Speaker grills & fabric

[moustachebandit]

The other day the father in law donated some of his spare speakers. They are a bit of a family heirloom and are almost as old as the OH. Typically though being old speakers the covers perished a long time ago. So I have been looking at making some new covers for them, to match the original design.

Making the frame isn't an issue I have all the tools to do that. But I am wondering about the best fabric to use. I have found some nice acoustic fabric online which would do the job but considering the age of the speakers / design I was wondering whether a nice linen would work as well?

The sound quality from the speakers is exceptional (at least to my ears) so I dont want to ruin the acoustics by covering them with the wrong cloth.

Interested to know how much impact fabric choice will have on the speakers once new covers are on.

Cheers

[psi310398]

I think purists would say that any fabric will degrade sound quality and most hifi people I know remove grilles for listening sessions.

What are the speakers? If horns, they are best left open unless they bark or squawk, in which case fabric can soften the tone a bit but foam bungs are normally used for that.

If old school Tannoys (full ranges) or the like, the cabinets were designed and tuned to be used with the fabric in place and I'd suggest getting the right fabric for the cabinet.

That said, I doubt that a taut light linen would degrade things massively but I'd not go for anything much heavier or denser in weave.

Peter

[moustachebandit]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the response. The speakers are Linn Isobariks, they did originally have covers but got ruined over time and thrown out. Unsure whether I can get the exact same fabric Linn specced back in the day. I have been told they just came with black fabric covers but, just feel a nicer fabric could really lift their appearance.

Cheers

[Zodiac M]

http://www.wilmslow-audio.co.uk/linn-isobarik-gril...

[psi310398]

Hi Moustachebandit,

OK, so not quite so vintage. You are not looking for Tygan cloth or something hard to find.

These speakers pair nicely with the older Naim stuff.

IIRC Wilmslow Audio can provide the fabric to do these up.

Peter

[moustachebandit]

Gents, thanks for the link to Wilmslow Audio really helpful. I have decided I will probably just roll with some of the conventional black fabric they have and then consider making a change at a later date.

Thanks

[FlossyThePig]

I followed the link to Wilmslow Audio. It brought back memories as I built a pair of LS3 speakers from their kit about 30 years ago. It's nice to see they are still available (a pity my ears have given up the ghost).

Excellent service from knowledgeable people.

[red997]

I have a set of Isobariks
they came with foam grilles originally, most of which have perished
set of four - front and top

I bought some reticulated foam grilles ages ago - cant remember where from unfortunately, but only ended up using the top ones.
I made my own front grilles, out of hardwood strip, and generic black speaker cloth - held on by velcro
much more 'modern' looking and aesthetically better than the originals
I cant tell any sound difference on or off

Do you know exactly which vintage speakers they are ?
they evolved bit over their life.

Mine are late models, fully active (12 mono power amps !)

Still sound bloody brilliant

[moustachebandit]

red997 said:

I have a set of Isobariks
they came with foam grilles originally, most of which have perished
set of four - front and top

I bought some reticulated foam grilles ages ago - cant remember where from unfortunately, but only ended up using the top ones.
I made my own front grilles, out of hardwood strip, and generic black speaker cloth - held on by velcro
much more 'modern' looking and aesthetically better than the originals
I cant tell any sound difference on or off

Do you know exactly which vintage speakers they are ?
they evolved bit over their life.

Mine are late models, fully active (12 mono power amps !)

Still sound bloody brilliant

Hi Red,

I am unsure on their exact vintage, the FIL who gifted them cant recall when he bought them either. I am guessing mid 70's. They are the DMS version and have a 3 pin connector plug at the back. One big thing I notice compared to a lot of the other Isobariks i have seen is that the speaker faces are not veneered and just painted black. Now I dont know if the FIL painted them at some point or whether they came like that from new. The stands also look different to other units and are un supported at the front.

I am going to have a pop at making some frames for the grills this weekend and play around with a few styles and see whats would work. I am leaning towards doing something like this as I think it might look quite good and compliment the style.

http://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/32/181088_l...

I did find a page where you can by replacement foam but the price was pretty steep.

One thing the speakers has done is highlight that I need a better amp!

Also toying with stripping them down and restoring the cases. They have 40 years of patina on them which adds to their charm, but would look great with a bit of love to the wood.

Edited by moustachebandit on Friday 21st July 18:24

[psi310398]

moustachebandit said:

One thing the speakers has done is highlight that I need a better amp!

Edited by moustachebandit on Friday 21st July 18:24

From recollection, the old ones were traditionally paired with batteries/multiples of the old Naim "shoeboxes" but I have also heard them to good effect with a Rotel pre and multi power amp set up.

Best

Peter