kawazinga
??? What Is Your Favorite Speaker Finish ???
Just polished up my Rosewood finished Tablette Anniversaries, using some Murphy Wood Cleaner,lamenting my stupidity for selling the Ebony finished versions I had 3 years ago & started thinking about all the speakers I've owned over 55 odd years in this hobby...
Hands down I'm a real wood veneer lover..Give me a stunning Ebony veneer finish with Rosewood my second fav...I will admit though,there was something about those Gloss Orange Heco Aurora's I had that could bring a smile to my face...
How about you?
Interesting question. Used to be strictly black (always gloss if available), but now I’m totally all in on walnut! Will never go back to black. For the first time ever I went walnut on my speaks (Revel Be) and they are stunning! I sometimes will just stare and admire them even when my system is powered down. What a beautiful finish/color! |
Louis of Omega Speakers did a beautiful job on a custom pair of speakers in African Padauk. The speakers match the solid Padauk cabinet on my Erhard Ray SET amp. This wood darkens over time and becomes very rich and even more stunning. I appreciate many different woods/veneers in different applications, but for audio gear this is unique wood with great character. P.S. I just acquired a pair of Wharfedale Super Lintons with matching stands in Walnut veneer. The quality of the veneer work and grain of the wood is beautiful to be sure. (Fortunately, they sound every bit as good as they look.) |
I prefer fine wood finishes that are on the "darker" side. Anything lighter than walnut isn’t my favorite. Even walnut, I often wish was darker (it varies a lot). White/yellow oak is the worst offender ugh - fortunately that’s been out of fashion for years. "Black Ash" gets a bad rap from all the years of BestBuy garbage, but when done well it can be quite nice - as illustrated by the Tannoy Kensington GR-BA "Black Ash" edition. I actually like this better than the normal Walnut finish, since I think the svelte tall cabinets look much better in a darker finish. Not particularly fond of high gloss finishes. I get that many high-end buyers want their speakers to be finished just like their expensive cars - but that’s not for me (nor the cars, either). IMO the primary purpose of a speaker is to sound awesome, but secondarily its form & function is much closer to "fine furniture" than a vehicle that goes really fast. I don’t want my speakers to look like they go fast - they should NEVER go fast lol. Would you park your car in the living room? And of course, you might also consider the wall material under the finish. MDF is gross and hard to repair. If you take fine woods away, then Magico’s aluminum cabinets w/ the satin M-Cast finishes look nice to me. |
Now this is a lovely question! I guess I'm old fashioned in that still love a nicely oiled walnut finish. Because when you have speakers that look like this: https://tinyurl.com/3m3mtc5e They need all the help they can get! Happy listening. |
Yes the rosewood on my infinity irs v needs love and care but it's beautiful.had tyler acoustics do me a set of d 10 with the new satori textreme 4 x 9.5 2 x 6.5 and one be tweeter in rosewood. Sound like rockports. My next fav is aluminum on q7 magico and krell.dead silent no resonance you don't wrap these with the knuckle test it hurts.enjoy the polishing and the music |
Yes the rosewood on my infinity irs v needs love and care but it's beautiful.had tyler acoustics do me a set of d 10 with the new satori textreme 4 x 9.5 2 x 6.5 and one be tweeter in rosewood. Sound like rockports. My next fav is aluminum on q7 magico and krell.dead silent no resonance you don't wrap these with the knuckle test it hurts.enjoy the polishing and the music |
Last August I purchased a pair of Legacy Signature SE in an exotic Cabernet Sappele Pommele finish. To me , they are stunning. First time owning a high gloss finish, and I supposed they need to be babied more than a black oak, but boy are they gorgeous. The best part is my wife LOVES them. Oh, I absolutely love the sound also.... |
@winoguy17 Ages ago I had Legacy Signature III in rosewood (not gloss). The finish was stunning - they nailed it! Sort of regret selling those. Sapele is a lovely wood too, similar to Mahogany. I really enjoy woods with rich deep reds & browns. I trust Legacy is doing even nicer finishes these days. |
To me, rosewood walks the perfect path between coarseness and refinement in my pine/oak listening room. The rosewood speakers stand out sufficiently from the background to announce their functionality, but harmoniously so, whereas high gloss or metal would be visually jarring. In a different setting, with a different atmosphere, high-gloss woods or even Magico metal might be just the thing. Conclusion: my favorite speaker finish is the one that best fits its surroundings. |
Rosewood is one of my favorite for sure. Never owned a pair in that finish. I just picked up a pair in White Oak and I really like them. I usually go for dark woods but I actually chose Oak over Rosewood. I just thought that particular speaker looked sharp in Oak with contrasting black front baffle. Best thing about a light finish is that they don't show dust.
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What's also funny is i do have a pair of the book end b &w matrix 800 in the picture above.bought from aural hifi in Denver and the paul harvy ending is the waf must have been to get them into the house they had to be painted white to match the cabinets.mush have had Tom Sawyers crew white wash them.aural has a great wood working team that brought them back to life with a wood finish that looks fantastic.read the review on those one of the great reference speakers.enjoy the polishing and give us some great tips on keeping the wood healthy.my neighbor with the cad cam cabinet machine tells me not to use pledge.any other suggestions. |
Furniture grade wood finish look fantastic. I really do appreciate the classic look. When it came to building my speakers, I wanted them to more closely resemble a hot rod, because these things are much more in that theme sound wise. They are painted candy blue pearl, with silver logos for the model on the side, silver leaf logo for the brand on the front, trim black paint for the top and black cloth for the top cover. The color will absolutely glow in any light, the sparkles will give off different colors depending on the lighting location, and they are glossy enough to double as a mirror. The look isn't for everyone, but it's damn fun for my system. |
As I stated in my prior post, I love a beautiful wood finish especially when the speaker is a part of your home decor. However, in my dedicated audio room, the matt black finish on my main speakers and subs is ideal for me. In a dimly lit room only the sound remains and the gear fades into darkness. Scientific fact: when the brain does not have to waste neuron loops on visual distractions, more of your attention focuses on the music! I always felt good about the fact all my audio dollars went towards good sound in this system. |
@corelli true BUT,you can always turn the lights off so as to not be distracted by a beautiful finish,you can NOT however make an ugly finish disappear in the daylight. |
@freediver Given my dedicated audio room has no windows by design, and the only thing I use it for is music, and I always listen with very little lighting, your point is moot in my case. The "ugly" finish is actually very pleasant and functional and maximizes the return on my audio dollar. Now if someone has the resources to do otherwise, I would never take issue with that. As I stated in my initial post, I quite admire a beautiful wood veneer finish and in fact enjoy that in two other systems in my home. In those cases, decorative considerations come into play. For me, it's all about context. Like Grandma used to say, to each his own. |
My favorite loudspeaker finish is the same as my favorite automobile finish: hot rod black, the color 1950's hot road enthusiasts (including guitarists Jeff Beck and Danny Gatton) use on their rods. I painted the enclosures I made for my Rythmik and GR Research subs with the rattle can paint offered by tractor company John Deere. The black color they make exhibits a very cool (to me at least) sheen half way between flat black and satin.
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