I was wondering if anyone can tell me how to build your own speaker grills. I would like to build some custom sizes and was not sure what material they are built out of. Or is there a good place that sells them pre-built for less? I am waiting to purchase these before I build the boxes to make sure that it will fit.
Jered22
Jered22
I guess I have fallen prey to the conventional speaker look. I was going to purchase the TangBand 881's and do the modification to improve the sound. The modification messes with the original look of the driver and does not look all that good once it is done. I was going to cover the "new look". Does a speaker grill really change the sound of the speakers that much? If so forget it.
Jered22
Jered22
I use MDF, no joinery... just cut to size, cut out the desired space for the drivers, etc. leaving and inch and a half or so at the corners.
Use a roundover on the inside and bevel the outer edge on the face at about 60 degrees, and cover with fabric.
You could use frames to save money if you have decent wood lying around, but I'd suggest spline or rabbeted gussets at the corners for strength and lapped rails. (spreaders) MDF frames take less than 5 mins on a table saw.
Good looking grills quadruple the WAF value.
It would be interesting to see exactly what frequency changes are caused by common grill fabrics. It doesn't seem to hurt my NSB OB arrays. In fact the whole cabinet, (7' baffle and two sides) could be put in a big stretch polyester toob sock, making it the cheapest finished cab I can think of.
Use a roundover on the inside and bevel the outer edge on the face at about 60 degrees, and cover with fabric.
You could use frames to save money if you have decent wood lying around, but I'd suggest spline or rabbeted gussets at the corners for strength and lapped rails. (spreaders) MDF frames take less than 5 mins on a table saw.
Good looking grills quadruple the WAF value.
It would be interesting to see exactly what frequency changes are caused by common grill fabrics. It doesn't seem to hurt my NSB OB arrays. In fact the whole cabinet, (7' baffle and two sides) could be put in a big stretch polyester toob sock, making it the cheapest finished cab I can think of.
i agree with that
but you can make nice looking speakers without the grill too
its sound that matters to me
as i said it does not make sence to me listening from behind a curtain, unless you want intentionaly tame the tweeters
i have never seen high end speaker designed with cloth over the tweeter, you may as well put plugs into your ears (i am exaggerating offcourse)
there is no such thing as transparent cloth
you can find many pages dealing with this issue
i have seen more than dozen speaker frequency responses with and without the grill and they were always worse with grill on
for instance:
http://www.wsdg.com/resources/resour.php?SL=te&BL=3
You could imbed magnets in the baffle and grill, so they are easily removeable for serious listening and good WAF and protection the rest of the time. I've got a 4yro and a 9mo, so it will be years before I can go completely without grills. Little ones think dust caps are just big buttons for pushing.
nooo, kids mean no harm, they are just curious
he knows he can only touch the black stuff in the middle
thats what atracts him anyway
no membrane touching
its just a speaker anyway
still its nothing how much harm i am doing
once i remember we were comparing my tube amplifier with some solid state and guy wanted to hear difference in bridged mode which is done only by one switch
maaaan that was loud, i should never turn that switch
my lowther almost lost it
i guess that caused significant dc on output
he knows he can only touch the black stuff in the middle
thats what atracts him anyway
no membrane touching
its just a speaker anyway
still its nothing how much harm i am doing
once i remember we were comparing my tube amplifier with some solid state and guy wanted to hear difference in bridged mode which is done only by one switch
maaaan that was loud, i should never turn that switch
my lowther almost lost it
i guess that caused significant dc on output
The following took place ~1 month ago.
Dramatis personae: the ubiquitous audiophool/ diyer/music-lover & his darling (i.e. significant other, love of my life, etc).
Setting: the music/ sitting room-den, a'phool behind the right spkr baffle unscrewing a Lowther PM5; Darling in front of baffle, ready to help remove said PM5.
Lights, camera, ACTION!
A'phool: "OK, I've removed the screws. I'm holding the driver. I'll move it slowly towards you. All you have to do is get a firm grip, avoid touching the cone -- you know, the light coloured part. OK?"
Darling: "OK, go ahead!"
A'phool (holding magnet and slowly moving PM5 forward):"Here goes, get a firm grip, this thing's back heavy"
Darling:"I've got it, keep going"
A'phool:"OK now, ready to move the unit out of the hole? Take care, grip on the metal parts if you need"
Darling:"Fine ok, I've got it, here goes..."
BAAAAM, CRASH, Bang!!!!
Darling:"Oh my goodness, it slipped right out of my hands!!! Darling, I'm sorry, Oh my!" This thing's heavy -- why didn't you warn me?? Oh my, what's this made of anyway --lead??? I hope there's nothing wrong..."
Bottom line:
-Basket /magnet structure had it
-I still love you (or is it "I love you too")
-Eur: ~350.
Sic transit gloria Lowtherani.
Cheers
Back to the topic, good grill cloth has very little effect on the sound. Only about 0.5db at 20kHz. I get mine from one of the oldest sources in the US. All of the old classics used cloth from them. They are the Acoustone division of Newcastle Fabrics. Check them out here:
http://www.acoustonegrillecloth.com/
http://www.acoustonegrillecloth.com/
Timn8ter said:...what does adding a grill frame change?
The true motivation.
Grill frame? We don't need no stinkin' grill frame!
Last time I put cloth on a speaker I did exactly that. Cut the cloth a bit oversize, hemmed all 4 sides to make it look neat and put a Velcro dot in each corner. Stuck four Velcro dots to the baffle and just Velcroed the fabric in place. No frame of any sort and it hides the drivers from kids, cats, etc. while providing at least a minimal amount of protection.
But mostly I don't bother.
Timn8ter said:
bingo... the cloth -- if well chosen -- will have minimal effect. It is the frame that usually does the damage. Some speakers actually use the design of the grill frame as an integral part of the enclosure. Those measure better with the grills than without.
I'm working on some grill frames made out of stiffened wool felt. I know the wool felt frame actually improves the speaker... now i just need to stiffen it enuff (i'm using glue on the back) to support the grill cloth).
dave
adason said:
Late 70s, back when i worked at the hifi store... John Greenbank is over from England on a promo road trip for his speakers. It is after closing with staff & some customers, John, the Canadian distributors.... RS4s (Audax 8 + KEF t27 in a BR with a square port on the front) connected to a Bryston 4B. Things were rocking. John said turn it up. "Are you sure" i say. Go for it. OK. A very short while later acrid white smoke is poring out of that square port like its a fre hose and that speaker all of sudden has no bass. One of the XO Rs had got so hot it started the damping foam on fire. A fresh woofer, and 10 min later we were rocking again -- a bit more carefully.
almost 30 years on, i'll hear that story again by one or another of the customers that was there.
dave
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