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Slare
06-18-2009, 12:16 PM
Hi,

I picked up a pair of L7's last night (heh), and am in the process of restoring them to serviceable condition. Thankfully the drivers are all mint so I'm focused on mostly cosmetic issues.

One of the big ones is the condition of the smooth black finished front baffle, which Dome has told me is just painted MDF. It's a separate baffle from the main cab, which is finished in some sort of thicker somewhat soft finish over black ash veneer.

I'm curious to hear if anyone out there has refinished this baffle, and if so, what they chose to do and how it turned out. I'm leaning towards vinyl because I don't have much luck with paint, but as Dome pointed out the vinyl might destroy the MDF if I decide to remove it later. I'm worried about this because I intend on keeping these guys for a long time.

I'll try to post pics up of mine soon enough, any pics or feedback would be appreciated.

Tks!

PS. I now have L1's, L5's, and L7's. Too bad I can't think of a situation where L3's would be usable to me, or I might try to complete the family. Even have a CL505 though I don't use it.

BMWCCA
06-18-2009, 12:33 PM
Hi,

I picked up a pair of L7's last night, and am in the process of restoring them to serviceable condition. Thankfully the drivers are all mint so I'm focused on mostly cosmetic issues.

One of the big ones is the condition of the smooth black finished front baffle, with dome has told me is just painted MDF.Don't know exactly what it is but is seems a bit denser than most MDF, more like Masonite bonded to MDF. I thought Chris talked about it in the thread at one point. Ahh, here it is:

Actually, the L-series baffle is shaped MDF, and then black high-gloss lacquered. What you are seeing is the laminate layers that form in the MDF during its manufacture. The only times that they did something special for the baffle when I was there was XPL, with the shaped MDF, encased in the expanding foam, with the neoprene cover - and when Pro laminated carbon fiber to the MDF for the new 4300's. Although, I may be forgetting a few. But definitely the L-series baffles were MDF. I don't recall thickness, but in general, L-series had 3/4" baffles.


I've never refinished the panel but I have removed scuffs from it by polishing with a car polisher and mildly abrasive cleaner-wax combo. I suspect it would take a normal paint finish from a fine gun or airbrush. Most likely a rattle can would only make it worse. Good luck.

L1, L5, L7 here, too!

Slare
06-18-2009, 01:38 PM
You know, I guess I was over thinking it and should try cleaning it up gently like car paint first, eh? I'll give that a shot, on the front, it may well work. Ever done that on the sides/top? I'm a little scared of the side/top finish. It's a lot softer and I'm not exactly sure what it is or how to attempt to buff it. Does it polish as well?

What is it, exactly? It almost seems like a sealant/wax.

I've done tail lights before (though with smoke paint) using multiple coats of clear on top and that has turned out well, nice and smooth/glossy. But repainting is really the least attractive option on my list at the moment.

BMWCCA
06-18-2009, 04:35 PM
I'm a little scared of the side/top finish. It's a lot softer and I'm not exactly sure what it is or how to attempt to buff it. Does it polish as well? What is it, exactly? It almost seems like a sealant/wax.I don't know but it feels sort of like a latex stain you could peel off in one big sheet like sun-burned skin (maybe I'll try Aloe on it!), and yet the grain shows through. Strange stuff I'm not anxious to screw up.

Slare
06-21-2009, 08:03 PM
Well, the repairs are done, though I haven't quite figured out what to do with the tops/sides, and I still need to paint and put the stands back on (they are faded and stained).

The front baffles took treatment like auto paint quite well. I used a random orbital stepping from a light polish to swirl to fine polish and finished with wax and they are glossy as can be again. Nicks are still there but I can live with those. I'm glad BMW reminded me to take advantage of stuff I already had, because I'm definitely happier with this than with the vinyl.

Grilles were redone in black PE cloth. PE's gray is too bright compared to the original JBL cloth, and I'm fine with the black. Little pam on the side grille pegs makes the side grilles reasonably easy to remove.

I have them hooked up to my AVR-987 for now bi-amping them 110x2 each, and the sound is fine to my ears. Despite everything I've heard about proper positioning, I'm quite happy with them in my admittedly compromised room setup. Had to trim 120Hz a little but they are otherwise flat and sound great to me.

Woot.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2948/l7lh.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6815/l7rh.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4778/l7lhbottomfinish.jpg
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4681/l7rhbottomfinish.jpghttp://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4565/l7upperdrivers.jpghttp://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3070/l7bottomdrivers.jpg

BMWCCA
06-21-2009, 08:47 PM
Glad that worked out for you. The L7 is a lot more forgiving of placement than they're credited with, but if you can get away with pulling them out a bit from that wall they'll probably work a bit better. I have, but don't use, the bases on either of my pair of L7s and haven't had any problems but then my kids are old enough to understand common English phrases like "Don't!" ;)