I have to thank this site as a great resource for restoration tips. I found these pretty uncommon XPL's via Craigslist nearly free, but they were trashed to tragic proportions. I picked them up figuring at least the drivers worked making it a sound buy for the woofers alone.

I have no idea what the hell these poor speakers were put through. It seems like they were dipped in bleach and owned by a cat who kept them under a sun window in a damp garage for their whole life. There was corrosion on the small XPL badge above the tweeter!

However being my first restoration effort, I have to say I'm quite pleased with the results and am amazed by how well the veneer cleaned up. They are now quite presentable (especially with the grilles on), though I have to admit I think I prefer the sound of my little L1 bookshelfs which just seem a little smoother to my ears. Something about the XPL tweeters seems a little off, they seem to go from being too quiet to too bright through the volume range, wanting different tone settings at different volumes. Crossovers looked good, possibly they are off from the environment they were used in?

Anyways, thanks for the tips, and here are some pics of XPL90's for those who care to see them (not very common speakers...).

Tools:
Steel wool
Dark walnut danish oil
Flat black fusion paint (front frames were beyond any cleaning repair)
PE Black grille cloth & Dap contact cement

Before:



After: