Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Real wood satin issues

My real wood satin speakers seem to have no protective poly on them. Has anyone notice this? Does yours have a protective coat?

Also I think what ever change in MDF/wherever is more prone to denting (new ones seem lighter) ... think this maybe related the speakers which arrived with severely crush corners. What have you observed?

Have to treat them with white glove care otherwise they scratch or worse ... to the point that I dust the speaker and the bottom of any object place on them before putting it down. Especially carefull not to side anything.

My vinyl ones were not a problem in either respect.

I noticed last year when I bought walnut natural satin M5s for my FWB, they were considerably lighter than my M5s with black vinyl. Then when I received my 160 in walnut natural satin, it was considerably lighter than my 160 black vinyl. Both the new M5 and 160 sounded terrific though. I reported this on the boards a few times.

As for poly for satin finish, I really don't know what to look for. It certainly doesn't feel like just raw wood; there's some coating on it.

I haven't noticed any weakness where I feel I need to treat them with kid gloves. I've moved mine around a lot without any damage whatsoever. Of course more changes may have been made since I got mine.

Yeah, the vinyl for sure was hardy but you know that changed since 2007. Still hardy but nicer grain on the black oak vinyl.

I’ll ask axiom if my RMA’ed M3 has a protective coat on it and see what they say. It maybe the finish is what’s intended or maybe a step was skipped. In any case I think they need a harder finish. When working with furniture one takes the finish to a gloss and then kills the sheen using a very fine steel wool.

Noooooooooo!! No more price increases! That sounds like a lot of work.

Slim knows his wood. Maybe he'll chime in.

Hey ... I’m only repeating what the instuctor said in a finishing course I took a couple years ago.

I have a Dutch buddy who knows his stuff. I only mention he's Dutch because Dutch and "very particular" go together like Sonny and Cher. He loves the finishes. But who knows? Maybe Axiom chose to experiment with you.

As always, I’m limited to only one pair of towers here, but I was impressed and still am by the vinyl wrap of these. They’re really good. I don’t move them around a ton but occasionally to put them into “ holographic placement “ and they’ve seen no damage or scuffing even when I’ve oopsed a few times. I bet the real wood piano finish is killer awesome.

As anything though there’s bound to be some that aren’t done as good as others. Maybe you just got an off pair Rrlev.

I am late to the discussion; but it sounds like there have been some finish quality issues? I recently received an M80 custom made in size to use as a center speaker. It is made with knotty pine and natural satin finish. Other than the scrapes across the front panel due to FedEx puncturing the shipping container in three places, it looks just fine to me. The natural satin is very even, smooth and very well done. It matches my QS10HP surrounds which were made this way. I cannot comment on the weight factor as I don't have any earlier versions. I will say that they all feel very hefty to me.

My Bryston Model T's are extremely heavy as is my Bryston Model T sub. All produced by Axiom too.

Rich, maybe just enjoy your active 1100s and trade them in when the 1500s are introduced.

I’m pretty sure that this is the finish intended. I think it has at least one top coat Given the sheen. It’s just the durability and hardness I’m worried about. It’s just too thin to be protective.