Better looking cabinets?

woodsman10b

Just wanted to get a little feedback from the people who matter most on vintage polks. Here's the question: Would anyone like to have their vintage polks looking better, more elegant and sophisticated? I am in the process of making new cabinets for my vintage Monitor 10b's, I am using the same dimensions as the originals with a few minor alterations. I am an avid woodworking guy, but one of my best friends is a master and of course he is helping me. I love my Polks(i have 9 pairs) and I also have a pair of Mirage speakers that I also enjoy very much, but I love the way they look compared to my polks. They are beautiful if I must say so, even though I love the sound of most of my polks better. Ive never been a fan of the wood veneer finish of the vintage Polks and that is why I am doing this.

Let me know what you think.

skrol

Sounds fun. Please keep us updated with photos of the project as it progresses.

rengnath

As long as you get the cabinets for your monitor 10's air tight and use the same dimensions it should be nothing less than a huge improvement. I wish they wouldve used a more "real" looking wood veneer on the monitor series. I would really like a pair in black oak to match the rest of my system. If I couldve known I would like these speakers in highschool, I wouldve bought them sooner and make new cabinets for them in my wood shop class. I was going to just paint the current veneer black but they would probably look worse than having mismaching colors in my system. Good luck and please keep us updated with pics and info from your project.

BIZILL

i believe this is a gauge of interest in OP selling new cabs?

inspiredsports

BIZILL wrote: »

i believe this is a gauge of interest in OP selling new cabs?

Sounds logical. With his 9 pairs, it's truly amazing he just found CP 4 posts ago

cnh

Am I wrong in assuming that using pure wood is a problem that interferes with the acoustical properties of speakers, hence few cabinets are ever true wood cabinets but usually veneers?

cnh

inspiredsports

cnh wrote: »

Am I wrong in assuming that using pure wood is a problem that interferes with the acoustical properties of speakers, hence few cabinets are ever true wood cabinets but usually veneers?

cnh

Pure wood has a high percentage of natural variation in density, strength, grain, color etc. making it less than desirable when homogenous quality control is desired.

Even when used cosmetically, problems arise. The real wood "glued up" end caps on some of the most expensive Polk SRS 1 and 2 models separated and warped over time. This movement, especially on the bottom cap, wreaks havoc with proper soundstage alignment.

Face

cnh wrote: »

Am I wrong in assuming that using pure wood is a problem that interferes with the acoustical properties of speakers, hence few cabinets are ever true wood cabinets but usually veneers?

cnh

Cabinet grade Birch and MDF are usually the choice materials for speaker cabinets.

woodsman10b

Actually I had an old username but I could not remember what it was or the password, and I dont use the old email address any longer, so i created a new one for ease.

woodsman10b

Face wrote: »

Cabinet grade Birch and MDF are usually the choice materials for speaker cabinets.

My plan was to use MDO, with keeping the consistancy and density but also gaining a nice woodgrain finish to work with, i think this will work well. If anyone knows different please let me know. And if anyone has any tips of what glue works best, that would be appreciated.

Face

Elmers wood glue or Titebond wood glue. Do NOT use Gorilla glue.

SolidSqual

BIZILL wrote: »

i believe this is a gauge of interest in OP selling new cabs?

I think someone once said there is no better compliment than for someone to copy your design. Can this guy copy it and make it better for a reasonable amount of money? If someone could and if I had the balls to let them do it, I'd love to have my Emmys finished in wood instead of covered in fabric.

woodsman10b

BIZILL wrote: »

i believe this is a gauge of interest in OP selling new cabs?

ummmm... enlighten me with OP, i am not familiar with that abbreviation.:o

comfortablycurt

woodsman10b wrote: »

ummmm... enlighten me with OP, i am not familiar with that abbreviation.:o

OP=Original Poster. Consider yourself enlightened.


I'm interested to see how this works out for ya if you decide to try it.

nfa_Kbc

Better cabinets are always a plus compared to many of the factory polk pieces.

woodsman10b

SolidSqual wrote: »

I think someone once said there is no better compliment than for someone to copy your design. Can this guy copy it and make it better for a reasonable amount of money? If someone could and if I had the balls to let them do it, I'd love to have my Emmys finished in wood instead of covered in fabric.

