Speaker grille solution

Molded plastic. Do not drill or punch anything if you're looking for low cost.

Thanks your suggestion, TVP45.

this solution was what I thank for past week. with more detail and cosmetic requirement available, here there are:

1) polish surface + black color.

2) hole size from dia 0.8 ~ 1.3mm, all hole are thru'

3) pitch around 0.7 ~ 1.5mm

4) part size: 130mm X 60mm X 1.6mm ( thickness)

with this basic requirement, is it possible to mold? how is the tool design? parting line & etc? molding burr issue?

appreciated someone out there can help.

Thank you.

have the a plastic cover and frame with built in locking studs that would press into holes on the speaker body

A suitable fabric stretched around a frame might work

Agree with the cloth idea, we used this for most of our cabinets at Carlsbro. There are several suppliers of this around - try googling "Acoustic Speaker Cloth" or just "Speaker Grille".

You simply staple this tightly to a wooden frame. Most suppliers also have a range of parts for attaching the grille to your cabinet.

Black Muslin Cloth.

/Ari

Muslin is cheap

Thin open cell foam is another alternative.

Pre manufactured metal grill, let someone else do the hole making. Just be sure that the harmonics of the metal doesn't intefere with the sound.

-Doug

Drobertson,

The man did say "cheap"!

I doubt whether either of these methods are.

Open cell foam isn't very expensive. I am speaking of the basic stuff they use for rudimentary air filters in air conditioners and such. It is at least an order of magnitude cheaper than punching your own stainless steel panels.

The pre-manufactured metal grill can also be fairly inexpensive. Tin and sheet metal panel material like this are mass manufactured and can be pretty good for these types of projects.

It all depends on the compromises you want to get into between "cheap" and looks. If you want the "Cheapest" alternative, don't cover it with anything. Go for the open speaker look.

It would be helpful if people would give a better description of their goals in these posts. It is very hard to give good advice based on a limited understanding of the desired result.

Good luck,

Doug

Open cell foam isn't very expensive. No but it is an acoustic dampening material and it's use may be counter-productive...

How does woven ring mesh a.k.a. maille sound? Prefab pieces of maille can be bought here.

http://theringlord.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=95&cat=Sheets+of+Maille

Otherwise you could make your own with wire, a mandrel, snips, and pliers. It's time consuming but it might work for you.

www.parts-express.com

I have researched this for my own grills that I recovered. Original cover was dense but only 3/8ths thick and was still acoustic damping. Less dense foam like JBL used is available but still pretty expensive. (Google acoustically transparent foam.) If I remember correctly it was about $45 - $50 for two speakers and then you have to worry about cutting it straight. Muslin is weak and doesn't look good to me. AR used loose weave linen (flax) which is still not as transparent acoustically as I wanted. I settled on a loose weave black polyester which was only about $15 for both speakers but I had to cut out a frame and staple it around the frame and then hot glue velcro to it to another frame of screen wire mesh. The black poly is not so see-thru as well as being pretty strong and the screen wire is good for even more protection. Now my old JBLs look like new!