What's The Best Thing To Cover PA Speaker Cabs?

[dintymoore]

Not catching the ball!

 

[Lt. Bob]

Not catching the ball!

Why not?
You said the difference was dramatic and you said if we opened our minds and checked it out we'd be amazed.
So he's offering to take you up on it.
Why don't you spell out some conditions where he'd be able to reproduce your results and prove it to us?
I am a free thinker and open minded ...... I don't believe your claims but I'd be very quick to say I was wrong if I heard it for myself. I have good ears so I would hear it if it were there and I could have fun with saying how wrong I was so I'd enjoy being shown I'm wrong.
Here's your chance to prove a point ..... tell us what experiment would do this.

 

[Jim Lad]

Further, if speakers should be mounted on an undamped surface, then the best solution would be a driver mounted in a large, thin baffle that was then suspended in the room. That will be much freer to vibrate than a cabinet of any construction.

Actually, there is a new speaker which just came out of the experimental stage. Doesn't hang in the middle of the room but does hang like a picture on the wall. The name will come to me.

 

[dintymoore]

Why not?
You said the difference was dramatic and you said if we opened our minds and checked it out we'd be amazed.
So he's offering to take you up on it...

The best thing if you really want to know what I'm talking about is to read Altmann and my sites and do some experimenting of your own. Mind you, if you've already decided it's untrue your results will probably be tainted.

... Here's your chance to prove a point ..... tell us what experiment would do this.

I have no idea what experiment would "do this".

I'm not about swaying anyone to my religion or proving anything to anyone. We will all die and all of this will mean little. But before I do, I'm going to try and get all the music inside of me out, and that's what I'm sharing here: what worked for me. Not dreams, but actually real stuff on real gigs.

If you don't like it, just look at as food on a restaurant menu that you don't want to order. You shouldn't feel the need to get sarcastic or mock, that's what insecure people do when they run out of ammo.

So as far as "here's my chance"... I don't need to prove anything I already know, I'm just sharing it with people who might find it helps them like it's helped me.

 

[Jim Lad]

So as far as "here's my chance"... I don't need to prove anything I already know, I'm just sharing it with people who might find it helps them like it's helped me.

Yes you are and regardless of whether or not I agree with you, I find your theory, thought provoking to say the least.

 

[dintymoore]

Thanks.

One thing I might add is that in the current trend of making speakers akin to shipping cartons the use of metal grilles I find especially offensive.

If you hit the metal grille on the front of my JBL's it sounded like a garbage can, and that sound was being added to everything that came out of the speaker.

What I've found is that it's like surfing - waves ride on waves. And anything you have like the grille will be added to the sound. So for sure metal grilles do a great job of protecting speakers but they have no place on a musical instrument.

It should be noted also that I'm talking about musical instrument speaker boxes, not studio monitors. That's why they don't need to be flat response.

I can't tell you how sweet the sound of my wooden horns is on stage. It feels like I'm sitting in a gigantic acoustic guitar. The sound has, zero, absolutely none, of that FM radio electronic sound, the plastic era sound that started around 1960.

That sound has actually made our society sick.

 

[mshilarious]

You can do any of these three things to convince me:

- get Harvey Gerst to agree with you. He's an expert on speaker design, and has worked for some of the big boys.

- get muttley to agree with you. He's an expert on acoustics and the physical properties of materials. Although I think he's already rejected the idea.

- describe a valid experiment that other people can perform. I'm not going to waste my time with a saw and router unless you agree upfront that the method is valid. If you can't describe a valid method, your opinion is useless because it can't be replicated by anyone else.

I read the Altmann site back when we discussed this on the guitar board, and I recall it was way out on the audiophile fringe. Basic errors in physics beyond the idea of undamped cabinets.

I mean, who hasn't played a crap guitar amp that vibrated on some notes and not on others? Who would want to purposely design that? Makes no sense to me.

I agree about metal grilles, but for a different reason--diffraction effects. Properly installed grilles shouldn't vibrate enough to matter.

But you use metal grilles only where you have to; if the driver is likely to suffer damage otherwise. That's life for PA gear. I am not wealthy enough to recone drivers every week.

There are some simple things I can do to test some of your assertions. I can take a speaker and wrap it in carpet, and post recordings with and without. I can remove damping fill from cabinets and do the same thing. And so forth . . .

 

[dintymoore]

You can do any of these three things to convince me:...

I really have no intention or interest in "convincing" you of anything.

The OP was "what's the best thing to cover pa cabs?", and that's what I answered, "in my opinion". I really could give a rat's ass if anyone agrees with me. I'm just sharing what's worked for me, and you are, in a way saying "prove it" or if some "expert" goes along with it then you'll agree when I could care less and am just saying what has worked for me.

It's like asking someone what shoes they like and when they say "sandals" telling them that they need to prove it.

