I have a copy of the Badmaieff and Davis book. (13th printing, 1978.) The final chapter is all about construction and testing techniques. Just looked and it says very little about paint - other than painting the baffle board and screw heads black like the drivers so that they don't show. They also mention coating the interior with shellac to capture dust/grit left over from construction.

The finish is not oiled. I suspect it is some sort of varnish or laquer. But I really know very little about woodworking, so really need to get a pro in. I am wondering if whatever product was used can still be purchased here in California. I know that these days a lot of people buy cabinets that are made outside of California due restrictions imposed by our (fill in the blank...) environmental laws.

I hooked them up last night. It has been at least 15 years since my uncles system was totally operational, so I haven't heard them in their full glory for a while. Man, that 'presence' really comes through! Stereo imaging is terrific. For all those woofers and big cabinets, the bass is a little weaker than I remember - but clean. Could be a problem upstream though, since I was in a hurry and just used the kids X-Box 360 HDMIed into a Sony Bravia TV as a DVD/CD source.