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Perforated Steel speaker grille?

2655 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by [omen], May 25, 2007

[omen]

Discussion Starter · May 24, 2007

Hey guys. I started a thread about this over in the DIY thread, but figured this would be another great place to get some feedback.

I'm building a custom cabinet which will house my center channel speaker - a Paradigm CC-350 - and I'm thinking about using perforated steel as inserts for the doors that will enclose the cabinet (a la Salamander Synergy and Studiotech cabinets). At first I was thinking the amount of high-frequency cut-off was going to be only negligible and that if I just removed the cloth grille that comes with the speaker and adjusted my AVR center channel output I could compensate for the new perforated steel grille in front of the speaker, but now I'm second guessing myself. The perforated steel I'm looking at has an open area of 40% which I think is going to cut off a lot of high-frequencies.

Any of you guys have any insight to using perforated steel in front of speakers (either as grilles or in cabinet doors) and how it affects the sound? I read a review by LA AudioFile of one of Studiotech's cabinets which uses perforated steel doors and they called it "acoustically transparent." Anyone know if they're correct?

Here are the specs for the type of perf'd steel I want to use (as best I can tell, this is the exact same type used by both Salamander and Studiotech which got touted as "acoustically transparent"):

Product Type : Round Hole

Major Material : Plain Steel

Gauge (Thickness) : 20

Hole Size : 1/8"

Hole Centers : 3/16"

Hole Pattern : Staggered

% Open Area : 40%

http://www.mcnichols.com/eCommerce/s...ber=1618312038

Thanks!

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Kal Rubinson

· #2 · May 24, 2007

Why not simply make it a door that you can open when you play the system? Otherwise, it is a crap-shoot. Can you buy a sample and try it?

I am not so sure that the ones touted as 'acoustically transparent' are really so. In my experience, almost anything in front of the drivers affects the sound.

BTW, putting the speaker in a cabinet, even without the added grille, will compromise the performance.

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[omen]

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 25, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kal Rubinson /forum/post/0

Why not simply make it a door that you can open when you play the system? Otherwise, it is a crap-shoot. Can you buy a sample and try it?

I am not so sure that the ones touted as 'acoustically transparent' are really so. In my experience, almost anything in front of the drivers affects the sound.

BTW, putting the speaker in a cabinet, even without the added grille, will compromise the performance.

Thanks for the reply, Kal. That's a good idea about the door. The current plans allow for it to open to 108 degrees, but I'd like to keep it closed if I can. I'll have other gear stowed beneath it which I'd like to keep hidden as much as possible. Not ideal, I know.

Just out of curiosity, why will placing the speaker in a cabinet affect it's performance even without a door? Porting? Subtle reflections?

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Kal Rubinson

· #4 · May 25, 2007

Speakers are designed to give a flat on-axis response and, in order to do that, the designers make assumptions about how they will be placed with regard to other objects and boundaries. Since most speakers are designed with the expectation that they will be free-standing and somewhat distant from boundaries, placing them in a cabinet means that there will be early reflections from the surrounding cabinetry. This usually results in a mid-bass boost (depending on cabinet dimensions) and irregular imaging (depending on shelf spaces). You can buy speakers designed for in-wall mounting and these work better than regular speakers if properly mounted in cabinets.

There's a similar thread going on now about this here on AVS.

BTW, when we did my daughter's system (actually, my son-in-law's), the speakers were all hidden behind grilles and built into a wall of book-cases. They can be played as is for background use but one can open the grille doors and the L/C/R speakers roll out for serious listening/HT.

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[omen]

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 25, 2007

Thanks, Kal. Sounds like I need to rethink the plans for these doors. I've put a lot of work into this thing so far, and the last thing I'd want is to regret the system's performance down the road. Thanks again.

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