After looking at several high-end loudspeakers, such as those made by Sonus Faber, I noticed that several of them have a leather-wrapped front baffle. According to stereophile, this not only looks good aesthetically, but the leather can act as a gasket for the drivers, and the material can actually diffuse energy travelling across the front baffle.
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this on a speaker of their own, or if anyone has any advice as to how someone would go about doing this. How could you wrap the baffle and attach the material without having alignment and air leakage problems when assembling the cabinet?
I was wondering if anyone has ever tried this on a speaker of their own, or if anyone has any advice as to how someone would go about doing this. How could you wrap the baffle and attach the material without having alignment and air leakage problems when assembling the cabinet?
You might consider foam or felt. Both are cheaper, easier to find, and easier to work with than leather.
Leather is not, to my knowledge, inherently superior to foam or felt, it just looks classier...which means you can charge more for your product.
I'd lean towards felt, myself. The thicker, the better, although it's often difficult to find any options in thickness at all.
Grey
Leather is not, to my knowledge, inherently superior to foam or felt, it just looks classier...which means you can charge more for your product.
I'd lean towards felt, myself. The thicker, the better, although it's often difficult to find any options in thickness at all.
Grey
I'm not sure if you correctly understood me. I understand that thick felt and foam are better acoustically to line the inside of the cabinet, but I was referring to wrapping the exterior of the cabinet and front baffle, primarily for aesthetic purposes. Contact cement does sound like a good idea, but I'm still stuck with a way to tuck finish off the seams or tuck the leather. An example of the styling I'm referring to can be seen here: http://www.sonusfaber.com/index.htm
Felt on the baffle helps, look at the Dunlevy speakers and I believe Vandersteen. Felt is a better absorber of sound than leather.
To build the speaker with a leather covered baffle you will have to cover the baffle with leather before you assemble the cabinet.
The other method is to miter a grove around the edge of the front of the cabinet, cover the baffle with leather and tuck the edge of the leather into the grove, then fill the grove with a strip of wood or material of your choice.
Jam
P.S. In the case of the Sonus Faber, the front, top, bottom and back are covered with leather and are folded over the sides. Wood end caps are attched to the sides and cover the edges of the leather.
[Edited by jam on 08-04-2001 at 12:27 AM]
To build the speaker with a leather covered baffle you will have to cover the baffle with leather before you assemble the cabinet.
The other method is to miter a grove around the edge of the front of the cabinet, cover the baffle with leather and tuck the edge of the leather into the grove, then fill the grove with a strip of wood or material of your choice.
Jam
P.S. In the case of the Sonus Faber, the front, top, bottom and back are covered with leather and are folded over the sides. Wood end caps are attched to the sides and cover the edges of the leather.
[Edited by jam on 08-04-2001 at 12:27 AM]
I had considered a mitered groove myself, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to seal it properly, though I imagine it would be simple enough to do. The end cap idea sounds like the way to go though, and I could add some extra weight to the cabinets while I'm at it. Thanks for all the help. If I ever do build these cabinets, I'll let you all know how they turn out.
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