I use a microfiberr cloth on my Elacs 403. Im sure there are some swirl marks, hard to keep then new like a black car when I was 20.
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I use the 690 in various bases depending on the mission. My Plunge router is a 7539 and I use a 75182 in a router table configuration. I also have a 10 hp 3 phase SCMI spindle molder and the scars to prove it. I use the 303 1/4 sheet sander. It is faster at 12,000 RPM. My Fein 1/2 sheet sander will hit 14,000 rpm, what a machine! |
Yes @ghdprentice in the garage sits a baker’s dozen stack of microfiber cloths. Though i still prefer this application (t-shirts with ammonia free windex) as my number one go-to choice for 1980’s tar applied drivers. Sorry, for that particular post should’ve been more detailed and specific. Patience please, as i further work on ones communication skills ;) |
So for my 9-5, I sell automotive paint to body shops. A lot of speaker manufacturers outside the US still use cheap crap paint, but most anything stateside and everything in the EU are going to use more quality automotive grade paints, some base/clear but most are single stage where it comes out directly glossy. Glass cleaner and the like will not hurt them one bit. If someone does pull out a polisher to remove scratches, BE CAREFUL if you're using a rotary polisher as that can whip right through down through the paint. If you're using a dual-action polisher, they are much less aggressive and will not burn through even on the corners. As for polishes, compounds, etc please be mindful if there are any fillers in them as that will disguise scratches for the short term but come back a lot worse later. The older 3M products, lots of Meguiars, and Chemical Guys stuff will use fillers to make things appear shiny real quick to get a car out of the shop. Look for something like the new Meguiars 110 compound and 210 polish, or my new favorite the 3D 510 compound and 520 polish. The down side to the new materials with no fillers is they are harder to clean up if you are messy and get compound where you shouldn't. Wipe immediately with microfiber and quick detailer to clean up, or else. Speaking of microfiber towels and quick detailer, Presta Ultrasoft microfiber towels (part#800136) are the best ones on the market, hands down. Little more $ but worth every penny. And for a quick detailer spray, I've still yet to find one better than Meguiars 34 (part#M3416 for the spray bottle size) for everyday use. If you were to walk around a car show, that's what most are using to wipe down their cars. When I give my speakers a quick cleanup, it's a healthy spritz of that and a quickie wipe with microfiber and you're done in 2 seconds. Yes, it will even wipe off dried dog slobber. Just thought I'd chime in on the conversation. -Lloyd
On the note of speaker paints, if anyone is going to paint a set for themselves, I'm more than willing to help advise through the project. Just send me a message and I'll walk you through everything. |
When I open up my Business selling microfiber towels for glossy speakers I may include this in my product line. I think I’m gonna order these. |
Have you ever owned a high quality one? They are completely in a league of their own. Nothing like a t-shirt… or any other cotton product. Many times softer, lighter.
There are different categories of microfiber cloths… there are the flat no fluff… and really fluffy. The later are great for eye glasses and delicate cleaning. Just judging from the photos i think these look like the light fluffy type.
Give them a try, one of the amazing inventions over the last couple dozen years. There is a much sturdier variety for windows… much heavier.
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You should always follow the manufacturer’s recommended method. For my Magico S7’s in candy apple red Mcoat I use the softest micro fiber cloth i can find and lightly mist with Maguiar’s Mirror Glaze Final Inspection No.34. and buff gently. Has worked perfectly to keep them looking brand new,without a scratch for almost five years now. https://www.amazon.com/Meguiars-Mirror-Glaze-Final-Inspection/dp/B0002SQVNA |
This sounds like more a commercial ad than a discussion thread. One can potentially avoid these hassle by just using covers. This is how I baby my upright piano. Of couse, be careful with the fabric of the cover that may "rub" the surface of the speakers that the OP is worrying ...
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@gumbedamit I got the NS5000 because it was the 2nd best speaker I had demoed and the safer choice to not get knocked over. Now after hearing it for a while in my Livingroom I think it maybe the best speaker sonically too. Those Zylon drivers are amazing. The NS5000 is also the most beautiful speaker I have owned. As I write this and hear my son | wife | dog messing around in the Livingroom. I am happy I have a cover on the speakers. It takes 10 seconds to remove and listen when no one is around, except the dog.
