Mark's Crotch Mahogany HT3's

jsalk · « **on:** 20 May 2007, 12:55 am »

Mark was looking for something very special. He had an idea of what he wanted, but couldn't quite pull the trigger on his and Ann's veneer choice. That is, until he saw a batch of crotch mahogany on ebay. He emailed a link to us and we purchased it for use on his HT3 project.

Here is the result...

He also wanted aluminum faceplates for the ribbon tweeters. Unfortunately, the soonest we could get them would be July.

So we sanded the powder coating off of the faceplates on a pair of g2's. After we finally got down to the aluminum, we sanded them to 240, 320 and 400 grit, being careful to keep the scratch pattern perfectly straight. Then a light coat of lacquer and they were ready to go.

I may have a few more photos in a few days.

Happy listening Mark and Ann!

- Jim

flintstone · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 May 2007, 01:19 am »

WOW and WOW

...I think those are your best yet Jim !

Dave

yo2tup · « **Reply #2 on:** 20 May 2007, 02:03 am »

Wow that's some nice crotch!

brj · « **Reply #3 on:** 20 May 2007, 03:30 am »

Nice work, Jim, and nice veneer selection, Mark. Those are truly beautiful speakers...

zybar · « **Reply #4 on:** 20 May 2007, 03:34 am »

Jim,

As always, a beautiful looking pair of speakers.

Mark, I am certain you will enjoy these speakers.

George

Papajin · « **Reply #5 on:** 20 May 2007, 05:45 am »

It's not often a man can admire another man's crotch in public and get away with it...

shep · « **Reply #6 on:** 20 May 2007, 07:09 am »

carusoracer · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 May 2007, 01:22 pm »

Thanks for the great work Jim

The speakers made it home safe and sound. It was nice to be able to check out the Workshop and production in person and also meet Jim's assistant. The amount of work that is involved is staggering...

Thanks for the comments. I will have to post pics sometime as the side view from the right really has quite dramatic flair in the veneer. I looked several times at it as the matching or mirror finish on both cabinets is spot on.

The actual name of the Mahogany is "African Crotch Makore". Very unique and it was very important for the veneer not to be endangered or have any environmental concerns.

JoshK · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 May 2007, 01:24 pm »

Crotch Mahogany is among my absolute favorite wood. These are gorgeous.

legalchef · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 May 2007, 01:47 pm »

I was lucky enough to see the crotch twins shortly after birth when Mark dropped off some equipment to me. aa On a more serious note, these pictures are great, but in person, these speakers are unlike anything I've ever seen (and that was just a glimpse from under the safety wrap). I'm looking forward to more pics. Great job Jim & congrats on the new addition Mark.

carusoracer · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 May 2007, 03:28 pm »

Speakers are breaking in nicely...Now all I need is a picture of Chris(Lonewolf) Standing by them with a good beer

zybar · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 May 2007, 05:48 pm »

Quote from: carusoracer on 23 May 2007, 03:28 pm

Speakers are breaking in nicely...Now all I need is a picture of Chris(Lonewolf) Standing by them with a good beer

Like this?

George

ctviggen · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 May 2007, 05:56 pm »

Whoa! Complete with an Audiocircle T-shirt. It doesn't get better than that!

ted_b · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 May 2007, 07:20 pm »

Mark,
You mean this photo?

carusoracer · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 May 2007, 07:52 pm »

I like that one! It would be nice for others to hear the sound thou aa

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 May 2007, 03:23 am »

Quote from: ted_b on 23 May 2007, 07:20 pm

Mark,
You mean this photo?

Ted....
I'll bet that's Photo Shop.....

...(nice job !!!

)

Mark....
Enjoy those Salk's....they look great, and having heard a few pairs...a real treat !!

Jim...
Once again....another stunner of a speaker !! Great work....

Chris

ted_b · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 May 2007, 03:30 am »

No, it was just a bunch of poor edits and copying/pasting using Paint. If I could use Photoshop and cut out an irregular shape it would have been so much easier. Look closely, it's a mess.......but thanks anyway. I thought it would be funny to see.....

Edit: Oops, I see you laughing...guess you knew it wasn't...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 May 2007, 03:33 am »

Quote from: ted_b on 24 May 2007, 03:30 am

No, it was just a bunch of poor edits and copying/pasting using Paint. If I could use Photoshop and cut out an irregular shape it would have been so much easier. Look closely, it's a mess.......but thanks anyway. I thought it would be funny to see.....

Edit: Oops, I see you laughing...guess you knew it wasn't...

Don't worry Ted....its the thought that counts.....

jsalk · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 May 2007, 12:49 pm »

Well, I don't have any pictures with Chris in them

, but I did promise a few more. Here they are...

Here is a close-up...

Here is a shot of the sides...

Normally, we use black grill cloth on most of our grills. But an upholsterer friend just finished a high-end installation and had some very expensive grill material left over. He gave us what he had and it seemed to match this project quite well. So we gave Mark a set of grills with this unique material...

- Jim

bpape · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 May 2007, 03:50 pm »

Those are absolutely gorgeous. That grille cloth just finishes it off without taking anything away from the beautiful veneer. IMO a black would be too much of a contrast with that wood. It has somewhat of an old school classic look to it - that's a good thing.

Bryan