Speaker Grills

[bombay317]

I have bad, bad, bad cats and need to protect the speakers.

My cat again ripped the speaker, so (after replacing the damaged speaker) I am endeavoring into the custom speaker grill realm.  I found this site where it looks like they can make whatever i want.  I am only going to cover the bottom two 8" speakers.  ill share some designs and pictures as it progresses.  I am basically looking at a box pan grill that is about 9" x 14.25" that would be powder-coated black.

Do you all have suggestions for mounting the metal grills?  Floating vibration isolating rubber grommets?  Maybe rubber Wallaces?

The grill that they are supplying has 4mm holes with 63% coverage.  How high above the speaker should it be mounted?

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Have you considered putting a cat tree super close to your speakers? 

If you want an easy way to apply a grill, round neodymium rod magnets that are about 1/4" in diameter and 3/8" to 1/2" long will pop right onto the driver screws.  All you then need to do is cut a sheet of very perforated steel to the correct size and stick it to the magnets.

https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=13512&step=4&id=1004&top_cat=0#
https://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D48DIA

PJ could probably comment on what to look for in acoustically transparent perforated metal sheet. 

 

[Paul Joppa]

For mounting, you want the grill far enough from the cone to allow full excursion. The cone's linear excursion is specified as 5mm, but deep thwacks on a bass drum might exceed the linear excursion - I'd want more like 10mm space myself.

The more open area, the better. It's nearly impossible to get better than 65% with round holes, though woven metal or square holes can do a bit better. Most of the attenuation is in the treble, 5kHz and up.

In the bass and midrange, a high percent open area (POA) will be fairly transparent to sound. But it will still reflect a portion so there might be a resonance between cone and grill. You'll have to listen to it to know whether this is audible or annoying to you.

Are your cats likely to snag a claw and pull the screen off? Give some thought to a solid-enough mounting!

 

[bombay317]

I was mistaken in that the grill is being mounted at 20mm, not 10mm, so there should be plenty of space for the driver to move around.  The vendor who I am talking with only has the round hole 63% version, no square hole ones.  I am in the UK, so I dont think I can use the site you referenced for different metals.

I think that the damage they have been doing has been a result of them falling and trying to grab onto something to stop their fall.  I think doing something like providing the cat tree near the speaker would be a reasonable thing to do in addition to the grill.

I would rather they snag the grill and it pull free rather than they pull the speaker down with them.  My (bad) cat is a Maine Coon, being a huge house tiger more than a house cat. 

I will see if i notice anything with the grill in place and removed.

 

[Deluk]

Your profile says San Francisco and not UK?
FYI UK https://www.decorativemesh.co.uk/

There are others if you Google.

 

[bombay317]

I got some and installed them onto the speakers.  I think they look pretty clean.  Ill get a few more photos and attach them soon.

I also changed my profile to be updated to the UK.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Wow, those look great!

 

[bombay317]

Some more of the great grills.

These are only held on by four hook and pile circles that are stuck to wooden dowels.  If for some reason the cats fall and hook their claws into them, they will probably pop off and not bring the speaker down with them.

The metal is powder coated, and special can and attention was paid to ensure that the metal was kept truly floating.  The metal is not physically in contact with the speaker except through the wooden dowels and hook and pile.  A small cutout was added at the top to ensure that there was a gap between the top speaker, sub, and the grill.

 

[Hank Murrow]

I am curious as to why you reversed the pattern of the absorbent material on the inside face next to the tweeter; could you elaborate?

Cheers Hank waiting in Eugene to build my pair.

 

[bombay317]

Well, my cat keeps climbing up on top of the speaker and pulling off the felt.  i have to replace it and i just keep sticking it back on the speaker.  sometimes she stares me right in the face when she rips off some of the felt.  I probably dont always put it back in the right orientation.