These came out nice, EPI M50

Blue Shadow

Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
I picked these up a while ago, year or two. Had em in the bedroom. I usually enjoy making gear look like new as soon as it comes in the house. Not these. There came for a good home and showed signs of being appreciated and not abused. Downsizing couple so you know these were original owners. A simple wipe down and they were put in service.

Anyway, I recapped em and then did the finish. I like the original oiled walnut used on many speakers. I like to get that back when I get things cleaned up. These had a couple paint rubs with some white paint transfer, a very light scratch here and there but nothing serious except some more scratches on the bottom, still easy to skip those, since they are on the bottom.

I have found that oiled walnut speakers collect a lot of dirt and dust into the finish and maybe even more if they are Pledged or Endusted when new. This darkens the finish and these had signs of that on the bottom of the sides. Anyway, I have found that getting this 4 decades of nearly unseen grim off the speakers is easy with a nice cooling/cleaning Acetone wipe with a towel. This take away the built up junk from the decades and some of the original oil finish to reveal something close to the original finish but a bit dry. Then a quick sand with 320 grit just to smooth the wood and another acetone wipe to clean and even whatever finish is still there and a serious Howard's Feed-n-Wax, let that soak in. These were fed yesterday and cleaned off today and they look as I remember my new oiled walnut speakers I got back in the day.

First off, Acetone is not very dangerous except for fire potential and long term exposure. Wear gloves and do this wiping outside and things should go well. It is not carcinogenic. Read the MSDS if you have any concerns about using this or other chemicals in this hobby.

The pics are with flash so they show a bit to the red side of what we all know oiled walnut looks like. The speakers are a bit shiny right now since I have only buffed off the Howard's once. But I'm very happy with the results.

Speakers shown are just slightly larger than shown!!!

EPI M50 1.jpg

EPI M50 2.jpg

This last one shows the effects of using the Howard's on the gouges and scratches, dark lines. The others on the top and sides sanded out very quickly.
EPI M50 3.jpg
 
Last edited:
I picked these up a while ago, year or two. Had em in the bedroom. I usually enjoy making gear look like new as soon as it comes in the house. Not these. There came for a good home and showed signs of being appreciated and not abused. Downsizing couple so you know these were original owners. A simple wipe down and they were put in service.

Anyway, I recapped em and then did the finish. I like the original oiled walnut used on many speakers. I like to get that back when I get things cleaned up. These had a couple paint rubs with some white paint transfer, a very light scratch here and there but nothing serious except some more scratches on the bottom, still easy to skip those, since they are on the bottom.

I have found that oiled walnut speakers collect a lot of dirt and dust into the finish and maybe even more if they are Pledged or Endusted when new. This darkens the finish and these had signs of that on the bottom of the sides. Anyway, I have found that getting this 4 decades of nearly unseen grim off the speakers is easy with a nice cooling/cleaning Acetone wipe with a towel. This take away the built up junk from the decades and some of the original oil finish to reveal something close to the original finish but a bit dry. Then a quick sand with 320 grit just to smooth the wood and another acetone wipe to clean and even whatever finish is still there and a serious Howard's Feed-n-Wax, let that soak in. These were fed yesterday and cleaned off today and they look as I remember my new oiled walnut speakers I got back in the day.

First off, Acetone is not very dangerous except for fire potential and long term exposure. Wear gloves and do this wiping outside and things should go well. It is not carcinogenic. Read the MSDS if you have any concerns about using this or other chemicals in this hobby.

The pics are with flash so they show a bit to the red side of what we all know oiled walnut looks like. The speakers are a bit shiny right now since I have only buffed off the Howard's once. But I'm very happy with the results.

Speakers shown are just slightly larger than shown!!!

View attachment 1002970

View attachment 1002973

This last one shows the effects of using the Howard's on the gouges and scratches, dark lines. The others on the top and sides sanded out very quickly.
View attachment 1002971
Sweet, they are beautiful. I'll bet that they sound perfect in the bedroom. What are you amplifying them with?
 
Those are beautiful. I've wanted a pair for a while now. A friend has a pair that he hasn't gotten around to restoring yet and he won't part with them either.
 
I agree that restoring back to original is nice, and yours came out very well.
I restored a set, and I guess altered as well because I redid the damaged cabinets with Cherry veneer, and then worked with scrap pieces until I got the tone I wanted without burying the grain.

These are one of my favorite speakers. They may be small, but watch out....if you kick them they'll bite!!
 
I agree that restoring back to original is nice, and yours came out very well.
I restored a set, and I guess altered as well because I redid the damaged cabinets with Cherry veneer, and then worked with scrap pieces until I got the tone I wanted without burying the grain.

These are one of my favorite speakers. They may be small, but watch out....if you kick them they'll bite!!
I saw yours and they did look great. A lot more work than a couple acetone wipes, sanding and a Howard's treatment. But I had the shop supplies in stock for this and haven't learned to veneer, yet.
 
Very nice! Stunning as they look new in the pics!
Six inch woofers in those? Not too familiar with the epi lineup.
 
Very nice! Stunning as they look new in the pics!
Six inch woofers in those? Not too familiar with the epi lineup.
Yes, 6" woofer. http://www.humanspeakers.com/e/epi50.htm talks about them and the brochure info mention how hard it was to get a flat frequency response with them.

These have tough competition, a pair of A25s and will probably need some more bass to compete but the A25 is a bit heavy on the bottom which makes it a great speaker for the bedroom.

That is the bottom of the speakers showing all those deep scratches that turned dark. So few it was not worth the work of steaming them out and it was the bottom of the speaker. These did come out way better than I thought they would. But the process has proven very good for me, but I usually use a couple coats of Watco Dark Walnut Oil Finish before the Howard's. I'm very glad these did not need that as the finish was even and the wood thirsty, drinking in the oils to reveal the true beauty of the wood. No shiny poly needed on these.
 
Back
Top Bottom