Fading Cabinet Finish

[BW4me]

I've been looking at some used b&w speakers and noticed on a few that the finish had faded everywhere but where the grill covered. This made me think I should maybe just stay with black even though it's not what I prefer.

Is this just a natural problem that will happen with any real wood finished speaker cabinet or is it perhaps more from over exposure to sun lighting through windows close by? Anyone else experience this with your speakers or have advice on how to prevent it? I'd really rather have b&w's in that nice dark cherry finish.

Thanks,

Steve

[nyny]

Hi Steve,

I do not have the "faded" finish experience, however, I do have the "darken" finish experience. One day I removed the grills on my cherry wood B&Ws and noted that the part covered by the grills is a lot lighter in color than the parts that are not covered by the grill. According to B&W's FAQ page, the change in color is the result of exposure to ultra-violet light. Here is a link to the explaination: http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/...83371FBE8668BB

Personally, I actually prefer the darken cherry color...gives the speaker that "aged" look...hehe.

[ED K]

Cherry finish

I have been a cabinet maker for 40 plus years. What you are seeing is part of the natural beauty of cherry. It gets darker with exposure to UV light. In time the darkening will slow down considerably. If you keep the grills off, in time the parts of the speaker that were hidden will darken as well. Will take some time to happen but it will get there.
Ed

[BW4me]

Thanks for the help. I had a feeling it was due to light, I just didn't realize the difference could be evened out over time by exposing both. The b&w link page was great also!

Steve

[caleb]

My 802's (cherry finish) have also gone darker with age and this looks classy IMHO.

By the way, here in Bongoland we have a lot of sun streaming through the windows, and it has most definately darkened the Kevlar in the mid range and Lightened the surround of the bass driver.

Does anyone think that this will degreade the sound eventually?