Damaged speakers - what to do?

Rocket · « **on:** 20 Aug 2013, 05:34 am »

Hi Salk Customers,

Just got back from an overseas holiday to Vietnam and I had a lovely discovery regarding my hifi system. It has taken me literally years to amass a system that I was really happy with and recently I bought a salk/rhythmic subwoofer which added that little bit of extra bass that I wanted. While enquiring with Jim whether he was able to match the veneer of my HT2's he indicated that he had discovered some leftover veneer from the original build way back in 2008. He did a perfect of matching the subwoofer veneer to the HT2's.

Unfortunately when I got home I was told that a door was left open in our lounge room and it appears that perhaps one or two of our cats have knocked over some furniture which has resulted in one of the HT2 speakers falling onto my stereo rack. The veneer is quite badly damaged and also one of the glass shelves on the rack smashed as well. My hifi equipment is fine but the speaker looks pretty bad. I have sent Jim an SOS message for assistance but I'm not sure what he can do for me because I live in Australia and shipping the speaker back to the US for repair is not feasible. Even if he rebuilt another speaker it wouldn't match the other one and having 2 speakers built and then swapping the components over would be quite expensive. My home insurance does not cover accidental damage and that option is out.

Funnily enough when I got up this morning one of cats was sitting on top of the subwoofer and the other on the equipment rack and it almost appeared that they were gleefully smiling at me.

Cheers Rod

DaveC113 · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 06:27 am »

You could cover the tops of the speakers with cat skin rugs.

jules · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 07:28 am »

Hi Rod,

if you can find a local wood and veneer expert they should be able to draw out the shallower dents and bring it back to as close to new as doesn't matter. The deep ones might not respond to treatment as well but some careful work should make a huge difference. Time might help you recover from the shock too

.

Jules

WireNut · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 07:32 am »

Quote from: jules on 20 Aug 2013, 07:28 am

Hi Rod,

if you can find a local wood and veneer expert they should be able to draw out the shallower dents and bring it back to as close to new as doesn't matter. The deep ones might not respond to treatment as well but some careful work should make a huge difference. Time might help you recover from the shock too .

Jules

Yeah, Looks like its gonna take a steady hand and some time to fix that one but at least the drivers weren't damaged.

Rocket · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 11:19 am »

Hi,

I'll see what Jim recommends but I've tried to have veneer repaired in Perth before and I've had no luck. The job was quite poorly done and very obvious.

Cheers Rod

jtwrace · « **Reply #5 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 12:14 pm »

Why not sell them as is and buy new ones?!?!?!?

WIN-WIN

JohnR · « **Reply #6 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 12:16 pm »

Hi Rod, apart from executing the cats, I wouldn't worry about it, it doesn't affect the sound.

JohnR from the other side

decal · « **Reply #7 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 12:25 pm »

Cats are the spawn of Satan. Get rid of it before it takes your soul to ruination.

Phil A · « **Reply #8 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 12:27 pm »

Go out and get every 3 Dog Night recording and play it continuously until the cats know their place

mav52 · « **Reply #9 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 12:44 pm »

That's why I don't have freaking cats. PS: sorry for your lose...

Looks like a job for a good cabinet re-finisher

pslate · « **Reply #10 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 01:07 pm »

Rocket I feel your pain. I have to keep my one cat away from my gear constantly. Although it always occurs while I'm there. He acts out against the competition for his affection! Tinfoil around the base of items keeps him away, but I know it's unsightly. Man this cat, $3,5000 in vet bills already this year. But if I were to give him up, no one would keep him.

Vulcan00 · « **Reply #11 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 01:07 pm »

Man, that's bad, I feel for you

I think after some time and maybe some cabinet touch-up work, the anguish will ease some and you will be able to live with it. As long as it still sound good.

Bummer

Mudslide · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 01:12 pm »

Quote from: Rocket on 20 Aug 2013, 11:19 am

Hi,

I'll see what Jim recommends but I've tried to have veneer repaired in Perth before and I've had no luck. The job was quite poorly done and very obvious.

Cheers Rod

Sorry, mate. That's awful.

I would ask around. Surely there must be more than one furniture repair guy in Perth. I had some similar speaker repair work done by such a veneer-fix guy in our little burg, and it's amazingly close to the original. Dyed epoxy base stuff is what he used, and you couldn't tell where it was damaged unless I pointed it out.

Good luck with getting back to normal. I agree with others on cats. Dingos would make less damaging pets.

adydula · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 01:14 pm »

Shoot the dang cats......

Alex

Ericus Rex · « **Reply #14 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 02:29 pm »

Look around in your area for: furniture makers, art restorers (frames specifically), violin makers, guitar makers, inlay artisans and the like. Your local museum might have some leads for you. I'd expect the repair to be pretty expensive if done right. Brace yourself!

Phil A · « **Reply #15 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 02:33 pm »

A friend of mine had cats and he used to put a couch pillow on top of his speakers to discourage them from jumping on top. Seemed to work.

WGH · « **Reply #16 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 02:43 pm »

The dents in the solid wood border around the front baffle can be raised and carefully refinished. The veneer damage will probably have to be artfully hidden.

Make a little dam around the dents in the solid wood with masking tape and fill it with distilled water, most of the water should be absorbed by the dent. Then remove the tape and using a hot iron and a clean wet cloth steam out the dent, you should be able to raise it 90% or more. Sand smooth and refinish.

The veneer scratches can be hidden using either Mohawk Fil-Stik or Quick Fill Burn-In Stick. An antique repair business may be able to help.

http://www.mohawk-finishing.com/

Wayne

JerryM · « **Reply #17 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 03:10 pm »

Those pictures just hurt.

While you consider your options, might I suggest some light reading?

DGCURTIS36 · « **Reply #18 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 03:16 pm »

Hmmm - seems like this has turned into a forum about cats as much as speakers haha. Makes me wonder if anyone has ever had a speaker knocked over by a woof woof? Was the first response kill the dog? Now if you take a close look at my avatar you will see my son's kitty Dexter posing next to a Don Allen modified CD player causing no problems whatsoever, as innocent as can be

All kidding aside, am very sorry about the damage to your beautiful Salks, I know that if something similar happened to my 8's I would be devastated. Hope you are able to get them repaired well enough to enjoy them once again.

DRSmith · « **Reply #19 on:** 20 Aug 2013, 03:47 pm »

I see that the plinths on the HT2s don't increase the width of the speaker base. Maybe a larger plinth or outrigger would be a good idea for future protection on these HT2s?

BTW, I almost wish that a cat would tear into my speakers so that I would have an excuse to get some Salks.