[DonJoe]

Thx all. As a parent I can hope they get the audio bug which means good grades and jobs.   

Thought I would share 1 pic of my son staining the speakers.

[UtopiaNemo]

WOW. Just WOW.

[Peter J]

They look terrific!

To all, I think DonJoe would agree that, while not available at the Big Boxes and their like,  finish results like this are possible for everybody with better products. Here are links  to the products they used.

FWIW, I have long held the notion that finishing is the most overlooked  and underappreciated final step in a woodworking project. I could go on and on, but I'll digress...

https://www.sutherlandwelles.com/


https://www.mohawk-finishing.com/products/wood-staining-finishing/stains-glazes-colorants/designer-stain-radiant-series/

[TexE4D]

Finished and breaking in.  The boys keep going back into the room to look at them and admire their work.  Thanks to the community for all the help.

That veneer job turned out nicely, the speaker looks sharp.
What kind of speaker cable is that?

[DonJoe]

Thanks all.  Special thanks to Peter for the guidance.


Regarding speaker wires question-  Ansuz Speakz.  They were extras from my primary 2 channel system.

[Danny Richie]

Wow, good looking.

[Stephen Scharf]

Finished and breaking in.  The boys keep going back into the room to look at them and admire their work.  Thanks to the community for all the help.

Don,
Those look fab!

If you don't mind my asking, what stands are those on? Also, what type of mounting screws are those and where did you source them?

Killian Smith made up a set of stained and veneered cabinets to match the Birch Red Dynaudio Special 40s, and I need to find a stand for mine once they are built up.

Here's a quickie pic taken with my Fujifilm X100V.

[DonJoe]

Those are stunning!  I love that finish. 

Regarding the screws- I totally stole the idea from Hobbs and painted the heads with a goldish toned rattle can.  We screwed the screws that came with the kit into an amazon box about 2/3 way down.  We left some room at the top we could get the paint around all visible areas.  I think we applied 3 thin coats and let it dry overnight so it would not come off when we screwed them into the cabinet.  Worked out like a dream

Speaker Stands-  Pangea 28" Link below. You might be able to find them on sale like we did.  We also went through the extra trouble of filling with sand to add mass.  They are heavy but about as inert as we could make them.  We also used blue tac on the 4 corners to secure them. No way these will get accidentally knocked off the stands.  You could screw them I suppose but the blue tac was good enough for us and we did not want to mess up our veneer

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_325DS40028/Pangea-Audio-DS400-28.html

[Stephen Scharf]

Thank you, Don!

Very, very helpful.

Wonderful community here. 

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Regarding the screws- I totally stole the idea from Hobbs and painted the heads with a goldish toned rattle can.  We screwed the screws that came with the kit into an amazon box about 2/3 way down.  We left some room at the top we could get the paint around all visible areas.  I think we applied 3 thin coats and let it dry overnight so it would not come off when we screwed them into the cabinet.  Worked out like a dream

I had a feeling! But i really dig the look all the way around!

[DonJoe]

Yeah, it was a great idea you had.

This morning, we took an old audiophile sub I had in storage and connected it to our X-LS system.  As much as I liked what these speakers could do, filing in that lower octave was a step in the right direction.  The sub is the Velodyne DD-12 which is servo controlled and has a microphone and parametric eq to dial in the sound for the room.  It may be old but does just fine for this system.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/velodyne-digital-drive-dd-12-subwoofer

[Danny Richie]

Hey, I like that looks too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS8kVS7_B4E

[TylerJ]

Finished and breaking in.  The boys keep going back into the room to look at them and admire their work.  Thanks to the community for all the help.

They look amazing! Great job and an inspiration to us beginners looking to take the first jump into DIY!