Re-veneered CRS+'s are in the house!!!
nspindel
Posts: 5,343
While everyone was busy partying at Polk Fest, some of us were doing some work! :cheesygrin:
I have to say, these came out even better than I thought they would. I'm going to put up another thread after I do the final assembly (still waiting on the Dueland resistors) but I couldn't wait that long to show these off! A world of thanks to my brother-in-law, he is the wizard of woodworking. Brought these out to his wood shop yesterday, and he did an amazing job. He's got the skills, and he's got the tools. We used his planer, drill press, table saw, laser-guided chop saw, router, biscuit joiner, and an array of hand tools.
The first pic shows the raw pressboard cabinets after I did some bondo repair work on them, after botching up the removal of the old veneer. But all's well that ends well, as you can see in the two later photos. The pics came out a bit bright with the flash, I'll try to take some better ones when I do the final build. I'm showing one with the grill on, one with the grill off so you can see the trim piece and edge banding. These were done in maple, I'm going to hit them with 220-grit sandpaper, and then three coats of tung oil. No stain. Hoping those Duelands arrive very soon, and are singing for me next week!
I have to say, these came out even better than I thought they would. I'm going to put up another thread after I do the final assembly (still waiting on the Dueland resistors) but I couldn't wait that long to show these off! A world of thanks to my brother-in-law, he is the wizard of woodworking. Brought these out to his wood shop yesterday, and he did an amazing job. He's got the skills, and he's got the tools. We used his planer, drill press, table saw, laser-guided chop saw, router, biscuit joiner, and an array of hand tools.
The first pic shows the raw pressboard cabinets after I did some bondo repair work on them, after botching up the removal of the old veneer. But all's well that ends well, as you can see in the two later photos. The pics came out a bit bright with the flash, I'll try to take some better ones when I do the final build. I'm showing one with the grill on, one with the grill off so you can see the trim piece and edge banding. These were done in maple, I'm going to hit them with 220-grit sandpaper, and then three coats of tung oil. No stain. Hoping those Duelands arrive very soon, and are singing for me next week!
Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
Post edited by nspindel on
Comments
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I like them! The maple gives them a more contemporary look. Good work!SRS 3.1TL
Harman Kardon Citation 5.1
Anthem AVM2 -
Wait till they're oiled, the grain will pop a lot more then when they're raw wood as they are now.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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Those look spectacular !!! You might want to "re-think" the oil treatment and consider a high solids coating like poly/lacquer/etc. After a while oiled stuff just sorta looks dirty(IMO). Dispose of any tung oil rags CAREFULLY, they'll burn yer house down to the ground if you don't ! :eek:
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Nice job, nspindel, they look great so far! When your pics are clicked on and blown up, the wood grain really comes out. That oiling that you have yet to do will really be the start of their new life! Well done....will be nice to see the final product. :biggrin:
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Looking very nice.
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Not knowing speakers too good, but in the furniture business a long time, so right you are!!Those look spectacular !!! You might want to "re-think" the oil treatment and consider a high solids coating like poly/lacquer/etc. After a while oiled stuff just sorta looks dirty(IMO). Dispose of any tung oil rags CAREFULLY, they'll burn yer house down to the ground if you don't ! :eek:"if it's not fun, it's not worth it & remember folks, "It's All About The Music"!!
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Looking great!
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Wow those are really great looking! On a woodworking scale of 1-10 how difficult is a job like that? What tools are needed?
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It wasn't overly difficult, but I was still happy to sit back and let my brother-in-law do all the real work. He didn't use a flush-cut bit in a router to trim the veneer, he used a special edge trimming blade that worked extremely well. The trick was to work the blade with the grain, otherwise it would split along the grain line. The edge banding was easy, you just iron it on and trim. Fabricating the bottom trim piece required truing the maple board to desired thickness with a planar, cutting it to length with the chop saw, rounding it with the router, and then ripping it to correct width with the table saw. He then used his biscuit joiner to attach the trim to the speaker.
Let's put it this way, I watched the entire 5-hour process, and was the "hold it still" helper. Now that I thoroughly understand exactly what it took to do this work, I'd still prefer a skilled woodworker to do it, I wouldn't be confident enough to embark on this myself. But if you know someone who has the tools and the skills, it's a very doable job.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
Correct me if I'm wrong here, I know nothing about finishing wood. But my understanding is that lacquer is quite an involved process. I don't have a sprayer, nor the confidence to use one. So a brush lacquer would mean a thinned base coat, then several coats following, then buffing, and waxing. If there's ever any damage in years to come, the repair job becomes quite involved to get a consistent finish. With oil, I think I would just sand a bit and apply more oil. If the oil finish does become dirty over the years, can I not just hit it with a light sanding and apply more oil?Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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Neil - those look great!
