Light coming through speakers

[UncleMame]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for eliminating light coming through the speaker areas from the marquee light (Cloth kind of works, but still not great) - I am also afraid of plugging up the area too much and muffling the sound) - Any ideas ?

I also was wondering if other folks had issues with one part of the marquee lighting REALLY well(in the center), with the edges looking a little dim - Any suggestions there ?

Thanks !

[leapinlew]

Could you prevent the light from coming from the marquee box to the speaker area?

[nick3092]

You could try speaker baffels for car speakers to block light. Try Crutchfield. I don't know what they will do to the sound.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I usually cut a piece of an old black T-Shirt and use a staplegun to cover the hole from the inside of the cabinet (inside the marquee area).  Then I install the speaker over it, sandwiching the cloth to the wood.  Finally, to cover any imperfections of light leaking anywhere else I use Weatherseal tape, the kind you would use on edges of a doorway or window.  They vary in size and are great for blocking light, especially on the edges of the marquee.  You simply use the self-adhesive tape to line the edges from the inside.

DeLuSioNaL29

[JustMichael]

If there is no power near, try aluminum foil.

[BadMouth]

xtc speaker baffles (from crutchfield or fleabay)

[sapro]

... or duct tape around the speaker, sealing it against the inside of the cabinet (unless the light is physically shining through the speaker itself??)

[bkenobi]

Duct tape will eventually let go.  I'd use something else if it were me.

[Malenko]

+1 to the black Tshirt

[DNA Dan]

Use black silicone. Can easily be squeezed into cracks, and if you need to pull the speakers its fairly removable.

[Donkbaca]

Use black silicone. Can easily be squeezed into cracks, and if you need to pull the speakers its fairly removable.

+1

[BadMouth]

Use black silicone.

-1  The gas silicone emits as it cures contains an acid that can eat away at foam speaker surrounds and weaken them.
     It can be used, but make sure the area is well ventilated until the silicone is fully cured.

[DNA Dan]

Well that's good to know. I was just about to do this to my install this weekend. Thanks!

[Vigo]

I don't think a bit of black latex weather caulking would do much harm though....

[brad808]

I was always told if you can't fix it with duct tape and wd-40 then you didn't use enough.


This is a time for duct tape 

[Cynicaster]

This is probably of no use to anybody unless they happen to be using the same approach as me, but I’ll put it out there anyway. 

I had this same problem and it was driving me nuts.  My speakers are just PC speakers mounted on brackets behind the speaker panel.  I cut ugly rectangular holes in the panel to allow the sound to pass freely.  I cover the holes with speaker grilles that attach with magnets.  The grilles I made simply by cutting rectangular frames out of ¼” plywood, and stretching some adhesive-backed felt ($1 per speaker at a local crafts store) over the openings. 

It worked great, but the felt wasn’t thick enough to block the light from the marquee area.  What I ended up doing was just taking the leftover felt and sticking it on the underside of the grilles to double up the thickness.  It did the trick, and there is no noticeable degradation of the sound.

[leapinlew]

What about those of us who have problems with speakers coming out of our lights?

[Donkbaca]

What about those of us who have problems with speakers coming out of our lights?

Duct tape and more (less?) whisky will usually fix that...

[gryhnd]

I ended up using a double layer of black weed fabric stapled down over the speakers. Total light blockage :-) Sound was not affected to any extent that I noticed.

[Vigo]

heh. weed fabric. 

[bkenobi]

And as a bonus, you don't have to worry about dandelions either!

[gryhnd]

heh. weed fabric. 

Smoke 'em if you gottem. 

[UncleMame]

Thanks for all the help guys!  LOL bkenobi - dandilions!   I was thinking the same thing! +1 there!

[RandyT]

You can probably do something that helps both of your issues at the same time.  If you have the clearance, put a reflective, but opaque panel (light baffle) in place which isolates the marquee compartment from the speaker area.  Avoid black, as black will absorb light, and you want it to reflect around in your newly isolated marquee area to help illuminate your marquee more evenly.  The best material for the baffle would be mirrored plexi, but some shiny, white masonite material would probably work well too (white side up).  Also, painting the sides of the cabinet a nice glossy white in the marquee area will help as well.

The blue line is the light baffle in the illustration below;



RandyT

[UncleMame]

Thats a great idea, but I already painted the cab black during the construction......But I'll try and look for reflective plexi - Thanks!