I had built a pair of special rosewood SongTower QWT's for the Rocky Mountain Audiofest. These were my personal pair. But as with most speakers I build for myself, someone eventually wants them and this was recently the case with the RMAF pair. So it was time to build a new pair for myself.
I searched through our stock of veneers and came across some very nice Tiger maple. Normally this would be held aside for a pair of special HT3's, but there wasn't quite enough. In fact, there was slightly less than I needed for a pair of SongTowers. But I figured out a way to make it work even though I was just a bit short (none is needed under the front baffle).
When we finished veneering them, I thought they were so nice it would be worth using a special dye technique. After testing a wide range of custom colors, we finally decided to go with a base dye of silver grey and a warm black/brown "burst" style effect on the cabinet edges.
Here are the results...
And a close-up...
When my 23 year old daughter saw them, she offered her quick take on the finish. Of all the speakers we have ever built, these were her all-time favorites. She also hinted that they would make a great holiday gift for some beloved family member. I let her down easy, pointing out that they wouldn't fit under the tree.
- Jim