I bought a used pair of the JBLs for this kit and, while they sound good, they look terrible. Kind of a rat-like color that does not impress SWMBO. I'm looking for suggestions to make them look darker and less rat-like. I've heard one guy suggests using MinWax wood hardener for this purpose, and to make them last longer. I've also seen people who have used hair spray, diluted varnish, contact cement, all sorts of stuff.
Any ideas appreciated.
Thanks,
Alan
Any ideas appreciated.
Thanks,
Alan
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Everything you listed will affect the sound to some degree once it’s applied. You may or may not like the new sound, but it’s almost certain to be different.
I assume something like diluted India ink or watercolor paint would change the look without affecting the sound, though a consistent shade might be difficult to achieve. Is it possible to make them uglier from her POV?
I assume something like diluted India ink or watercolor paint would change the look without affecting the sound, though a consistent shade might be difficult to achieve. Is it possible to make them uglier from her POV?
I have done just what you want to do to 4 of those woofers.
A light coat of midPodge with some colourant works really well.
With these you are best to use black, but it is a hard colour to make. India Black ink is close (but really dark, dark blue), food colour didn’t do the job, easiest is too add a tiny bit of black acrylic paint.
Given the mass of the woofer you would have to do many, many coats to affect its T/S, but even a thin coat will dramatiically improve the looks and will, as a side effect, improve the sonics at least a little bit.
https://www.t-linespeakers.org/design/tweeks.html
dave
A light coat of midPodge with some colourant works really well.
With these you are best to use black, but it is a hard colour to make. India Black ink is close (but really dark, dark blue), food colour didn’t do the job, easiest is too add a tiny bit of black acrylic paint.
Given the mass of the woofer you would have to do many, many coats to affect its T/S, but even a thin coat will dramatiically improve the looks and will, as a side effect, improve the sonics at least a little bit.
https://www.t-linespeakers.org/design/tweeks.html
dave
A similar colour woofer post treatment:
BTW: this speaker sucks.
dave
BTW: this speaker sucks.
dave
I have a pair of Dave’s eNaBLed speakers, and another identical pair that are untreated, and his are noticeably better. So if he says it’s ok to treat the cones, that’s good enough for me, because that’s what he does. Having praised you, Dave, what do you think of sveda’s idea of stencil ink? I imagine it’s thin but opaque.
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Visaton LTS50 speaker coating is basically a less viscous black dyed PVA, but it doesn't soak into the paper cone as much, so it wont add significant mass if applied lightly and strategically. I did an experiment with a loose 10 inch cone, weighing it before and after coating it with the Visaton coating. An even 2 layers of coating only added just over 1 gram. Thats about the tolerance in weight of applying cone and VC adhesives by hand in the speaker manufacturing process, so its safe to say it shouldn't necessarily affect the driver's performance.
Stretch-material such as lycra/spandex fabric is acoustically transparent, crease-proof, available in many colours and may also be washed. Coating on the cone / surrounds might possibly affect some properties of the driver like Mms, Fs etc.
Don’t touch the surround. Coating the cone, if done right, will not significantly change the T/S and will improve the DDR and performance of the driver.
dave
I agree with not touching the surrounds but wouldn't the coating (on the cone/dust-cap) mass-load the driver and make it's transient response more sluggish? A reduction in Fs may not be a bad thing though.