Grille Beams

[stelleg151]

I am the oldest in a family of 4 boys, so protecting my speakers is very important.

What im not sure of is how putting bars in front of my driver will affect the sound.

Here are two quick sketches of the ideas for a guard, with grille cloth in front of it.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Any preferences? Am I worrying about nothing?

Thanks

 

[phn]

Go ahead. Use what you like. None of them will affect the sound. Otherwise, imagine what this would do to the sound.

 

[noah katz]

Hardware cloth (wire grid fence material) would give more complete protection.

 

[stelleg151]

thanks, but its a fairly small speaker (4.5") so I think a couple of beams should be sufficient, thanks for your help fellas.

 

[dnsey]

You don't say what sort of a driver it is.
At low frequencies, I agree that there will be little discernable effect, but if the driver delivers HF, it's a different matter. In that case, I'd make the bars as narrow as possible, and radiused - metal rod or heavy wire would possibly be the best material. I'd certainly go for the 'double-bar'' arrangement in any case, as the obstruction will affect high frequencies (radiated from nearer the centre of the cone) less.
As always, the best answer to your question is to try it and listen!

 

[stelleg151]

Thanks, I was thinking the same thing as far as the double bar goes.

The driver is a Fostex fe127e fullrange driver. I think I will try a couple of bands of wire or thin rods as you suggest.

Thanks again

 

[MBK]

I use aluminium hardware grille (easier to bend than steel), glued in place to the cabinet with black rubber cement. This is for a 6.5" driver. You could also try one of the various computer fan stainless steel / chromed / plastc grilles, those are radiused and have only a few wires, and should fit a 4.5" driver.

Oh yes, my 22 month old does bang stuff against the grille... fingers, toy cars, sticks, I would not count too much on one bar or two. My grille has a few notches already (drawback of the soft alu).

 

[stelleg151]

Great idea man, cant believe I didnt think of that considering how much of a geek I am. Just putting another coat on my speakers so maybe I will order a pair of 120mm grills, as they should be larger than 120mm which is 4.7" which will be just about perfect, so thanks for the idea.