Have a job I'd like to finish but the painter hasn't finished the in-wall and ceiling speakers for me yet. Thought of buying a $4-500 sprayer and make it a service I offer (after some practice!) but thought I'd get feedback.

The painters I have seen do a great job water the paint down and spray a few very light coats. However, I've read of others who claim excellent results by "dry brushing" - essentially getting almost all the paint out of the brush and then going at the speaker.

Your comments on spraying vs. dry brushing are appreciated.

Then, what about charges? Not much setup for a brush, but with a sprayer, you'd set up, spray, then have clean up. Charge per set or per speaker? One flat rate?

Dry brush. I don't do it cuz I can't paint to save my life

I've only been able to get good results using a sprayer.  I've done the dry brush technique, but it takes longer and I've never been able to get an even finish like I can with the sprayer.

If it's only for 6-8 speakers, I just use a disposable Preval sprayer while on-site and then toss it so there's no cleanup time.  This works great for a surround sound system and I keep a few of the Preval kits on the van.

If it's for a larger whole-house job with 10+ speakers, I'll usually paint them off-site with my spraygun/compressor.  This takes longer because you have to unbox, paint, wait to dry, re-box as well as clean up the sprayer. 

I don't notice any difference in quality between the Preval sprayer and my HVLP spray gun, but the real spray gun is easier/faster to use when doing lots of speakers.  The disposable Preval is a little more fidley and has to be held upright to spray properly.

I charge $30 per speaker if customer supplies the paint.

Seveal of the paint shops here will also mix up a can of spray paint based off a paint chip to get the color.  The cost is $25-$35 for a can, but if the customer doesn't have paint, this is a good solution and gives you an easy way to apply the paint without investing in a sray setup.

Prevail sprayers work great for just a pair of speakers.
You can get a very cheap airless @ harbor freight for multiple pairs.

The key is getting your paint the correct consistency before spraying.

The consistency of milk is just right for the prevail sprayer.

 Ditto last two posts. The prevail sprayers are $5-$8, so very affordable. 

We recently had to paint some outdoor speakers, takes much longer, anyone have any tips for outdoors.

use automotive paint..or a REALY good clear. the elements are really hard on these speakers. I did a house Down at the shore were a customer wanted the speakers to match the houses cedar siding. I took a stained cedar board into the paint shop and they matched it the best they could. I had them pop the color in a spray can. Ive found that prevels dont have a very fine mist for this kind of stuff.

I plastic primed it, used adhesion promotor then started spraying them with 3 coats then did two coats of clear. The speaker grills i sanded, used self etching primer and went to work. for each coat i took my shop vac and vacuumed from behind to make sure all the holes were clear. Turned out beautifully. I wish i had backed up my old mac harddrive. I had some impressive jobs on there :(

Almost always i will have the customer provide me with a sample of paint, i then take it to my paint store and have them match it and put it in a sprayer. It gets adamized into smaller particles and lay down much much nicer. Prevels work good if your in a pinch.

So as followed:
Speaker Bezels -
Scuff up with Scotch Brite pad
Spray with adhesion promotor
Spray color

Grills-
Scuff up with scotch Brite pad
Self Etching Metal primer then vacuum from the rear
Adhesion Promotor then vacuum from the rear
Spray color then vacuum from the rear

Collect check! i charge 25/speaker + one hour to go get paint made up.

If i have to do an automotive type finish then its 89 per speaker + one hour at the shop

I have found that painters dont understand the the grills need to be open. I have also found that painters just take a foam brush to the plastic bezels which makes the paint lay down too thick and not as even.

I am not sure what we charge for the painting, but we always get a paint match in a spray can of enamel and spray them at the shop. Once you have a few sets to practice on, anyone can shoot a bunch of speakers pretty easily. 2-3 light coats, with about 30 minutes between coats and let them dry for 24-48 hours depending on temperature (do NOT try to bag/box them or install them before the paint is cured).

It does not take too much time. Unbox speakers, set them up on a table, prop up the grills on some dixie cups, spray them before you go home at the end of a day, let them dry overnight or more, and box them back up. I would say 1-2 hours of actual work for 6-10 pairs of speakers.

wow i have never charged for it but apparently i should be. We use primer, then preval as well. They are cheap and work great.

I have never painted any for outdoor, but any indoor speakers we just request a pint of paint from the customer. We actually have a spray booth at our shop and air system left over from the car audio days of sunroofs and custom enclosure making that I use. I bought a small automotive touch up gun from harbor freight and use that. We usually keep the extra paint for the day of install and keep a small brush on the truck for touch ups and scratches. We charge 25-50 a speaker depending on the PIA factor. If you have the area to set it up like described above in other posts with everything all layed out it's really easy money.

+1 on the Preval sprayers...They work well for the grilles if you mix paint w/25% Flotrol additive and additional water for latex house paints. I then spray through the grilles with compressed air after each coat to open all cells. I tape-off the grille flanges and apply at least 4 thin coats, rotating the grille 90 degrees between each coat to minimize directional streaking with dark colors.

I charge $100 flat rate per pair plus materials.

I always charged the standard hourly rate and did it at the shop.
We already had a compressor and I had a detail gun and some knowledge.

It takes more time to un-box the speakers than it does to paint them!

It doesn't take a hi-dollar operation to spray latex.

A $40 gun from Lowes with a $300 air compressor will do the trick.

Mixing is the key.....if it runs....it's too thin.
If it clogs the gun,it's too thick!

I've painted cars with $500 a pint paint so I may be over simplifying things but trust me. Latex is forgiving!

An even coat is all you need.
Turn the air down for the grilles and make multiple passes to cover all of the angles on the pores.

You'll be an expert before you finish your first job!

I've never tried the Prevail sprayer but I might now that I don't live in the dust bowl any more! Trust me....they wouldn't work in Kansas unless the dirt matched the paint color!!!

If it's a flat color, like ceiling or walls, and I can get the paint from the jobsite then I do it as part of the cost of the speaker, so no extra charge. If I have to paint match and buy a quart of paint of which I'll only need a cup, and then no use for the rest, I charge materials, and if it's really custom, like a faux paint wood grain finish or chrome or something that I'll need specialty for then I charge standard hourly plus materials.

For small jobs I use the prevail disposable sprayers. For large scale jobs or certain types of grilles (ala the Sonance Z-Series Architectural) I have a professional gravity fed Wagner sprayer, that I use. For real custom jobs I have been known to use brushes, markers, airbrushes, sponges, whatever is necessary to get the job done.

Had my wife do my first set for me with Prevel and made her mix the paint (it was for my own Theater). Somehow shes figured out the perfect consistency. So now she is my go-to for these type of requests and I have never been disappointed.

Thats my concern, how do you know what to mix with? Is there a guide or something?

Based on your comments, I'm asking for a couple Preval kits for Christmas. Thanks for all the advice.

JBerger says the consistency of milk is right... reading the reviews on Amazon seem to echo that. It would be my only concern going in.