As most of you know, almost every pair of speakers we build is unique. Sure, we are often called upon to use veneers and woods that we've used before. But even then, every owner requests something a little unique. And we are more than happy to oblige, as long as it doesn't compromise performance to any great degree (and we inform them fully of the consequences of every modification).
This particular project was quite challenging.
First, Katherine had quilted Western big leaf maple cabinets in her home. She not only wanted to match the woods, she also wanted to match the color applied by the cabinet-maker. She also wanted a full-length solid wood front baffle.
So our first challenge was to find the veneer and wood. We were lucky enough to locate a batch of very nice quilted maple veneer right off the bat. The solid wood was another matter. We basically needed a VERY large board of instrument-grade quilted maple - the kind every guitar maker would die for.
We found quite a few boards, but the prices were very high. Katherine and I traded emails with links to various boards for a few weeks. In the end, she made her decision and the board was on its way.
Next, we had to deal with the cabinet requirements. First, it could not be as tall as our normal HT3 cabinets. The height needed to be reduced and the height of the plinths and spikes needed to be addressed as well.
Next, the speakers needed to be front ported as she didn't have the required breathing room for rear ports. The binding posts had to be mounted slightly higher than normal as well. And the grills needed to be slightly shorter than normal.
Here are the results:
Matching the color was a challenge. Wood, by its very nature is variable in terms of color and these batches of maple were no different.
Katherine had her cabinet supplier send us a door that was stained the same color as her cabinets. But it was bird's eye maple and not quilted maple. So it was a bit of a guessing game.
We mixed several combinations of aniline dye until we came up with a formula that was a very close match - as close as we could come not having the actual underlying wood to match to.
With a wood as figured as this, the seam between the veneered cabinet sides and the solid wood front baffles was obvious in some places and invisible in others. We debated whether we should leave well enough alone or somehow mask the seam.
In the end, we applied some automotive striping tape to the cabinets and shot a light coat of walnut dye, creating a pin stripe between the veneer and solid wood. We repeated this same technique on the plinths.
As people come in and out of our shop, they often comment on what they see. Quite a few people commented that they really liked the pin stripe decorative effect. We didn't explain why we did it, just assumed we made a good choice.
As you can see, we used the same round-over technique on both the woofer and on the front ports.
In the end, although the photographs don't really show the beauty of the wood, we were quite pleased with the results.
Happy listening Katherine!
- Jim
