Would be quite easy to improve the sound of these too by building a crossover for it, upgrade it's internal wiring and treating the cabinet with some more dampening material. For something like this, some bitumen on the panels covered with rockwool would do quite well without costing a lot I'd say.
For the crossover; No need to use expensive high end filmcaps for something like this. Just a simple 3 way LR2 network with some cheap NPE's and some inexpensive inductors would be a massive improvement in comparisson to a speaker that just uses two caps as a first order high pass filter.
To decide on crossover frequency you just run a few sweeps in its current form and measure the drivers in REW.
Don't get me wrong, it will never be a audiophile speaker, but good gains can be made with not too much effort and money I think.
Thanks for the info! I'll definitely be revisiting this comment if I decide to do any internal work to the speakers
Since the speaker doesn't have a proper midrange, but essentially two tweeters, the frequency response of them will never match properly. Not worth investing in a measurement set up for this. They will sound ok-ish, no matter what. Bass and treble is present anyhow, and they will never have good midrange or flat frequency response. Unless the tweeter cone driver is replaced by a larger midrange, which will need a sealed compartment behind it. Overall - too much work for someone who I guess is inexperienced in electrical and acoustical engineering and too much money to be spent.
Adding some damping material is a good idea though.
Great job veneers are awesome Maybe later you should upgrade the drivers and crossovers
Thanks! Down the line at some point I'd like to do that
Damn good video. Thank you.
You're welcome!
...a very good job....
Thanks!
Those cheap Sonys look like a million bucks now! Great job!
I love how they turned out
Definitely look better without the speaker grill cloth! Awesome job!
Thanks! I'm sure eventually where there are small children running around here I'll have to put them back on haha but for now, no grills!
Молодец, красиво получилось👍
Great job!!!
Nice video.
Thanks!
I was looking through YT on how to veneer speakers, because I have some black speakers from the 90's and early 2000's, I was surprised to see a video on the exact speakers I have! I bought them in the early 2000's from Fry's, and they were cheap. However, they sound better than they should. They are worth veneering IMO, if not just for practice! I was surprised to see cast woofer frames. Now that I've seen inside these, I'd probably upgrade the wiring a bit (I think 16AWG would be plenty on these) and maybe consider a 12db crossover (maybe not, these are engineered this way, may not be an improvement). I use my Sony towers with lower power Pioneer SX-636 receiver, so it'd be cool to use walnut veneer and brownish/tan speaker grill cloth to match the SX.....
Sounds like you've found your next project haha
How flexible did you find this veneer to be?
I’m considering it for dynamic curves on vehicle interior trim pieces.
What methods do you think could be used to soften it for molding around curves?
It's fairly flexible. I know down to about a half inch radius is doable as long as the grain is oriented correctly, I'm not sure smaller than that. If the curve is very small and you find the the veneer cracking you could try a veneer softener/tamer. I've never used one but that would be my next step.
Well done. A follow vid could include building a 2nd or 3rd order xover and adding some internal bracing or batting to improve the sound.
Thanks! That's definitely a possibility at some point
dont forget to mask up with mdf its toxic,great video im about to restore a bunch of speakers soon,make shure your capacitors are ok to they go bad over time....
I do need to do a better job wearing a dust mask! Particularly with mdf
I have no use for this information as far as I know, but I was transfixed regardless. I think I could do this too!
That's awesome! I think it's a pretty approachable project, not too many tools needed which is nice
Should have upgraded the crossover components, binding posts and wires too! Great job.
I considered it, but it's not something I know much about yet and didnt want to spend the time figuring it out at that point
Good
nice
Are you sure this was your first restoration?? You did a great job.
First time doing a speaker restoration and using wood veneer. And thanks!
Nice 😄😄😄😄
I did this with JBL 4312b's. The new oak veneer ended up looking better than anything from the factory.
How did you use the trim router, without cutting the veneer already attached, like you did the bottom first, then the sides, wouldn’t the bottom get cut by the router bit? I tried it and that’s what happened to mine
If you're using a flush trim bit, it shouldnt be able to cut past whatever surface the bearing is up against. But I've seen some cheaper bits where the cutting blade is actually a slightly larger diameter than the bearing and cuts past. I'd check that and get a better bit if that's the case
maaaaaan. That looks so good. Can I send my speakers to you for veneering?
Only if you want me to keep them 😁
Interesting, never seen this method done this way. Any reason you went with wood glue instead of contact cement?
Yeah, I didn't know how well contact cement would work on the curved edges of the speaker and I had to realign the veneer a few times to get the grain patterns to line up and I didn't want to even try messing around with contact cement for that
Great work 👏
Thanks!
would b7000 work as adhesive? for the cloth
If the vynl wrap is in like new condition is it possible to apply the veneer on top ? Without taking it off.
I don't know. My instinct is that it's a bad idea and you might damage the vinyl adhesive when applying the veneer. Probably would work ok if you used a peel and stick veneer, but I've never worked with that type so again, not sure.
can you do this if you don't have a flush trim bit, is there another way to get some clean corners
Yeah you could trim all the veneer with a utility knife like I did in the video where the flush trim bit couldn't get close enough due to the rounded corner of the speaker
@@ProjectBilld perfect I'll give it a go thanks a mill 👍