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In light of the diversity of comments above and they have all been amazing, I think we can all agree that speaker surfaces can be a amazingly Beautiful to look at, and arguably are the most beautiful part of your system, and possibly your Home. It is clear there is no good audiophile grade maintaining and cleaning kit tailored especially for speaker surfaces. Using polishing products for cars doesn’t make sense in light of different environments being encountered. Lots of other ideas offered herein are not really tailored to a speaker Consequently, effective immediately, I will be launching a new product line addressing how best to clean and maintain pristine speaker surfaces. These products will be available at your favorite audio gear shops very soon. This Will include special purpose microfiber towels, distilled water Products, modified swiffer dusting products, specially designed white handling gloves, air blowing Devices to remove dust, air filtration devices to remove harmful airborne dust particles, and polishing products which are under development as they just don’t really exist for indoor pristine speaker surfaces. A surprising product availability gap apparently exists for maintaining speaker surfaces and driver surfaces. Stay tuned for developing announcements. This will be really really big. |
@yyzsantabarbara isn't part.of the reason you've purchased those glossy speakers is for the esthetics? Putting covers over them when not in use IMO, makes them an eyesore, but what do I know. I'm tje same person that never puts a case over my phone, again, part of the reason for getting an attractive phone is to look at it, can't do that with a cover over it... just sayin... |
Yes sprayway is good also but I found glass plus to be a little bit better I use very little on the microfiber I do not spray the speaker if you start getting into rubbing hard you're going to notice scratches on the speaker.. trust me wear a headlight when you do this spray the microfiber towel and lightly take the dust off of the speaker and the cones.. |
I use Chemical Guys microfiber towels (yellow) on my Wilson Sabrina. I only remove dust. These towers are super soft. These are the towels. These are also the only towels I use on my car’s metallic black paint. |
You asked about a ceramic product and I told you. After rubbing out with a fine polishing compound like Menzerna 3500 all you need to do is wipe off occasionally with a fast evaporating product one would normally use for cleaning windows but without the blue dye. I use 50% isopropyl alcohol in distilled water and a cotton or microfiber cloth. You could also use a quick detailer. Most clear coat finishes on modern loudspeakers are going to be polyester which is extremely tough, tougher than acrylic lacquer. |
@macg19 @mijostyn is 100% dead on, though I didn't see him mention that not all foam is alike. An inexpensive rotary buffer with a soft foam pad and Menzerna 3500 or a similar fine polish will remove swirls, and return you to a brilliant shine That said though, extreme caution around the drivers, or even hand polishing if you are having difficulty controlling the buffer is a good idea. Some are base/clear coating these days, which is a HARD finish comparatively, and most are probably still using lacquer, both have been used for automotive finishes, though clear lacquer hasn't it has identical qualities otherwise to lacquer paint. Therefore automotive polish is fine. Using things like ceramic or graphene coatings can be problematic as the better ones leave your finish unbelievable slick. IOW, easily dropped. Build up of product can be an issue as well. If I was unsure whether the finish was a softer lacquer or a harder clear coat, I'd avoid using something that might be difficult, meaning more Menzerna 3500, to remove, but that's just me. A wax or coating should add brilliance, but the Menzerna 3500 may meet all your goals. |
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I have kef r 11's in glossy black grills off. I use microfiber towels from Walmart from the auto department which do not have any bindings at the end with glass plus very lightly, also I wear a headlamp you will be surprised how much dust lays on the speaker cones themselves. You could see everything that you've been missing |
@dabel , Festool makes excellent gear. Their sander s are top notch. The problem is the price. At times they try to hard to be different like the Domino tool. Having buried myself in Milwaukee batteries I generally stick to their tools and I have not had a bad one. The one exception is Fein, another german company. I use their vacuum for dust capture on all my hand power tools and I have a 1/2 sheet Fein sander that I can't kill and I have used it to sand floors! I use a Lamello Plate joiner and Porter Cable routers. |
