finish on ls50
j allen
Posts: 363
So, I picked up a pair of ls50's listed on the deals of the day sticky. They are overall in pretty good shape. The only thing I absolutely need to do is replace the vinyl on the fronts, as it is peeling and slightly torn.
My real question is: will the finish on the sides and top take a high gloss varnish without any adverse effects? I feel like they would look a lot nicer in my living room if they had a shinier look to them. (I think all electronics should be large, black, and SHINY)
Thanks in advance for any responses. I can migrate over to the vintage forum with this if it's more appropriate.
My real question is: will the finish on the sides and top take a high gloss varnish without any adverse effects? I feel like they would look a lot nicer in my living room if they had a shinier look to them. (I think all electronics should be large, black, and SHINY)
Thanks in advance for any responses. I can migrate over to the vintage forum with this if it's more appropriate.
Post edited by j allen on
Comments
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I'm of no help to you on this topic, but I'm glad to see that you got these speakers. I would have loved to have snagged them, but I'd probably be in the dog house right now...sort of am anyways for buying a new TV and AVR in the last week, but that's besides the point.
Hopefully someone here will be able to give you some good ideas!
Front - Polk Audio Monitor 70
Center - Polk Audio CS2
Rear - Polk Audio TSi 100
Sub - Klipsch rw-10d
AVR - Onkyo ht-rc180
Main Amp- Parasound HCA-2003
Surround Amp- Sonance Sonamp 260
Tuner- Parasound tdq-1600
Turntable- Pro-ject Debut III USB w/upgraded platter
IPod dock - Pure i20
TV - Panasonic Viera tc-p46g10
Sony Playstation 3(250GB)
Nintendo Wii
Power Conditioner- Panamax 5100
Not in use-
Polk Audio Monitor 60
Polk Audio PSW10
Parasound p/sp-1000 -
You should not apply a clear coat finish on top of another clear coat finish unless you know what the original finish is. In this case, I believe the original finish is lacquer. As such, you cannot apply varnish over top of lacquer. Now, as long as the original lacquer is in good condition all one has to do to obtain a high gloss sheen is to use progressively finer polishing compounds such as those made by 3M. You will also need a variable speed buffing machine and the appropriate buffing pads. However, none of this is cheap. It would be more cost effective to have them buffed out by a local refinishing business.
Depending on the original veneer used it may have pores that have not been filled. In that case, buffing the finish to a high gloss sheen will not look very good.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks F1nut. Now that I actually think about it, it certainly makes more since for it to be a lacquer, since it pretty well obscures the color of whatever kind of wood they used underneath it. I half wonder if the previous owner 'touched them up' with a can of black paint, since they tried to hide the damage to the vinyl with electrical tape. (and it [the veneer] seems awfully thick) I suppose I could try to remove the original veneer and replace it with something I could finish however the hell I want. These things sound really nice, so I'm hoping I can get their looks to match it.
And for what it's worth, the manual implies that only the ls90's actually have a good quality veneer that can be polished up nicely. Of course, I could be missing something or reading into things too much there. -
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Update: I'm completely refinishing the things, as I am a sucker for projects that cause me to hurt my fingers. The ones I got have what I would call the cheap finish option (cheesy fake wood-grained black vinyl). At this time, one is completely naked, and the other is about 60% clean. I had to stop and tear down my makeshift workshop because we had company over last night, but I'm hoping to have them both stripped by tomorrow night. I'm going to be ordering some sort of veneer in the next week or so, and I'll put up a new thread with before and after pictures when all is said and done.
As long as they are apart, is there a good 'drop in' replacement for the sl2000 tweeters? They seem in good shape, but just aren't quite as crisp as they could be.
cheers,
j -
Update: I'm completely refinishing the things, as I am a sucker for projects that cause me to hurt my fingers. The ones I got have what I would call the cheap finish option (cheesy fake wood-grained black vinyl). At this time, one is completely naked, and the other is about 60% clean. I had to stop and tear down my makeshift workshop because we had company over last night, but I'm hoping to have them both stripped by tomorrow night. I'm going to be ordering some sort of veneer in the next week or so, and I'll put up a new thread with before and after pictures when all is said and done.
As long as they are apart, is there a good 'drop in' replacement for the sl2000 tweeters? They seem in good shape, but just aren't quite as crisp as they could be.
cheers,
j
LS50's don't have sl2000's. Are you sure that's what is in there? If so, someone put in the wrong tweets. -
ken brydson wrote: »LS50's don't have sl2000's. Are you sure that's what is in there? If so, someone put in the wrong tweets.
You're absolutely correct. I misread the part number on the tweeter. They're SL6000. I think I just read 2000 because I've seen those mentioned a lot on here. Feel free to give me a textual slap to the back of the head
Either way, it still seems like the tweeters don't keep up with the drivers in these guys as far as sound quality is concerned.
