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Posted By: jmone Advice on Painting the Paintable Speakers - 12/09/16 08:48 PM
I've received my Paintable Speakers but just want to check if there is any recomendations on how to do this with the:
- White Primed MDF based M80s
- Raw Plastic M3 In Wall

Also can you paint the Grill Cloths? I've seen some posts around saying to use with a watered down mix that is either dabbed on by sponge or airbrushed on (with a can of air to unblock any bits if needed).

Thanks
nathan
Posted By: Ian Re: Advice on Painting the Paintable Speakers - 12/11/16 03:08 PM
Hi Nathan,

Debbie and Jamie did figure out how to paint the grille cloth without changing its acoustical transparency (we checked in the chamber). I will ask them to send you the detail on how they did it.
Posted By: jmone Re: Advice on Painting the Paintable Speakers - 12/11/16 07:33 PM
Thanks!
I painted 4 of the paintable on-wall M3s just this past spring. If you look at my theater build thread and go towards the end, I start talking about it, and show several pictures as I went through the process.

Nick's v4 Build Thread

Go to post #417781 which was on 03/16/2016 for my first talk about it.

Looking back, it worked out great, however I was trying to match my ceiling's flat paint, which is prone to scratching for the first several days.

If I wasn't trying to match my ceiling color, I would have gone with a satin enamel paint maybe. Something with a hardener in it, a little more sheen to the look, etc. It would be a lot more durable.

I used a HVLP sprayer, which was easy to use and gave a great even coat. I went for an ever so slight texture, but a little Floetrol in the paint would yield a smooth finish.

I can't speak to the ability to paint the cloth grills though, as I left mine black...

Before:



After (and mounted):



I wish that I had more close ups of the finished product, but these were snagged from my post.

Here is a close up of one of the backs showing the super fine texture that I wanting.
Posted By: jmone Re: Advice on Painting the Paintable Speakers - 12/11/16 11:30 PM
Looks great and thanks for responding. Couple of Q:
1) Did you paint straight on the "paintable white" surface
2) Did you remove the drivers, etc prior to painting (or mask them?

Thanks
Nathan
If you click on the link that I had in my response(I called th e link "Nick's v4 Build Thread"), then just move forward through the topic and just look for the pictures. The link will take you right to where I ordered by paintable speakers, so you don't have to search hard.

But yes, I just did a super light sanding of the white primer, and then painted right onto it. I did remove the drivers and everything. I even have pictures in the topic showing some of this.
Posted By: jmone Re: Advice on Painting the Paintable Speakers - 12/12/16 08:20 PM
Thanks - Read through. Lots of good info and I hope mine will work out the same!
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