[jmimac351]

Well I got my speaker cabinets back from paint.  The painter I hired didn't do a good job.  He was an auto body guy out of his element.  The MDF kept sucking up the paint.  I am not sure how many layers he put on but he definitely didn't put snuff primer coats and didn't sand in between.  He didn't  charge for what he did.  He knew himself the job wasn't good and he didn't have the time to fix it.  I had no problem paying him for a better job but he was done.   I am going to try to do the job myself.  I just had surgery today so it might be awhile before getting it done.  I thought about what had happened and next time I will put a vinyl sealer on before sending to paint.  I even thought about sealing and a sanding before glue up.  I am learning new skills as I go and having a good time.  My crossover and speaker cables are still in cryo and I till don't have a back so no rush.  oh I forgot to mention my cabinets went to paint well sanded and ready to paint, so the pre paint prep was fine.

Sorry to hear that, but it's paint and will eventually be OK!!  Have a look at this post... I saved it in my notes for future reference: 

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=176715.msg1861589#msg1861589

[Endo2112]

There is an art to painting for sure and they generally don’t do perfect, the key is that they understand your expectations before you start. We’ve used 5 different guys and are finally happy with the current guy, problem is he wants more money every time as he now knows what’s expected!!! As someone mentioned in another thread, you can always sand them down and start fresh, it just takes time and patience, neither of which I personally possess. I believe that the judicious use of high build primer goes a long way to help the painting process in the end.

At the end of the day take solace in the fact that they will sound great when you get them up and running

Good luck

Don

[nlitworld]

Sorry to hear that, but it's paint and will eventually be OK!!  Have a look at this post... I saved it in my notes for future reference: 

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=176715.msg1861589#msg1861589

Haha funny to quote that guy... but yeah that post gives the basic basics of painting speakers. I've already been trying to help along the way and we'll make sure these things turn out primo when they're all done. Unfortunately there are times where the autobody industry shows its uglier side and this was one of those occasions.

Brandon it's a bummer to hear you'll be laid up for a bit without your speakers being done already. When you're back up and around we'll get these things finished up properly. In the mean time you'll have plenty of opportunity to watch and learn from all the YouTube videos on the process.

[BrandonB]

There is an art to painting for sure and they generally don’t do perfect, the key is that they understand your expectations before you start. We’ve used 5 different guys and are finally happy with the current guy, problem is he wants more money every time as he now knows what’s expected!!! As someone mentioned in another thread, you can always sand them down and start fresh, it just takes time and patience, neither of which I personally possess. I believe that the judicious use of high build primer goes a long way to help the painting process in the end.

At the end of the day take solace in the fact that they will sound great when you get them up and running


Good luck

Don

Thank you.  I can't wait to listen to them.

[BrandonB]

Well it’s been awhile since I posted.  I am on my third painter.  I was taking a class at a local Vo-Tech and talked to the teacher about painting the speakers.  I was having a hard time finding a painter that would take the job and not charge several thousands of dollars.  They did a fair job but there was just a few to many mistakes so I decided to get them repainted.  The one thing that I liked about the vo-tech is that they sealed and primed the speakers properly.  Although I am getting the speakers repainted I became friends with the teacher and he really was interested in the build.  If it wasn’t the end of the semester he probably would have had some of the mistakes corrected




Needless to say I think I have found the right guy.  He and his son paint classic cars, guitars and he also paints for a car stereo installation shop near by.  I will post more pictures as things progress.

[t.town.tom]

Thanks for the posts. I am trying to pick up the methods people use in finishing. I will be soon purchasing the Opticas.

[BrandonB]

Well it's been a long process getting my NX-Otica's built.  I started out over a year ago.  I had some health issues that held me back.  Well I am much better now and rolling again.  I also went thru several painters.  After they screwed the paint jobs up  I had to sand and re-prep so I did this several times.  I eventually found a good painter.  He talked me into doing something a little different and I am glad I did it.  He suggested painting with rock chip paint.  He said it is used on fenders etc in cars.  I had it  painted with the rock chip paint and he sanded it down to give it a cool texture so it's not exactly smooth then he painted over it with hot rod black.  I was really happy with the way they turned out.  Oh I forgot to mention I added some triple threats to the mix.  I just got the NX-Otica's wired up.  Now I just need to solder in the crossovers.  I have never soldered before and I was getting better as I went along.  Here are some pictures.  I just noticed in the picture they need to be wiped off.  The paint job is excellent.

