ADS Speaker cabinet repair

[r07d24]

Hi there,

I was fortunate to acquire a pair of ADS L1530's recently. I suspected they were going to be a little too large for my space, but they're L1530's ! and I got them for a very reasonable price.
I am still A/B testing them with my current JBL L112 speakers, and the the JBL's are definitely more defined and accurate, so I'm thinking the ADS need some refreshing. I have been somewhat in contact with Richard So for a refresh, but haven't heard anything back in awhile after first email contact.
Anyways, one of the reasons for the low price was that they need some general cleaning up, and one of the speakers has a ding right on the front of the cabinet on the black vinyl veneer (or whatever it is). Not such a big deal if I kept the grills on, but I prefer the look of no grills on my speakers.
Any suggestions for repair on the damage or should i just leave it alone??

 

[Blue Shadow]

This is terrible. It appears that the damage is well covered by the grilles but you prefer to use speakers without grilles.

But the good news is that once the repair is done and it doesn't look too difficult and you refinish the black of both speakers they should match perfectly and look great without the grilles installed. I've got some quick and easy ideas but others may have a much better how to. I'm not familiar with the finish of the xx30 series.

 

[r07d24]

Thanks for the reply. I have had luck with steam on other wood veneer style cabinets, but this one I'm just not sure how to approach without making it worse, especially the location and multiple angles to deal with.

On a brighter note, I have made contact with Richard So and will be shipping out the mids and tweets to him. I will be attempting to upgrade the crossovers in the meantime.

 

[Harvestor]

Thanks for the reply. I have had luck with steam on other wood veneer style cabinets, but this one I'm just not sure how to approach without making it worse, especially the location and multiple angles to deal with.

On a brighter note, I have made contact with Richard So and will be shipping out the mids and tweets to him. I will be attempting to upgrade the crossovers in the meantime.

I would use Bondo, sand blend and repaint the whole cabinets Flat or Satin black

 

[r07d24]

Yeah, I thought about the filler. Do you suggest prepping at all beyond removing any loose material? and I would assume a satin black in spray with a top coat of acrylic?

 

[Yodathedog]

You really don't want to use them without grilles. Those sticky domes will quickly be covered in dust and I think it would be blasphemous to leave freshly refurbed Richard So drivers to the elements.

 

[r07d24]

You really don't want to use them without grilles. Those sticky domes will quickly be covered in dust and I think it would be blasphemous to leave freshly refurbed Richard So drivers to the elements.

You're probably right, and I will more than likely leave the grills on- not just for dust, but also to prevent the accidentally contact. I'm just not a big fan of most speakers grills from an aesthetic viewpoint.

 

[Blue Shadow]

I'm just not a big fan of most speakers grills from an aesthetic viewpoint.

Interesting comment. I thought most preferred no grilles so they can see the drivers for those with a visual reason. Some like the sound better without grilles and the one pair of speakers I prefer without grilles were designed with the grilles on as part of the evaluation and voicing of the speaker. If they are voiced with grilles they probably should be used. If they are voiced without grilles, maybe that is the way to listen to them.

A friend has a pair of Salk Veracity HT1 speakers with magnetically attached grilles with smooth wood finish on the speaker. He removes them to listen and attaches them with their magnets to the stands until he is done and replaces them for non-use times.

 

[r07d24]

Just an update... thanks all for the tips and suggestions on the dent repair. Even though I will probably leave the grills on these speakers, I wouldn't be able to stand knowing there was a blemish right on the face, and besides, there were a few other issues I needed to deal with (like the risers), so that little dent repair turned into a modest restoration project on both speakers. haha
I did end up steaming out the dent just a little so there wouldn't be such a hole to fill, and it did help slightly. I then filled with Bondo wood filler like others had suggested. Tip: spread as thin as possible in multiple layers as this stuff is difficult to sand once cured, and it does cure quickly. After sanding and blending the repair as best as possible, I prepped the cabinets for paint. I initially painted using a black satin, but there was still too much sheen for my liking, so I went with flat black-multiple coats. A little treatment of Howard's dark walnut and feed wax on the wood trim, and these are looking mighty fine now.
I also addressed the disintegrating risers on both speakers by replacing with 1x3 solid oak and adding additional bracing. I couldn't really decided what to do with the sliders, but since they will be going on carpet I added the metal sliders for ease of moving the speakers around on carpet.
After much research,debate and opinions regarding the crossover upgrades, I only replaced the electrolytic capacitor for now with an audio grade Dayton- sorry, I can't find the pics of that, but I used a cable wire tie screw down clip and wire tied the capacitor in place on the back side of the crossover.
The big news is, I did get my refurbished mids and tweet drivers back from Richard So (with a very quick turnaround time) and they look awesome!

I should have my receiver back in a few days to give these a long listening audition....can't wait! Thanks again all

 

[tonebells]

Looks great!

Tony

 

[Blue Shadow]

With that start on repairs these should come out really nice.

 

[NH-MAN]

Excellent!

 

[Powertech]

Looks like a really nice repair. I take it that the damage was only on the surface with no structural damage beneath that.

 

[r07d24]

Looks like a really nice repair. I take it that the damage was only on the surface with no structural damage beneath that.

There was no structural damage per se, but it was pretty ugly looking no doubt. It looked like something heavy, like a pipe fell right on the corner, so it left a fairly deep gouge (approx. 1/4"). The original owner could not remember what happened, and was quite surprised to see that when I pulled off the grills to inspect the drivers before buying.

 

[squirrelnest]

Nice Restore.....speakers look better than new!

 

[Spiceman50]

Oh man! I wasnt getting updates to this thread sadly. It was your other post that you linked back here that allowed me to catch up. Nice work fella! Nice riser work too. I just had the same problem and wished I would have seen this when I started mine. Like the angled supports you put on there. I was thinking of doing that myself, but came up with an idea to build a dolly system. The supports would have been in the way. In any case, really nice work.