Im not sure about the reasonable amount of money part:(, but for me it will be worth the time and effort(and me supplying the beer:D). As far as my friends abilities I am not worried at all in that respect, his work is the best ive ever seen. If you have ever heard the old saying 'jack of all and master of none', well in his case he is the 'jack of all and master of one!' the one obviously being woodwork. Up here among the lakes and woods of northern wisconsin we have alot of Chicago based top executives who want the best of everything for their summer homes, and anytime they need anything done hes the one they seek out.

John30_30

inspiredsports wrote: »

Pure wood has a high percentage of natural variation in density, strength, grain, color etc. making it less than desirable when homogenous quality control is desired.

Even when used cosmetically, problems arise. The real wood "glued up" end caps on some of the most expensive Polk SRS 1 and 2 models separated and warped over time. This movement, especially on the bottom cap, wreaks havoc with proper soundstage alignment.

That's a bit ingenuous, considering there are hundreds of species used in cabinet making.
If you're worried about variation, you can't do better than the honduran mahogany Jstas's dad used on those Shaker end tables. Be prepared to lay out a few bills for lumber, though.

As far as Polk's oak endcaps, I suspect their contractor might have gone on the cheap and used flash-dried lumber. That's exactly what you get- separation and warping.

I'm not coming out rah-rah in favor of using real wood on speaker cabs, but
I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. You look at antique tables or chests a few hundred years old and see if there's separation or warping.

inspiredsports

John30_30 wrote: »

That's a bit ingenuous, considering there are hundreds of species used in cabinet making.
If you're worried about variation, you can't do better than the honduran mahogany Jstas's dad used on those Shaker end tables. Be prepared to lay out a few bills for lumber, though.

As far as Polk's oak endcaps, I suspect their contractor might have gone on the cheap and used flash-dried lumber. That's exactly what you get- separation and warping.

I'm not coming out rah-rah in favor of using real wood on speaker cabs, but
I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. You look at antique tables or chests a few hundred years old and see if there's separation or warping.

Whatever, I brokered hardwoods from 1984 to 1992.

In the real world, most won't import honduran mahogany to build speaker cabinets, especially as it becomes more scarce. Also at a specific gravity of .64 (mdf goes up to .80), it's a lot more expensive way to get the stability of a manufactured product.

In the real world, not the esoteric world, mdf with veneer will be used. In the esoteric world, yes, wood is beautiful and desireable.

John30_30

inspiredsports wrote: »

Whatever, I brokered hardwoods from 1984 to 1992.

In the real world, most won't import honduran mahogany to build speaker cabinets, especially as it becomes more scarce. Also at a specific gravity of .64 (mdf goes up to .80), it's a lot more expensive way to get the stability of a manufactured product.

In the real world, not the esoteric world, mdf with veneer will be used. In the esoteric world, yes, wood is beautiful and desireable.

whatever. I inhaled enough MDF dust in my lungs and sinuses I'll never cut another sheet, even though all I do anymore is funstuff projects. I don't care if it is stable, it's glue and trash. So's particle board.

In the real world, cabinet and furniture makers were and are craftsmen and artisans who've learned to accomodate the variations of wood long before there was manufactured substrate.
I don't care how many carloads of lumber you sold, ever build anything?

In the real world, they're farming mahogany on plantations. Plus they've got eucalyptus plantations, which is a very passable substitute, plentiful and cheaper.

Solid lumber speakers? I don't recommend it. It's nuts, but I know there's beautiful nutjob woodworkers that build them, and God love them, you should look through some of those Fine Woodworking Specials.
I'd be fine using 5-ply, solid caps and edging with no problem.

gdb

Never seen any Shaker pieces built with anything other than good old American hard & softwoods.....(maple, birch, pine etc.)

