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Glass tops

Copa1934

Copa1934

My ears are bleeding
I've seen a couple speakers, JBL and others, that came with glass tops, usually smoked or black, but just came upon a listing on swindlebay for custom glass tops for Bose 901 speakers. Look very well done by the way.

Has anyone considered glass tops for their speakers? Not necessarily Bose, but any make or model.

At first thought seems like a good idea, but then again might it promote/prompt people to put their glasses atop your speakers? Some people could give a crap and do it anyway, so a glass top likely isn't a bad idea?

Thoughts?
 
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here's a photo of the KLH 355 Barons i am restoring, black glass tops included..looks like a good amount of liquid was dumped on the glass which ran off the glass and attacked the walnut veneer around the glass...
Still quite a great looking speaker.
 

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I dressed up my JBL 4507 cabinets (they were sold as pro cabinets with black vinyl coverings and a large "JBL" on each side. Not exactly a good look for a living room) with walnut veneer and black acrylic top instead of glass. The acrylic was easier for the shop to cut as it won't crack like glass
 
Back when I was a hardcore JBL aficionado, I had a local glass shop cut smoked glass for all of them -
pair of pristine 4341 studio monitors, one for my B-380 sub, couple for the L200s I still have.
It was inexpensive and saved worry about someone putting a wet can or glass or something on top of a clean cabinet ...

Old pix - I've redone the L200s with much better grills these days ...

glass-l200.jpg Glass-b380.jpg glass-4341.jpg
 
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artbrewer said:
here's a photo of the KLH 355 Barons i am restoring, black glass tops included..looks like a good amount of liquid was dumped on the glass which ran off the glass and attacked the walnut veneer around the glass...
Still quite a great looking speaker.
Click to expand...
Handsome speaker indeed!
 
jblmar said:
I dressed up my JBL 4507 cabinets (they were sold as pro cabinets with black vinyl coverings and a large "JBL" on each side. Not exactly a good look for a living room) with walnut veneer and black acrylic top instead of glass. The acrylic was easier for the shop to cut as it won't crack like glass
Click to expand...
I was wondering about that. I can cut all sorts of plastic on my table saw and my band saw (the better choice).

Any thoughts on the pluses or minuses?
 
hjames said:
Back when I was a hardcore JBL aficionado, I had a local glass shop cut smoked glass for all of them -
pair of pristine 4341 studio monitors, one for my B-380 sub, couple for the L200s I still have.
It was inexpensive and saved worry about someone putting a wet can or glass or something on top of a clean cabinet ...

Old pix - I've redone the L200s with much better grills these days ...

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Click to expand...
Wow, nice stuff. Lots of plants, something I would consider if it weren't for the heat in the man-cave. Attic's are NOT a wise choice for a man-cave, even finished. Need a ton more insulation and some kind of forced venting.
 
If you use glass I would suggest fastening it with velcro or something and take into consideration the fastener thickness. I cut some smoked glass for the top of some JBL j-350s and the 3/16" of the velcro leaves a gap which could be smaller with a different fastener. It worked well for me because the cabinet sides rose 3/8" so it came out flush, but with your 901s you might want a smaller gap? The fastening seemed unimportant at first, but when I tipped one and the glass slid off and hit the concrete floor in my shop I changed my mind pronto. It's all good, I own a broom
 
Copa1934 said:
I was wondering about that. I can cut all sorts of plastic on my table saw and my band saw (the better choice).

Any thoughts on the pluses or minuses?
Click to expand...

Acrylic tends to show an irregular pattern where the cut is made. In my case I placed the acrylic on top of the cabinet holding it down with double sided tape. Veneered the sides and front trim of the cabinet 'hiding' the 1/8 inch acrylic. The veneer covered the sides and the acrylic. Problem solved.
 
Copa1934 said:
I was wondering about that. I can cut all sorts of plastic on my table saw and my band saw (the better choice).

Any thoughts on the pluses or minuses?
Click to expand...

Heather started a Glass Top Speakers thread on www.lansingheritage.org where I posted some pictures of my speakers as our friend Zilch requested. Since then I changed the grill and added 1/2" to the depth and black grill cloth. Casters were added for ease of movement. A 'riser base' piece of wood is in place to hide the casters. I'll try to get some time this week for some pictures. Until then you can see the acrylic tops and veneer over on LHS.
 
Copa1934 said:
I've seen a couple speakers, JBL and others, that came with glass tops, usually smoked or black, but just came upon a listing on swindlebay for custom glass tops for Bose 901 speakers. Look very well done by the way.

Has anyone considered glass tops for their speakers? Not necessarily Bose, but any make or model.

At first thought seems like a good idea, but then again might it promote/prompt people to put their glasses atop your speakers? Some people could give a crap and do it anyway, so a glass top likely isn't a bad idea?

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

The glass top Infinity and JBL speakers of the 70's and 80's have quite an interesting reputation inside the audio business. A fair number of Sales exec's wound up in jail for a semi-official key account sales pitch that involved razor blades, $100 dollar bills and white powders.

-k
 
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Thanks - direct link to that thread is here -
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?17694-Glass-Top-speakers

jblmar said:
Heather started a Glass Top Speakers thread on www.lansingheritage.org where I posted some pictures of my speakers as our friend Zilch requested. Since then I changed the grill and added 1/2" to the depth and black grill cloth. Casters were added for ease of movement. A 'riser base' piece of wood is in place to hide the casters. I'll try to get some time this week for some pictures. Until then you can see the acrylic tops and veneer over on LHS.
Click to expand...

whoa - I'd forgot the pix of my L200s with JBL Monitor blue grills!
(Those were actually the grills I made for the original 4320 cabinets)

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many speakers from the 70s had smoked glass tops. people were snorting a lot of lines in the 70s and a piece of glass at a convenient height came in handy. if you had a mirror laying around, it was paraphernalia. if you had glass topped speakers, it was decor.

of course, it also did offer protection if you liked to put drinks or plants on your speakers.

my infinity column II's have smoked glass tops. the cabinet tops have a layer of textured black vinyl that keeps the glass in place and quells any vibrating. i like the look.


now where's that damned razor blade...




.
 

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This is why I don't want speakers with glass tops. It was bad enough having roommates that would put drinks and other things on MY speakers, glass tops are just an invitation for putting things that are NOT supposed to go on top of a speaker.
 
loquatious said:
many speakers from the 70s had smoked glass tops. people were snorting a lot of lines in the 70s and a piece of glass at a convenient height came in handy. if you had a mirror laying around, it was paraphernalia. if you had glass topped speakers, it was decor.

of course, it also did offer protection if you liked to put drinks or plants on your speakers.

my infinity column II's have smoked glass tops. the cabinet tops have a layer of textured black vinyl that keeps the glass in place and quells any vibrating. i like the look.


now where's that damned razor blade...

.
Click to expand...

Now that is funny. When we were making those KSA's in the late 70's we did have a glass top option. Yes we had a lot of people order the glass top just for that reason. We even had people request a couple two inch grooves to make life a little easier for bumps in the middle of the night. :banana:
 
loquatious said:
my infinity column II's have smoked glass tops. the cabinet tops have a layer of textured black vinyl that keeps the glass in place and quells any vibrating. i like the look.
Click to expand...

Infinity's WTLC's (Wave Transmission Line Columns) also came equipped with glass tops. Same textured vinyl beneath and a small edge around the top of the speakers that keeps the glass in place. Any 70's illicit use notwithstanding, the glass top is perhaps an appropriate place to "Feel the Force" of Infinity's doped CTS woofers and the subtle shimmer of their Walsh tweeters.

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