speaker covering or grill options?? i need help

[hulkster]

okay, im building the monitor section for my showcase cab and i started routing out slots for the speaker panel sections.  however, after i started doing it, i started thinking i could just route out a big circle and put a speaker grill in.  but that wouldnt look very good...at least in my opinion...on a showcase cab.  so my next thought was to get some kind of black speaker covering....either wire or cloth....to cover the front speaker panels, giving it a cleaner look.  plus if i cover the whole panel with some kind of nice material, then even if i put some little speakers in it (nice sound though) it would look like a big speaker is installed, thus keeping the large showcase feel.  so my question is, where do i get this type of material to cover my panels?  the panels themselvers are 7"w and 27" L.  they will be standing up vertically obviously.  any suggestions?

[hulkster]

heres hoping for a reply

[Santoro]

Parts Express has Speaker Grille Cloth:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage.cfm?&Webpage_ID=3&DID=7&CAT_ID=48&ObjectGroup_ID=140&SO=2

[hulkster]

yeah i know where to get that, but im wondering if it works and looks good?

[Ken Layton]

Minthorne Associates in Lake Oswego, Oregon (503-968-8811) manufacturers speaker grill cloth both in regular cloth and wire reinforced cloth.

Antique Electronic Supply (www.tubesandmore.com) also has a wide variety of speaker grill cloth.

[hulkster]

alright, i ordered some speaker cloth from partsexpress.com and it came in yesterday.  it looks fine and it will probably look pretty good....however....now that i think about it, its gonna look kinda ghetto just like stapled over a piece of wood without anything covering it dont you think?  i mean, i dont know what else to do as far as creating speaker panels goes.  the main problem is the edges of the wood of the panels.  if i cover each panel in speaker cloth, it will have to wrap around each panel, and therefore kinda exposing the edge and making it not look very flush so to speak.  would i be able to cut the middle part out of some t-molding and place that over the ends to make it look like its protected??  i dont know how else to explain this, but just imagine a piece of wood about 7" wide, and to wrap that in regular speaker cloth, and the edges are now exposed....so how do i cover them??  

oh and by the way, this is my 1000th post!!  woohoo!  i talk too much

[Ken Layton]

For the edges try some slotted wood moulding or some aluminum channel.

[hulkster]

hmmm....where would i get that stuff?  im sure i could get the aluminum stuff from home depot, but what about that slot molding stuff?

[Ken Layton]

Slotted door and wall moldings are available at any large hardware store such as Lowe's and Home Depot. It's back with the wood.

[hulkster]

alright i did a search on google for "slotted wood molding" and looked around for a while and i found some stuff...i think....but the problem is, i dont even know what im looking at.  ive never heard of slot molding much less know of what it looks like.  is there any way you can find a picture for me?  i mean, im just kinda confused as to what to look for, how to do it, or even if i can use this method for my situation.

[spauldingd]

What about buying a pair of cheap wooden picture frames of the appropriate size, remove the glass, paint, and staple the speaker cloth to the back of the frame and then mount the picture frames to your cabinet so they cover the speaker holes?

[DrewKaree]

oh and by the way, this is my 1000th post!!  woohoo!  i talk too much

Shut yer piehole, ya windbag!

Something I was thinking of while reading your post, what about using some molding to cover up the edges?  You'll be looking for "half-round" molding (it looks like t-molding, the part that shows)?  They sell that stuff SUPER cheap at HD, and I think you could nail/staple one side, and use that to stretch it tight and finish off the other sides.

[SpamMe]

Little late to help hulkster, but maybe somebody else can benefit. :/

I was going to route slots, too, but decided against it for two reasons:
1) Cabinet was already assembled, and the only router I have access to is too large to use in place and
2) I didn't want dust all over my living room.

Ended up drilling holes for the speakers and I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

[Santoro]

Wow that looks sweet but how on earth did you get the pattern so neat?  How long did it take?

[hulkster]

Little late to help hulkster, but maybe somebody else can benefit. :/

I was going to route slots, too, but decided against it for two reasons:
1) Cabinet was already assembled, and the only router I have access to is too large to use in place and
2) I didn't want dust all over my living room.

Ended up drilling holes for the speakers and I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

yeah, thats a really good idea.  where were you at the beginning?!?!?!    after thinking about it, im going to try to just put that speaker cloth on, and see what it looks like without a frame.  the edges are cut at an angle using the circular saw, so the edges of the cloth will mostly be covered, but i just didnt want it to be bare looking.  we'll see.  thanks for the ideas guys, ill post pics once i get done.

[MameMe]

Little late to help hulkster, but maybe somebody else can benefit. :/

I was going to route slots, too, but decided against it for two reasons:
1) Cabinet was already assembled, and the only router I have access to is too large to use in place and
2) I didn't want dust all over my living room.

Ended up drilling holes for the speakers and I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

Spam...do you have the hole pattern in pdf or msword?

[SpamMe]

Wow that looks sweet but how on earth did you get the pattern so neat?

It looks neater than it really is, but I just used a pattern and drilled carefully

How long did it take?

About 2 hours for both, plus maybe 1 hour to paint all the ()@*$ holes.

Spam...do you have the hole pattern in pdf or msword?

Well, you can have what I used (photo of my fiancee's pc's fan grill)
http://files.upup.us/speakertemp.pdf

[MameMe]

Well, you can have what I used (photo of my fiancee's pc's fan grill)
http://files.upup.us/speakertemp.pdf

Thanks man this will come in handy as I plan my first cabinet.

[vidmouse]

Little late to help hulkster, but maybe somebody else can benefit. :/

I was going to route slots, too, but decided against it for two reasons:
1) Cabinet was already assembled, and the only router I have access to is too large to use in place and
2) I didn't want dust all over my living room.

Ended up drilling holes for the speakers and I'm reasonably pleased with the results.

Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but was wondering how
well the sound comes through when you try something like
this... cutting the speaker holes is one of the last things I've got
to do and am debating doing this or finding some way to
cut rectangular holes and cover.

Thanks,