Acoustically Transparent Material?

[LittleG]

Hi All,

Total noob here with no home audio experience to speak of but been reading a little on the forum.
Basically I have a set of speakers than need to have the grills recovered thanks to some abnormal wear and tear.  From what I see online, the material used on the speaker grill is referred to as 'Acoustically transparent' material. There are international online stores that sell the material, but I would ideally like to source a little (2m square will give me plenty to work with) locally if possible and at what cost? Not looking to spend thousands of rands on these covers  .

Thanks!
 

[ViVoAudio]

Basically you ca use any material that meet the following specs
1. if you can blow air through it easily
2. strong enough
3. elastic enough
4. colour you like

If you want to use it foe a projection screen, I hear you can use 'sheer weave' its the material they use for awnings the 80% - 90% sun block out should work.

[tangmonster]

for a previous build i used material that (according to the sales person) is normally put inside tight clothes for bicycle riders or joggers. IT's nice and stretchy ,black , looks good and lets air trough great and costs R10 per meter.

[chipwelder]

Nothing is completely acoustically transparent, i.e. some very high frequencies get attenuated, but this is usually compensated for in the design...

[Hennie]

Spandex / Lycra. It stretches as nicely over a grille frame as over a neat set of buttocks. Some grades are a bit shiny though, but there are some without the shine.

[undefined.za]

I want to replace the covers on my Magneplanar SMGa's and I was thinking that Hessian would be a good choice (it looks very similar to the original material and has large holes in the weave)

Comments?

[ghostinthemachine]

I want to replace the covers on my Magneplanar SMGa's and I was thinking that Hessian would be a good choice (it looks very similar to the original material and has large holes in the weave)

Comments?

Going for a medieval look?

Rather go and get some sleek Spandex material. Available in a variety of colors at any good fabric shoppe.

[fdlsys]

I want to replace the covers on my Magneplanar SMGa's and I was thinking that Hessian would be a good choice (it looks very similar to the original material and has large holes in the weave)

Comments?

I would agree that there is some aesthetic similarity, however, hessian is (traditional) made of plant (jute/sisal/other) fibre, which I personally wouldn't trust to be dust-free over a long period of time. Original Maggie's cloth is very differently woven and I would assume the material to be much more stable than hessian. I eventually took them off my Maggies because they got so dirty that I had to wash them. Regretfully, after that they were completely ruined.

If I were you, I would go far a modernised look - very thin, and to a small degree optically transparent, synthetic fabrics. Ian (JimGore) has quite a collection of samples that I have seen and almost all of them would look great covering the large ribbon membrane. Ask him about the source - he mentioned a fabric shop in his neighbourhood once.

*ghostinthemachine beat me to it*

[undefined.za]

Thanks for the replies

I just PM'd him about replacing the crossover components! I'll ask him about the material next.

[Atjan]

If you don't get sorted at the Gore Shoppe, you could try RSE Electronics. Mike, the owner, showed me an example of their covers which was made with some of that typical black speaker cover cloth.

[Hi-Phibian]

Crympolene (spelling)
Stretchy and much easier to get wrinkle free as a result.

[Atjan]

Crympolene (spelling)
Stretchy and much easier to get wrinkle free as a result.

That's a brilliant idea! Not only should it be fairly easy to find, quite acoustically transparent, but also available in a range of designs. Here I'm  specifically thinking floral! Enough to lively up even the drabbest of speaker designs.

[chris]

Crympolene (spelling)
Stretchy and much easier to get wrinkle free as a result.

That's the one. When I did the grills for Creyneke (Graig) I went to the material place with a sample of his Boston's material and that "Crymolene" was the closest to it. I did a little blind test on it with my speakers and could not spot the difference.

[Atjan]

Just chillin' tonight, listening to some music when I re-read this post and started thinking about the term 'acoustically transparent'. So I pulled those covers off the little Monitor Audio speakers and- WoW! There's a difference I can hear.
So, not meaning to get myself stoned by the 'off topic' police or start a school of thought regarding the relative benefits of different materials, but this is for sure the cheapest upgrade you can do! No catches, no doubt, pull them covers down and get the sound the maker intended! Its of course the higher frequencies that benefit and become more open and clear. Grand.

[undefined.za]

Maybe we should run a poll as to the best Acoustically Transparent Material?

Let the suggestions and possible answers begin!

Crimlene
Lycra