All I can say is
....its cliche but even the wife thought they were something (my wife thinks all speakers are ugly, even your other masterpieces).
By the way, what veneer is underlying the HT2's?
It is actually quite simple (well, perhaps a little risky, but there are ways to minimize the risk).
You start with real nice quilted Big Leaf maple veneer. When veneered and sanded, you choose the lighter color you want for the background and start with aniline dye that is diluted quite a bit. That way you can spray many coats until you reach the desired level of color. By spraying many coats, you also avoid blotches and lines from the spray gun.
You then spray your sealer coats until the gain is completely filled. Make absolutely sure the gain is completely filled because when you sand it down, you definitely do not want to sand through it and remove any of the base color (trying to patch it up if you do will be a nightmare).
Once you have the sealer coat sanded down and you are ready to apply topcoat, you use a solvent-based stain to do the darker color on the edges. Turn the gun way down and shoot the corners of the cabinet so that the over-spray colors both of the associated faces of the cabinet. You will end up with dark edges that fade into the lighter base color. By turning the gun way down, you can shoot several passes until the dark color is where you want it. Again, more passes allows you to be a little less precise on any given pass.
If for any reason you blow this step, you can use a solvent and remove all of the dark color and try shooting it again.
You could have done both coloring steps with aniline dye on the raw veneer. But if you make a mistake, it is very difficult to recover. By doing the base color and the darker color separately, you minimize chances of ruining the color application.
Finally, you shoot several coats of topcoat that can later be rubbed out to a high-gloss finish.
That's all there is to it.
- Jim