[mlundy57]

Neil,

That's fine. I have certainly learned a lot about what not to do 

Mike

[mlundy57]

I wasn't totally satisfied with how the finish came out on these cabinets. While I am not going to strip them down and start over, I have taken a scrap piece of the cherry veneer I had left and finished it with the French polishing technique I learned. However, this time I used the lighter amber colored shellack rather than the darker garnet I used on the cabinets.

Here is a picture after I had completed the french polishing technique.



This is the minimum amount of French polishing I would do. Additional rounds of polishing would add more depth to the finish and darken the color some.

Here is the piece after rubbing it out with swirl remover



And here is the piece after buffing with paste wax





This is a completely hand rubbed finish using nothing but shellack and alcohol to apply the finish then rubbing out with swirl remover and buffing with paste wax.

Unfortunately photography is not one of my strengths. I can't seem to get a good picture showing the depth and gloss of the finish and keep the flash glare off. While they will give you a good idea, the actual piece looks better than these pictures suggest. 

I can't wait to build the N3TL's.

Mike

[bdp24]

Ah yeah, NOW yer talkin'! Very nice, much better than the darker finish IMO.

[mlundy57]

Thanks Eric.

While my wife was out this afternoon I put the N1X's in the living room system beside the Klipsch RB-81 II's and used an SPL meter to determine volume settings that level matched the two sets of speakers. Then this evening I had her audition the two speakers.

Right from the first piece of music, "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship" from Schcherazade, she preferred the N1X. The preference held up and was reinforced with music from Adele and Fleetwood Mac. Even though the RB-81 II's have almost twice the internal volume as the N1X's and have an 8" woofer vs the N1X's 5 1/4" woofer the N1X's bass response was much fuller, smoother and better balanced.  As for the highs, the Neo3 PDR is exceptional.

The last piece I played was J.S. Bach's Violin Concerto No. 2 in E, Allegro. With the Klipsch's she listened but when the N1X's were playing she was sitting on the couch with her eyes closed playing an air violin.  She said that sounded like a real violin, like being there, smooth, buttery and relaxing. She was more than favorably impressed.

Then she asked if the ones I am building for the living room will sound as good. When I told her better her eyes got big and she said "Oh". I have started building the cabinets for a pair of N3TL's that I'm going to upgrade all the way, including platinum by-pass caps.  She even picked out the veneer she wants, South American Rosewood (Rosewood "Santos").



The N1X's are the best sounding speakers I've ever owned, at least until I get the N3's built 

Mike

[bdp24]

Good taste in speakers AND music! J.S. is my favorite composer.

[Captainhemo]

good stuff Mike 
Your N3 Tl's are going to sound great,  I think you're going to  really  like the Platinum bypass caps ,  I found  they took the Neo 3 up another level.  And the TL  really  produces some   grat bas.  Think you will  be prety amazed at what  those little 5.25" woofers  do

Can't wait to see your Tl's  ,  nice   choice of veneer  @

-jay