I am looking at building an entertainment center with towers on each side of the TV and I wanted the bottom parts to house the speakers – I thought of covering the openings with some material that will let sound pass but obscure the view so you are not looking at the speakers – the same sort of material they use to cover the speakers themselves – or something similar.
First, I am not sure if this is a good idea – will placing the speakers inside an enclusre and covering the opening with mesh muffle the sound?
Second – not sure where to buy this material.
Any suggestions? The only one I came up with is just place the speakers on top of the bridge that will run across the top of the two towers and the TV itself.
Thanks – Tom
Replies
keep in mind that the optimum placement for forward speakers is at head level, so if they are in the bottom part of the cabinets you might lose some sound quality.
As for speaker mesh, here's a good source for you:
http://www.partsexpress.com/
Tom, you might consider use the fiberglass mesh used for window screens. You should be able to buy at local home center. It is not as good as the stuff made for speakers but is cheap and readily available.
I made some speakers a couple of years ago and have some black mesh left over from a screening project that I will use to cover them.
I am not sure how much affect the material will have on the sound quality.
Steve
If you do an A/B comparison, most "acoustically transparent" grill cloths will still alter the sound, but once you have it on there and don't compare, you shouldn't notice the difference. Parts Express will have most colors of this cloth. Since the speakers will be in an enclosure with hard surfaces, you will want to kill the reflections and resonances in the area around them by covering the walls surrounding the speakers with foam. Parts Express has that, too. It's dark grey and you can cut it with a razor knife. Comtact cement will keep it in place.
Thank you for the suggestions
Radio Shack still sells speaker cloth. Catalog #40-216, Black Speaker Grill Fabric, 32" x 3 yards, for $19.99.
rockler hardware catalog sells this stuff good luck Splinters
Most fabric stores sell single knit polyester and it's usually cheaper than most.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
HighFigh makes a grand suggestion. Use black single knit. Make certain that everything behind the cloth is flat (or nearly so) black. Single knit can be stretched over wood frames (also flat black) very easily and neatly.Incidentally, single knit is probably more acoustically transparent than commercially sold grill cloth material.cadiddlehopper
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