Zen Dragon

Woodsman. I also own multiple pairs of the original monitor and sda series. I have also been considering rebuilding the cabinets on some vintage 10B's.
There has been discussion in the past, and I believe agreement from Matt Polk (the designer) that there is some minor undesireable acoustical affect from having the 6" mids side by side. If I ever get around to rebuilding my cabinets I was considering changing the driver array to mount the 6"drivers verticle to each other instead of side by side. If for nothing else just to see if there is a discernable difference in the sound. I was going to slightly increase the height of the cabinet but decrease the width keeping the overall volumetric dimension the same.
Most schools of thought agree that MDF is an excellent cabinet material becuse it is fairly non resonant. I was considering going with say a 1/2" MDF and then maybe putting a 1/2" hardwood over the top which would be stained/varnished as necessary for the final finish.
Just my thoughts.
Good Luck

2turbos

I did a pair of Advent utilities up in clear maple veneer with a clear ackrylic.
The grille cloth was 14 TPI blue burlap. They turned out great. I didn't want to have another pair of dark speakers.

I have a set of empty 7b cabinets I'm thinking about doing in light teak with an oil finish.Maybe do the grilles in orange or dark brown cloth.
I'll try to post pics of the Advents when I get back to my other computer.

You can really improve the look when you veneer the cabinets with real wood. They look like furniture! You can do the front panel in the same wood so they look great with the grilles off.

2turbos

Here are pics of the Advents attached.

woodsman10b

2turbos wrote: »

I did a pair of Advent utilities up in clear maple veneer with a clear ackrylic.
The grille cloth was 14 TPI blue burlap. They turned out great. I didn't want to have another pair of dark speakers.

I have a set of empty 7b cabinets I'm thinking about doing in light teak with an oil finish.Maybe do the grilles in orange or dark brown cloth.
I'll try to post pics of the Advents when I get back to my other computer.

You can really improve the look when you veneer the cabinets with real wood. They look like furniture! You can do the front panel in the same wood so they look great with the grilles off.

2turbos- those Advents look like they turned out real nice, do you recall what glue you used, and what kind of wood did you use for the inside of the cabs?

2turbos

What I did was remove the vinyl covering from the original mdf cabinet with a heat gun.
Then veneered with the maple. The adhesive I used for the veneer was contact cement. I repaired a banged up corner or two with green fibreglas body filler.
Use a roller to roll the bubbles out of the adhesive when attaching the veneer.
There are some veneers that use a heat activated adhesive, so use a hot iron to apply. $2 at goodwill.

woodsman10b

2turbos wrote: »

What I did was remove the vinyl covering from the original mdf cabinet with a heat gun.
Then veneered with the maple. The adhesive I used for the veneer was contact cement. I repaired a banged up corner or two with green fibreglas body filler.
Use a roller to roll the bubbles out of the adhesive when attaching the veneer.
There are some veneers that use a heat activated adhesive, so use a hot iron to apply. $2 at goodwill.

some good tips to know, thanx for the info. will be starting the project next weekend and im looking forward to it

comfortablycurt

woodsman10b wrote: »

some good tips to know, thanx for the info. will be starting the project next weekend and im looking forward to it

Sounds good...Keep us updated. I can't wait to see how this turns out for you.

Boywonder

woodsman10b wrote: »

some good tips to know, thanx for the info. will be starting the project next weekend and im looking forward to it

I veneered my monitor 10b's last year; here is the link if you are interested:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61901&highlight=veneering+monitor

woodsman10b

Boywonder wrote: »

I veneered my monitor 10b's last year; here is the link if you are interested:

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61901&highlight=veneering+monitor

WOW Awesome Job Mr. Wonder, Do they still look the same a year later as they did in the final photos, or did you do some final touches. Any problems with any of the gluing to mention or has it all held up well? Thanx for the step by step.

Face

woodsman10b wrote: »

WOW Awesome Job Mr. Wonder, Do they still look the same a year later as they did in the final photos, or did you do some final touches. Any problems with any of the gluing to mention or has it all held up well? Thanx for the step by step.

Contact cement holds up very well.

Boywonder

woodsman10b wrote: »

WOW Awesome Job Mr. Wonder, Do they still look the same a year later as they did in the final photos, or did you do some final touches. Any problems with any of the gluing to mention or has it all held up well? Thanx for the step by step.

They are holding up well. I've used contact cement for veneering with good success and PVA glue. This project was my first attempt using PVA glue and a household iron. IIRC, I had better luck with type II PVA glue than type 1.