Caring for Wood Finish on Vintage Veneered Speaker Cabinets

[ignis-fatuus]

So I recently picked up a pair of KEF 104/2s and am super happy with the way they sound. I would like to clean and get a good shine back on the cabinets' wood veneers and was wondering if anyone has any suggested products that they could recommend. I've heard good things about Feed-n-Wax wood polish and was thinking of starting there.

 

[trinhsman]

I did Howard’s Restore-a-Finish, followed by Feed-n-Wax. To me, it worked nice.

 

[Chris __R]

Totally agree with trinhsman- I was surprised how well Howard’s works.

 

[F1nut]

So I recently picked up a pair of KEF 104/2s and am super happy with the way they sound. I would like to clean and get a good shine back on the cabinets' wood veneers and was wondering if anyone has any suggested products that they could recommend. I've heard good things about Feed-n-Wax wood polish and was thinking of starting there.

Before you do anything you need to know what the original finish was because that really matters. Until then, don't do anything.

 

[Roadrash]

Before you do anything you need to know what the original finish was because that really matters. Until then, don't do anything.

That's solid advice. Howard's works great on some, but not all finishes. I was fortunate enough to get by with just using feed and wax on my Allisons, but it was just dumb luck to be honest. I did my research after the fact.

 

[Guido57]

My experience is that Howard's usually works fine when the original was an oil finish, not so much on other finishes. With vintage speakers one also needs to look out if any previous owner messed with things, like putting a polyurethane finish over an original oil finish like someone did to a pair of bullnose NLA's now in my possession.

 

[geode]

I've never used the Howards products, but have seen many who are happy with it. Me, I just wipe them down with "Old English" lemon oil. Does a good job on the OLA Advents, JBLs, and Infinity speakers I have and had.

 

[F1nut]

I've never used the Howards products, but have seen many who are happy with it. Me, I just wipe them down with "Old English" lemon oil. Does a good job on the OLA Advents, JBLs, and Infinity speakers I have and had.

Over 60% of Old English is mineral oil. The rest is mostly fragrances. You might as well go to the drug store and by a bottle of mineral oil, it's cheaper.

Instead, buy a real finishing oil such as Watco. It'll last much longer and provide better protection than mineral oil.

 

[Doug G.]

Howard's IS mainly for cabinets originally oiled and are now dirty and dried out. My 1970 pair of Advents were really died out and slightly dirty when I bought them second hand. I used Howard's restorer on them and then Feed-and-Wax. That must have been about 10 years ago and it worked wonders on them and they still look great.

However, cabinets done with a seal-type finish (varnish, lacquer, etc) probably won't respond as well unless the finish happens to be soluble in the Howard's formula.

Doug