[BrandonB]

Here are some pictures of the triple threats after paint ready to be put together.

[BrandonB]

Here are some pictures of the wiring.  It took me about 1.5 days.

[nlitworld]

Oh man Brandon I know it's been a long time coming. I'm happy they are finally together and looking damn good!

[BrandonB]

Oh man Brandon I know it's been a long time coming. I'm happy they are finally together and looking damn good!

Thanks.  I can't wait to get these these up and playing.  I appreciate your help thru the process as well. 

[Jaytor]

Looking great. Good luck finishing them up. You're going to love them.

[Tyson]

I completely understand long builds!!! 

Very nice work.  They look great. 

For regular, current production speakers, the NX-Oticas with triple subs is in my top 5 in the world.

They sound good out of the gate and will take about 250 hours to burn in and fully blossom.

[KTS]

Congratulations! Very nice build! thanks for sharing in your journey.

[Peter J]

I think the rocker stone guard was a brilliant move. So many shoot for the glossy "piano" finish. FWIW, I think the texture and lower sheen can look better and be more forgiving to boot. Glossy automotive finish is difficult even for the experienced painter and can look kinda out-of-place in today's casual living environments.

[jmimac351]

I agree with Peter, the paint is turning out great Brandon.  I have speakers with black metallic automotive paint and although they look great all cleaned up, “getting there” to prep and paint would just not be worth the effort to me, and they wouldn’t turn out as well anyway. And to pay someone…

You made a wise choice. Good for you. 

[BrandonB]

I think the rocker stone guard was a brilliant move. So many shoot for the glossy "piano" finish. FWIW, I think the texture and lower sheen can look better and be more forgiving to boot. Glossy automotive finish is difficult even for the experienced painter and can look kinda out-of-place in today's casual living environments.

Thank you.  I knew what I wanted but wasn't sure how to get there.  I met a painter who had a shop in his backyard.  He painted all sorts of stuff including cars, motorcycles, guitars etc.  First time I  met him he was painting a classic vette.  He was a cool dude and we ended up talking more about other things than the speakers.  He did a couple of test runs on the amp boxes but I didn't like  how it was looking.  I told him I wanted it to have a little texture.  He was the one who recommended doing it like this.  The texture was ruff but then sanded  a bit to give it a better feel.  When I was putting the drivers in I dropped a screw on the table and didn't realize what I had done and I took a few pics of the results.  When I left the painter he told me how to touch up scuffs. It's as if he knew what I was about tho do.  I am not too worried about it because you don't really even notice it until you get down and look at them so once I touch them up it will be forgotten.  Again I was looking at the speakers and I keep forgetting to dust them off from bringing them in from the garage but you can definitely see the damage that little screw caused. 

[BrandonB]

I left the wiring to the crossovers long so I could pull them out and get to them if I need to.  I tried to do some fancy solder joints so the wires would be nice and flat but my skills are lacking. I ended up just cutting the wires and twisting them together and soldering them.  Once I get the speakers tested and burned in I will go back and install the no-rez. 

[Peter J]

That's unfortunate about the screw but stuff happens. Sounds like you're spraying black rocker texture as the final coat?

Here's another way it can be done with heavier texture. 3M calls theirs Shutz, I think. Similar to what you describe with sanding but then top coating, although this was black then clear satin conversion finish. Idea was actually born from a mistake.

[BrandonB]

That's unfortunate about the screw but stuff happens. Sounds like you're spraying black rocker texture as the final coat?

Here's another way it can be done with heavier texture. 3M calls theirs Shutz, I think. Similar to what you describe with sanding but then top coating, although this was black then clear satin conversion finish. Idea was actually born from a mistake.

That is impressive!  I have  thought about what I would do if I make another pair of speakers which will probably be some monitors or old school speakers.  I would have the face be smooth with the sides having some sort of texture but you have taken it one step further with the GR logo.