 

[stevieb]

Guys, GUYS. Please, can we get back on topic? I need to cover some TOURING CONCERT speakers, not a picky guitar cab that belongs to a golden-eared guitarist. The things are made of 7-ply 3/4-inch birch- they are NOT resonating appreciably, in sympathy to the music coming through them.

Rhyno Liner is the commercial truck bed liner I spoke of. Too expensive. The guys who put that stuff on are PROUD of it.

"Rat fur" is the fuzzy grey carpet you see on some cabs. In the live-sound trade, it is looked down on, as the covering of cheap speakers used by noob/amatuerish production companies. Yeah, I know, it shouldn't matter, but when you are doing it to make money, reputation- even the reputation of something that shouldn't matter- DOES matter. The stuff also attracts grass, and we do outside gigs. Yuck.

I AM liking the porch paint and trunk paint ideas, will look into them. Also, noticed a off-brand Rhyno-Liner type applicator near my house, maybe he will make me a good deal.

Thanks, all.

 

[dintymoore]

Guys, GUYS. Please, can we get back on topic?

I know! I give my 2 cents and it turns into a dare for me to prove my opinion!

The best cheapo is auto spatter paint. If you go with that prepare yourself for constant touch ups. A lot of people would go with that thin grey or black carpet the auto guys use, but you'd probably need metal corners if you don't have them. The carpet will stand up real well but I hear you on how it attracts grass. I have a carpet covered sub and every time I use it I have to go over it and pick off stuff - kinda a pain.

I have a pair of JBL 4828B's and I used black Varathane in Colors on them. Varathane is much harder than regular paint and chips and scrapes way less.

 

[moresound]

Yes you don't have to use Rhyno brand paint, just look in walmart or home depot for a good cheap knock off.

 

[stevieb]

As I said in my original post, I have heard that DIY bed-liner can soften in the heat. That would make it VERY undesirable- don't need gooey stuff getting EVERYWHERE when we use the speakers on a hot day, or worse, transporting in the back of a hot truck or trailer. Have you personally had good results with the DIY liner?

 

[stevieb]

2 weeks go by, and moresound does not answer my query as to him having personal experience with DIY bedliner material. Too bad.

But nevermind. I have decide to NOT coat the big speakers- the stained plywood just looks too good to cover up. I'll just redouble my efforts to take care of them. What I HAVE decided to do is coat another pair of speakers- see my post titled "Covering Fiberboard Speaker Boxes."

 

[Lt. Bob]

2 weeks go by, and moresound does not answer my query as to him having personal experience with DIY bedliner material. Too bad.

But nevermind. I have decide to NOT coat the big speakers- the stained plywood just looks too good to cover up. I'll just redouble my efforts to take care of them. What I HAVE decided to do is coat another pair of speakers- see my post titled "Covering Fiberboard Speaker Boxes."

since I have no first hand experience with it I didn't comment.

But, intuitively, it doesn't make much sense that bedliner would get soft in the heat.
It's meant to go in the bed of a pickup which, with the sun beating down on it, is basically ALWAYS in the heat.
Seems like I'd have read a lot of complaints about p'up owners getting black goo on their possessions if it got soft.

 

[stevieb]

since I have no first hand experience with it I didn't comment.

But, intuitively, it doesn't make much sense that bedliner would get soft in the heat.
It's meant to go in the bed of a pickup which, with the sun beating down on it, is basically ALWAYS in the heat.
Seems like I'd have read a lot of complaints about p'up owners getting black goo on their possessions if it got soft.

That makes sense, Bob, but I don't want to be the one to test it, I would prefer to err on the side of caution, this time.

I am interested in the recommendation for http://www.nonslipcoating.com/ in another, similar thread.

 

[Lt. Bob]

That makes sense, Bob, but I don't want to be the one to test it, I would prefer to err on the side of caution, this time.

I am interested in the recommendation for http://www.nonslipcoating.com/ in another, similar thread.

yeah I saw that ..... that stuff looks pretty good.

Ya' know ........ years ago I built some PA cabs and simply painted them with a thick high gloss plastic type paint. A poly something or other.
A couple of coats of that held up very well. And you can touch it up easily.

Also ..... if you're putting this stuff in a truck/van you can put a couple of runners on the side that slides across the truck bed and then you don't tear up that side of it.

Paint's a lot cheaper than that bedliner stuff.

 

[stevieb]

Actually, I found the answer to my question, " What's The Best Thing To Cover PA Speaker Cabs?"

 

[moresound]

Actually, I found the answer to my question, " What's The Best Thing To Cover PA Speaker Cabs?"

Sorry stevieb I've been on the road doing live shows lately.
No the paint does harden very good and was applied to a hand made line array system that worked out very well.
An other set of speakers that I had painted I used a high traffic/all weather porch paint that worked out good too.

But if I had only thought of using a doily.

 

[dintymoore]

... But if I had only thought of using a doily.

Then the speakers would match the new band uniforms.

 

[moresound]

Then the speakers would match the new band uniforms.

HA HA HA HA How right you are dinty.