Does painting a speaker cabinet change its sound?

D

DadOnBudget

New Member
Hi everyone:

I have a pair of Boston Acoustics A100s that, long ago, I painted. Several times. Am wondering: does painting a speaker cabinet really affect the sound of the speaker in any appreciable way?

Also: I was thinking about sanding them down and then veneering them with a good quality wood. I'm imagining, however, that that might also affect the sound. (But am clueless here.)

Any thoughts?
 
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As far as my knowledge goes, as long as you don't paint it with a 3mm rubbercoat, there won't change anything - and even then, I doubt if it's more than measurable.
Fleecy coat around the tweeter may have an obvious influence.

Don't worry give them back their nice, natural look!
 
In my experience, no. At least as long as you dont paint the inside of the cabinet, that could / will effect it but i doubt that you can hear any difference if you just spray, let's say one layer with regular spray paint. But 1 or more layers with a much thicker paint could probably be heard.
If you are going to put veneer on them i would only guess that it could improve the stability of the cabinet with a little extra glue and wood :)
 
The Sequerra Signature speakers were painted (on the outside) with a specially-chosen paint, for sonic reasons. It can affect the sound --or so they say.

:scratch2:... Wait a sec - that paint is almost like 3mm rubbercoat that marne mentioned -- maybe that's why it can! :D (I think it's a Nextel paint.) Allegedly great for sonics, but in certain climates it can degrade to a sticky mess that needs to be re stripped and re-sprayed after 10-15 years. It significantly affects the value and resale-ability of a speaker, when the speaker is a sticky mess! i'm told that some people re-spray with a different paint to avoid this, but apparently does have some (subtle?) effect on sonics.
 
Let me put it this way - everything that affects the way sounds waves bounce off objects affects the sound.

By that, I mean that speaker placement affects sound. Room and wall treatments affect sound. All the things that can affect the way sonic waves reflect off of objects before you hear them affect sound.

So yes, painting speakers can affect the sound.

The question is not if they affect the sound. The question is whether or not the human ear can detect the difference.

I would tend to believe that different coatings of the same relative hardness and and smoothness would react closely to each other with regard to reflection of sound waves in the listening environment and would tend to be invisible to human hearing. But I have an open mind with regard to such things.

So does painting a speaker change its sound? I believe it is possible. Can you hear the difference? I wound tend to believe not.
 
DadOnBudget said:
Hi everyone:

I have a pair of Boston Acoustics A100s that, long ago, I painted. Several times. Am wondering: does painting a speaker cabinet really affect the sound of the speaker in any appreciable way?

Also: I was thinking about sanding them down and then veneering them with a good quality wood. I'm imagining, however, that that might also affect the sound. (But am clueless here.)

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would think having painted your speakers several times, you'd be a better judge to the effects, if any, on the sound. What were your impressions after each painting?
I could see paint affecting the sound if the paint's propertise either subdued cabinet resonances, made the box stiffer, or sealed the cabinet in the case of an Acoustic Suspension design. Other than that it should provide only protection.
 
Arkay said:
The Sequerra Signature speakers were painted (on the outside) with a specially-chosen paint, for sonic reasons. It can affect the sound --or so they say.

:scratch2:... Wait a sec - that paint is almost like 3mm rubbercoat that marne mentioned -- maybe that's why it can! :D (I think it's a Nextel paint.) Allegedly great for sonics, but in certain climates it can degrade to a sticky mess that needs to be re stripped and re-sprayed after 10-15 years. It significantly affects the value and resale-ability of a speaker, when the speaker is a sticky mess! i'm told that some people re-spray with a different paint to avoid this, but apparently does have some (subtle?) effect on sonics.
Click to expand...

I have a pair of Dahlquists covered in this now sticky mess. In hind-sight it would take a HUGE improvement in sonics for me to EVER consider a speaker with this paint again.
 
paint them black they sound dark
paint em beige they will sound laid back
paint them white they will sound bright
paint them yellow they will sound overly bright :no:
 
I think that everyone would say, given the speakers that are in question, a good restoration with whatever covering you are considering would be great and would not affect the sound at any appreciable level.
 
I once raised the resonant frequency of a tweed over pine Fender cabinet by reapplying the orange flake shellac that had worn off.
It looked great, but didn't sound as good afterwards.
 
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