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Thanks for the compliments guys! After a nice SDA journey over the years, I am planning on settling into these being the speakers for life!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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WOW! Those are phenomenal! Where did you get the laminate? How much did you get? Help a brother out! I want to do mine, now I know I'll have a woodworker do it. We have some good cabinet makers here who might be able to do mine.
Really, those turned out awesome!Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe -
I got to hear a pair of CRS at Stu's house and was very impressed. I would have a hard time passing up a pair if I ever get a chance to p/u locally.
I really like what you have done w/yours. Very nice. Plus I have a couple of friends who are cabinet makers etc.I got static in my head
The reflected sound of everything -
WOW! Those are phenomenal! Where did you get the laminate? How much did you get? Help a brother out! I want to do mine, now I know I'll have a woodworker do it. We have some good cabinet makers here who might be able to do mine.
Really, those turned out awesome!
I just got the veneer, edge banding, and solid maple for the trim pieces from a local woodworking shop here in CT, I didn't order it online. One 24" x 96" sheet was more than enough for these little guys.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance. -
cool, thanks for the info, the sheet size is very helpful. There is a lot online to find!Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe
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Online is great if you're looking for something exotic and hard to find. My wife didn't want any exotic grain, she just wanted basic maple. I found a shop less than ten miles from home that had it.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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The CRS+ is 10 3/8" deep, so with a 24" x 96" sheet, you can cut it in half lengthwise and end up with 12" x 192". 12" was fine to cover the 10 3/8" depth and then trim. They are 20" wide and 12 3/4" high, obviously with a total of four pieces of each of those sizes. That's a total of 131" needed, plus extra to trim away. So the 24" x 96" is more than plenty. If you can find 12" sheets life will be even a bit easier.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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I did the oil treatment for a few weeks then followed by tung oil on my srs2's, it turned out very well. Plus like you said if you want to change it later you can quite easily. I don't find that mine look dirty at all, it's very easy to do a quick rag or even hand wipe and it shines like new while maintaining the natural wood look and shine.
That maple is beautiful. The only thing I could get "local" would be palm or seagrape, neither of which would be good for woodworking.Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe -
Palm speakers would be pretty cool for listening to Jimmy Buffett, though!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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how thick/thin is your veneer? just curious. There's plenty of Jimmy Buffet coming through my speakers as it is! We don't go gaga over Jimmy Buffet here, but we do quietly enjoy the music while living the life style. He's a pretty nice guy actually, and a country music fan. He used to write music critic reviews for country bands in New Orleans.Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe
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I believe the veneer was 1/32", don't recall off-hand.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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perfect, that's helpful too. I know there are some thick veneers and thin ones, so I didn't know just how far one way or another to go.Polk Audio SDA CRS+ crossover 4.1TL by Trey/VR3 (Rings and custom stand by Larry)-Polk Audio SDA SRS2 crossovers by Trey/VR3Parasound HCA1500aYamaha rxa-3070 with musicast-Celestion SL6S presence,- sl9 surround backNHTsuper1's surroundMagnepan SMGParasound 1500pre- Sofia "Baby" tube amp - Monitor Audio Silver RX2 Marantz 2230/B&Kst140Technics 1200mk2 Gamertag: IslandBerserker I am but a infinitesimally small point meeting the line of infinity in the SDA universe
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Very nice work,love the maple.
Dan -
Very nice work! Love seeing these classics get a make-over.Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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Just got an email from Tania at pcx that the Dueland resistors have arrived from Denmark. Unfortunately, it seems they didn't make them with the long leads even though that's what was ordered. She's going to ship them to me and if I can't make them work she'll have Dueland expedite the correct ones. Hopefully with the adjustment that Tony told me about, I should be able to get the ones with standard leads mounted ok. Hopefully I'll have these up and running next week!Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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Great looking job. Thank you for posting.
-Saftgeek -
Those turned out great! Really makes them look modern
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Did they have vinyl or real wood veneer originally?
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Oh man!! those are just beautiful!!:biggrin:POLK SDA 2.3 TLS BOUGHT NEW IN 1990, Gimpod/Sonic Caps/Mills RDO-198
POLK CSI-A6 POLK MONITOR 70'S ONKYO TX NR-808 SONY CDP-333ES
PIONEER PL-510A SONY BDP S5100
POLK SDA 1C BOUGHT USED 2011,Gimpod/Sonic Caps/Mills RDO-194
ONKYO HT RC-360 SONY BDP S590 TECHNICS SL BD-1
