HO249

This is to follow up on the thread started in January. Here are pictures of the freshly veneered cabs. I had the shop refinish the rest of the speakers as well. The guy who did work said water had soaked through the veneer and caused the particle board underneath to swell. This clearly would have been beyond my capability to fix. All the drivers are back in place, and the speakers sound great! Next step is to work on the grills. Thanks!

Hi Tom, the shop suggested applying new veneer to the top surfaces, and then staining the newly applied veneer to match. The rest of the veneer surfaces on the speakers are in good shape. From reviewing other posts, all they probably need is minor surface preparation and treatment with Restor a Finish. I live in San Antonio and there are several stores nearby which sell walnut veneer. From viewing some videos, not sure that I could do a professional job of cutting, trimming and applying the veneer. In my judgement, the speakers are valuable enough to justify the cost of professional restoration. However, I do indeed appreciate your suggestions and encouragement! Thanks, John

The surfaces are not blistered. Thanks for your suggestion, it's a good idea. But way outside my skill set with these things! The cabs are likely going to the restoration shop on Monday.

Agreed. The woofers are in storage on edge. Thanks! Amazing how much you folks know on these diverse matters.

A few more questions, if I may... The drivers will be out of our LSTs for a few weeks while the cabinets are refinished. Do I need to take any special precautions with the drivers while they are stored? I figured they probably should be stored face out, especially the woofers. The main concern is damage to the magnets in the drivers - should they be separated at some minimum distance from each other? Also, would there be any advantage to changing out the stuffing when the LSTs are reassembled? The existing stuffing looks fine to my untrained eye. Thanks once again, John

Yes, the baffles are chipboard. Sounds like tape is the way to go. Thanks! John

I'm the original owner or an Empire 698 turntable, purchased it new in 1976. It sat idle for a long time, as the electronic cueing system didn't work (my fault). I managed to fix the problem, and the cueing works fine now. I also replaced the original belt and bushings, and it works really well. It has an old Audioquest cartridge in-place, from the 1980s. It's probably in need of replacement. With phono cartridges, the sky is the limit on prices these days! Is it reasonable to use a relatively upscale phono cartridge with an vintage turntable? The tonearm on the 698 has a relatively low mass, and it's always been able to track anything played on it. Any new cartridge has to be mountable from the bottom. Are any of you folks in a similar situation with vintage turntables? Your thoughts, opinions and recommendations would be appreciated! John

The enthusiasm and freely flowing advice here is really tremendous. Hoping you can help with more questions! The LST drivers were installed with gaskets, but no other sealants. Presumably the gaskets should be replaced when the drivers are reinstalled. From the forums, it appears some folks use gasket tape as a replacement, others prefer moldable weatherstripping materials. Any recommendations? Thanks again for all the advice! John

Hi Glenn, Thanks for the inspiration! Your restoration work on the JBL speakers is truly first-rate. I've decided to opt for professional restoration of the LST cabs. They'll be in the shop for 4-6 weeks. The shop is going to replace the veneer on the tops of the cab, and then stain the new veneer to match. We're in the process of removing the drivers and covering the resultant holes. Considering the value of LSTs, I think the expense is worthwhile. I'll post pictures when the work is complete. Thanks again, your enthusiasm is very contagious. John

OK, thanks.

It's not split, fortunately. On that particular speaker top, the lightest colored areas are slightly sunken from the rest of the surface, perhaps 1/32".

Greetings, this is my first post, hope you folks might be able to help. We have a pair of AR LST speakers which were purchased new in 1975 or 1976. I was in the service at the time and had them "drop shipped" to the USA from a base audio store. The speakers still sound marvelous! However, they both sustained water damage on the top surfaces (please see pictures). We're hoping to get this cleaned up as best we can. This forum has numerous threads on cabinet restoration. On a recent thread, some speakers were carefully sanded and refinished with boiled linseed oil. In another project, the speakers were treated with an iron and wet towels; then, they were treated with Howard's Restor a Finish. The other surfaces all look good. They could probably be improved with Howards. I'd appreciate your opinions on how to proceed. Thanks in advance!