I believe enough time has passed, couple of years I’d gather since my first & only observation give or take. Sending compliments on one stellar furniture wood shop you’ve put together / assembled, a labor of love indeed. Question if I may Sir, maybe somewhat OP related … nah, likely near impossible! :-) Any chance you’ve had the luxury operating any of Festool’s Line? Particularly Fes’s variable speed random orbit sanders along side and paired with their dust collection Vacs. Somewhat more costly in comparison compared to that of unsaid competition many others offer, however second-to-none in shear performance equaling less effort & time spent. Top tier phenomenal collection puts one’s H&L sandpaper inventory dwindling down to lets say 7 fold. |
No clue. But applying a synthetic automotive paint sealant as I suggested above can protect that glossy finish and make it easier to dust and clean. |
@mijostyn I am certainly not good enough with a rotary polisher to use that on my speakers, if you don't know what you are doing with one of those you can burn clean through the paint. I don't need anything like the CQ Quartz because my speakers are not in the weather that beats up on a wax, the summer sun in the Memphis area is really hard on automobile paint. @emergingsoul I am not sure what kind of paint is on my Sopra speakers but it sure looks like automotive paint. I use the products to help protect the finish and make them easier to wipe down when dust settles on them, (and finger prints that always seem to make their way onto my speakers). If you don't want to use anything like that that then I would suggest a soft damp cloth followed by a dry cloth. You just have to be careful what kind of cloth you use because they can scratch the painted surface, Griot's has some really good cleaning cloths and other products to remove dust and other contaminates without scratching the surface.
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@macg19 , You can get into a lot of trouble with a rotary polisher. You can burn right through the finish. However with Menzerna 3500 and a foam polishing pad on a random orbital polisher it is virtually impossible to get into trouble. You would have to throw the polisher at the speaker. It would take hundreds if not thousands of polishings to get through the finish and it is impossible to burn through the finish. You can't generate enough heat. The Cyclo is another safe finishing device but I find it clumsy to work with. @vandy357 CQ Quartz UK formula. Lasts three years in New England. You have to rub out the finish first and use a professional surface cleaner like CarPro Multix. If you leave anything like fingerprints or water spots on the paint you will seal them right in and the only way to get them off is to rub the panel off and start all over. This is true for any of these products. First time around it is best to do a white or silver car. If you do a black car you will wind up committing suicide. |
I use Zaino products on my black gloss Focal Sopra 2's. In particular I use their grand finale spray seal to remove dust on a regular basis with a soft cotton cloth. I use their all-in-one about once a year to give the finish a nice coat of protection, these products make the surface a very slick. I only handle the speakers with white cotton gloves if I need to move them. So far I have only had one scuff mark on one of them, which came off with Zaino fusion polish. They make good stuff, I have been using Zaino on my automobiles for probably 15 plus years. Right now I am looking into a ceramic product, the only problem is there are so many out there it is hard to weed out all of the junk, I have tried a couple that were just that. |
I guess she must be more than happy doing so. Make sure though whatever the gadget she is using won’t microscopically scratch the surface please. Someone in this thread even worries about the cover fabric "rubs" the surface more so than abrasive, intrusive cleaning using all of the solutions recommended here. |
I make furniture and cabinetry. What you are probably dealing with is a polyester lacquer, the same type used on Pianos. First off, it depends how deep the "scratches" are. Scratches you can not feel with the edge of your fingernail are called swirl marks. They are very easy to remove. Scratches you can feel with your fingernail are a bit harder but can be done. Then there are gouges that make their way into the underlying substrate, in this case probably wood. These will require an expert at finish repair. Cleaning and swirl removal can be done producing a mirror shine with Menzerna 3500 and a microfiber polishing cloth. Squeeze a little 3500 on the speaker and rub briskly in straight lines following the wood grain doing a section at a time then wipe off with a clean microfiber cloth. You could also use a random orbital polisher and a foam polishing pad. In my experience Menzerna is better than any of the American companies except maybe 3M. You can use the 3500 every day for the rest of your life and you will never go through the finish. Taking deeper scratches out is a more involved process taking several different compounds and a machine polisher. After using the 3500 you do not have to put anything else on the speaker. You will just worsen the shine. I get Menzerna products from AutoGeeks online. |
