I had a pair of meadowlarks with this problem, I agre it is a bit irritating... |
FWIW - we remodeled our kitchen in cherry. Depending on the tree and layer of wood used there are going to be differences in how it accepts stain. I'd say, don't sweat it...but I'm no wood expert. Just going on our personal experience. |
How about just trying some different stains to lighten and/or darken the finish as needed? This seems like it should be a relatively easy, or at least not impossible, fix. As always, I am completely open to the possibility that I am dead wrong. |
I repaired furniture for twenty years. It is not a simple process. Once a finish is on the product, you cannot simply stain it. When I had this problem, I would find the lightest colored strip of wood and work on it--you can only darken wood, you cannot lighten it. I would use masking tape all along the entire seam of the mismatched wood, then protect the rest of the furniture with paper, and then use a close matching Mohawk (brand name) spray stain in light coats to bring it as close to the desired color as possible. I would then remove the tape and spray another light coat of stain on the entire side so as to blend it all together. After this, I would use the proper laquer--flat, satin, or gloss to match the sheen. Then I would rub out the side to bring it to the desired finish. If they used an oil stain with no lacquer finish, then I had a dead flat finish I would spray over the stain. Each and every repair is different. It took years of experience to have the confidence to work on any piece of furniture. Sometimes it is better to just leave it as is. You will feel much worse ruining what you already have. |
I've owned two pairs of winds, Two pairs of Forests and one pair of hawks...none of them had an obvious problem with grain matching. Are these cherry finish? Mahogany hides the matching problem a bit more. What you should concentrate on however is that if properly setup and driven, they are an amazing speaker..as in about as good as it get's in HiEnd audio, given the appropriate environment. |
Thanks for the responses. What ended up happening is that my wife and I drove up to Montreal and met Vince at Totem. He took us into the warehouse and showed us what he considered the best cabinets they had at the time. They looked great, we got them a week later and they sound better than the previous pair as well. So a happy ending there at least. |
Wow, you can't beat that for customer service. It's nice to see a manufacturer going to that extent to assure a customer's satisfaction. |
does have any recommendations as to what amps/preamps to use with the forest? i know at the show vince and crew had the plinius gear with them. the speakers sounded very good with punch and good sound stage. im concearned if i go this route, i could become fatigued listening to them after an extended period of time. I listen to acoustic jazz and vocals, r&b, classical and old new wave. what are your thoughts? |
Yes it is....although I still had to drive from NYC to Montreal.....actually it was a great trip, never been there before...... |
Chaz,
I listened to the Forest for about 1.5 hours last year at a local dealer. They were being driven by the BAT VK-55, with excellent results. I believe the preamp was one of the BAT tube models, but I don't remember which one. They sounded fantastic, and did not seem to need any more power...at least for the volume I listen at. I ended up buying a different brand, but I could have been very happy with a pair of Totems. I would think that any quality tube preamp/amp combo in the 40-50+ watt output range would sound quite nice. Of course, more power never hurts... ;) |
The krell 400xi is actually very musical and a superb match for the forests. Transparency, tone color and dynamic swing is excellent! As with other great gear however, you must pay attention and allocate money for proper interconnects, speaker cables and power cord..MIT, Harmonic tech, even Monster Z20ref balanced is superb. Each change will be readily heard and make a marked improvement. I owned the combo and enjoyed it as much as most of my other $40-$60K setups!! Call me for more info if needed...happy listening. |
Hi Dave....well the Krell is a new suggestion to me......I'll have to check it out......I'm looking for some interconnects for my present system, thinking of trying the Harmonic Technology Silway MkIII....... |
Leftyfox...save your money and get the truth links, they are still the most musical IC's at that price point and mate well with solid state. The silway stuff was originaly designed for tube gear. Speaker cables and power cord will be even more important. What are you using for a front end? |
FWIW... the Sun will many times even out differences in panels... after a few years you would probably not notice the difference. |
Hey Dave.....I'm using the Plinius 9200 although I'm contemplating switching to tube gear..I have an old ARC SP-6 that sounds pretty nice with the Forests......need a power amp too though...(I have another thread re: this question)...Also Exposure CD player and Rega P3....using Totem tress bi-wire cable which was a notable improvement from my Acoustic Zen Hologram cable.....have a Top Gun power cord on the Plinius but it's so big and inflexible I can't plug it into the wall, thinking of trying the Harmonic Technology Fantasy.... |
Sounds great....go with the sp-6 and find a nice amp..arc vs series perhaps? |
I'm gonna do that..get the SP-6 serviced and look for an amp..a friend of mine is selling a VTL ST125, I'll try that first.... |
A nice Audio Research VT-60 would mate well with the SP-6? |
I'll keep my eyes open......how about a SS amp- Krell or Naim?? |
I don't see the Krell or Naim being an improvement over the Plinius, but I'm sure some Krell/Naim owners will disagree. ;) |
Well I'm thinking just as the power amp with the SP-6......at least that was what a few folks recommended......... |
Lefty..I'm goin back to Forest speakers myself...with the krell 400xi..magic man!!! |
