converting oiled walnut to "rosenut" color

Thanks for the suggestions..all good. I've stained & finished enough wood over the years to appreciate the comments about dark wood just getting darker with added stain. I hadn't considered that..yet, but no doubt it's true. Typically on fresh wood I use Transtint dyes and often make several applications of different colors without it going muddy & dark. A "Mission" finish starts out with fresh (qs)white oak getting a canary yellow dye and ends as a glazed golden reddish-brown. Transtint has some pretty pure colors, but hitting the speakers with a straight red dye may not get me there. The Transtint carrier (you mix it up from concentrate) is either ethanol or water. Not thrilled with wiping down the speakers with either, but ethanol would be better. Though any ethanol you can buy contains 5% water and this could raise the grain...requiring a light sanding. I'm sure the veneer is paper-thin.

The suggestion of bleaching and then restaining is actually a very good one that I hadn't considered. There are a number of options to bleaching..the ones I know involve water. Lots of risk with this path though. It could only be done as a shortcut to reveneering..as, if it didn't work, I'd be reveneering anyway. In the end, the "shortcut" may turn out to be going straight to reveneering in the first place.

hmm..nuthin's easy...

I haven't pulled the bottom halves of the speakers out of the closet they are in, but I don't think the bottoms are veneered. I have some walnut in the shop..guess some experimenting may be in order...thanks..

keep'em(stock)walnut..they're classics.

The suggestion for bleach overlooks that fact it will raise the veneer Try the ethanol/water approach first, again on the bottom.

lightly sand-stain black
Black goes with anything
Rosenut looks like crapola

I would not recommend using bleach or alcohol. You could dissolve the adhesive that holds your existing veneer onto the base wood. If your veneer is over particle board you could wind up curling the ends and corners of the veneer. Or causing the veneer to separate.

If your speakers have an existing oil finish I would suggest products from DOF (danish oil finish). It requires detailed work and is labor intensive. How do you plan to protect the speakers in the cabinet and the guts of the speaker? I would empty the cabinet, noting wiring and even marking the screws.