# Grills for my HLCD ?



## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

I have my full size horns mounted an tested, I will share that fun build with you guys at a later post.My ? is im making horn covers I had some .180 ID perf steel laying around .thinking of using it but wasn't sure if there will be a issue being that the punched hole are .180 per hole , I wanted to use the perf steel and cover in black speaker grill mat. here is some pics of what I got going on


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

says the picture doesnt exsist.

I wouldnt cover the horns with anything that would block them. If you want a cover, make one out of 1/8" ply and cover in grill cloth to match the interior.


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## jpeezy (Feb 5, 2012)

your really dont need to cover them with grill metal, because 1)youd be hard pressed to be able to get your finger or fingers all the way up into the horn(Mr. so+so you might feel some pressure! ),2) most compression drivers have protective screen over output mouth.but if you really had to,use 63% open area expanded or punched metal,ID horns use to come with perforated steel for just such an instance.start using heavy grill cloth or doubling of grill cloth and you will hear a difference.ive done quite a few horn setups,and never experienced any deterioration of output due to grill metal(at least 63%) and or grill cloth.good luck


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

I was thinking that may be the case , I did make .250 thick wood frames for my horns . the perf steel was going to be used as a insert in the frame but I can make a speaker grill mat. insert in place of the metal one. I didn't want to install anything that will make my horns not play at there best.


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## Eric Stevens (Dec 29, 2007)

I prefer to have no grills except trim to blend them into the car. Grill cloth has no measureable effect even beyond 16Khz so its ok.

Eric


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

I`d use expanded steel mesh instead, home depo has gutter screens just about perfect for your application. I can post a picture if you like.


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## rockin (Sep 13, 2012)

When I fab my grilles I put masking or blue painters tape over the metal that will be positioned over the I.D. of the horn mouth. I do that so I can apply spray glue to the metal grille to adhere the cloth, but peel away the tape right after glue so there is no glue-covered cloth covering the inside of the horn mouth. Does that make sense?


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## win1 (Sep 27, 2008)

Victor inox could you please post pics sir


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

GONZO151 said:


> I was thinking that may be the case , I did make .250 thick wood frames for my horns . the perf steel was going to be used as a insert in the frame but I can make a speaker grill mat. insert in place of the metal one. I didn't want to install anything that will make my horns not play at there best.


When a wave encounters an object that's nearly it's size or greater, you get reflection and diffraction. In the midrange, that's not a huge issue. 1000hz is 13.5 long, so anything smaller than 4" or so is going to be basically invisible.

But move up to 10khz, and now the criteria gets tougher. At 10khz an object that's just 0.4" will create problems.

When I look at the grill there, that edge looks like it would really wreck your imaging and also create some dips in the high frequency response.










That's the reason you never see modern speakers with a ridge on the edge of the speaker face; that ridge, like in this JBL, causes diffraction.


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

Thanks for all the feedback. I have removed the steel grill and working on getting grill mat. To cover they opening,i would leave it uncoverd 
but I have kids and who know what they may stick in there LOL


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## Patrick Bateman (Sep 11, 2006)

GONZO151 said:


> Thanks for all the feedback. I have removed the steel grill and working on getting grill mat. To cover they opening,i would leave it uncoverd
> but I have kids and who know what they may stick in there LOL


Fill it with foam?










If you have an EQ there's no good reason not to.


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## Eric Stevens (Dec 29, 2007)

GONZO151 said:


> Thanks for all the feedback. I have removed the steel grill and working on getting grill mat. To cover they opening,i would leave it uncoverd
> but I have kids and who know what they may stick in there LOL


Cover it with grill cloth with no frame work. Use spray glue and adhere the grill cloth directly to the horn. then wrap the rear portion with black carpet to complete the look.

Eric


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

win1 said:


> Victor inox could you please post pics sir


 size 3' x 5" cost about $3 at home depot, I used it in numerous audio projects, guaranteed to be acoustically transparent.


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

That will work!, Im wrapping the frame its self in black vinyl but was stuck on how to add the grill without making a incert for opening .that will do the trick


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Patrick Bateman said:


> When a wave encounters an object that's nearly it's size or greater, you get reflection and diffraction. In the midrange, that's not a huge issue. 1000hz is 13.5 long, so anything smaller than 4" or so is going to be basically invisible.
> 
> But move up to 10khz, and now the criteria gets tougher. At 10khz an object that's just 0.4" will create problems.
> 
> ...


What exactly your image demonstrates?








while I agree on your theoretical numbers, perforated steel like that used in many pro audio speakers. with bigger holes and more spacing between holes. some "audiophiles can hear difference between oped drives and acoustically transparent fabric, blind tests prove otherwise though... uncovered drivers is plain sexy IMHO but I prefer some protection over pure sexiness. horns almost never has covers though.. drivers itself have fine mesh over openings


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

GONZO151 said:


> That will work!, Im wrapping the frame its self in black vinyl but was stuck on how to add the grill without making a incert for opening .that will do the trick


Any progress?


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

Yup,I post pics of frame that I wrapped. Still ne to order the black grill mat. From PE .I took abreak on grills to start my door panles got my midbass speakers in cant wait to try them they fit the bill for them to run with horns at least on paper LOL I havnt seen much about them here but for the price cant lose ,they are 10 pwx 300rms,98db 50-3000 hz range I thnk,not bad for $54 apice ,yes they are pro audio speakers incase any is asking not too deep for 10" .its like 4 5/16 tall


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

Here is the grill covers Im working on they are held in place by 12 neo magnets 6 per horn each magnet is a stack of 3 magnet they are strong for their size. small metal plates are held in place flush by the mounting bolts works great, just got to order the black mesh cloth, kinda sucks I have to order a hole yard when all I need is a 10"x25" pcs.


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## Mic10is (Aug 20, 2007)

Joanne fabrics sells grill cloth . Just wrap the horn mouth and put the grill over it


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

Great!! Thats were I got the vinyl from will buy some Sat.


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## GONZO151 (Jun 29, 2013)

well after some thinking I changed things up on my grills .I didn't like how my first grill frame blocked the the top and bottom . I went with Eric's ideal of wrapping the horn in grill mat. I just did a simple frame to cover the ends of the mounting point points


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