Finishing with fabric?

[XtremeRevolution]

Well, technically not "finishing," but using it to cover an MDF cabinet. I've done it for sub boxes a dozen times over, but I have a pair of the Statement Monitors that have been sitting in the garage for over 3 months now. I have all the parts, all the drivers, but no motivation to go through the process to get a good paint finish on them.

So I went to a fabric store and bought a few years of fabric. Will there be any negative results acoustically speaking with covering the entire cabinet with a fabric using 3M adhesive spray?

[MagicO309d]

I would guess that if you put padding under the fabric it would be even better, otherwise no difference.

Someday I'll use this on one project or another, it should also make for a very quick and easy finish: http://www.corkfloor.com/colours.html

[LouC]

If the fabric has a stretch to it, (and you can keep it forward of the drivers) then a "tube sock" works pretty well. Big advantage is that it's removable for cleaning. I'd still seal the MDF with something (shellac, poly, rattlecan)

Polyester doubleknit (or any synthetic) works fine as grill cloth.

[XtremeRevolution]

I will indeed be sealing it with a mixture of wood glue and water brushed on. The fabric is a maroon tarp fabric. Fairly thick and solid. I will post some pictures when its done. Thanks for the advice!

[XtremeRevolution]

Our theater alcove is not the most ideal place for these and I plan to move them, but for the time being, they sound simply amazing. Here are my wife's exact words: "it sounds like we're listening to the music being played live... but the clarity is way better than at a concert. like... Riviera < House of Blues Chicago <<<<<< these speakers."

We were dumfounded and speechless as we listened to a few of our favorite songs.

[djg]

Those came out very nice.

[fjhuerta]

Great finish!

[joeybutts]

Wow. I love the color and am very tempted to steal it for my HT setup!

Looks real good! REALLY dig the silver face plate on the ribbon!

[XtremeRevolution]

Those came out very nice.

Great finish!

Wow. I love the color and am very tempted to steal it for my HT setup!

Looks real good! REALLY dig the silver face plate on the ribbon!

Thanks guys!

The fabric was actually not that hard to get right. It turned out really nicely with some 3M spray adhesive.

I got the fabric from a large craft store called Joann's fabrics in our area. I believe it was labeled as canvas fabric. The only difficulty was getting the drivers to fit in there. Since I had the fabric overlap on the flush mounting, it was a pretty tight fit. I ended up tapping the speaker frames with a mallet to get them to fit, so if you plan to use something similar, making the flush mount a bit wider is something to keep in mind.

I also love the silver plate on the ribbon. I figured it would look a bit cooler than the black face plate version.

[fusseli]

Great idea using a cloth. Definitely lots of potential for different looks there, and it could hide minor mistakes in homemade boxes.

Why not go the extra mile and paint the woofer flanges and tweeter faceplate all the same matching color?

[XtremeRevolution]

Great idea using a cloth. Definitely lots of potential for different looks there, and it could hide minor mistakes in homemade boxes.

Why not go the extra mile and paint the woofer flanges and tweeter faceplate all the same matching color?

I didn't want to use any paint on this project, and I like the look the way it is now. It would also have taken me longer to finish, and I've already waited over 6 months to get these done. After building my first DIY speakers (Chris Roemer's NTNs), I sold my entire home theater to pay for the parts for these two speakers. That was back in March/April. Its been a long wait.

[kmibb]

pics or it didn't happen.

[XtremeRevolution]

pics or it didn't happen.

Did you miss the pictures I posted earlier? They're in post 5.

[kmibb]

Did you miss the pictures I posted earlier? They're in post 5.

I just see red X's. Maybe the link crapped out?

EDIT: Nevermind, my work just blocks the link. I'll check them out on my phone.