Protective metal speaker grill, any optimal design???

[jquin]

Hi All
I am thinking of investing in some W22 drivers, they seem pretty universal even it they are not as good a value for money as the Daytons.

Anyway I have two small children who just love to touch the buttons (dust caps) :M

While some of the dayton mids and and tweeters have protective mesh I haven't seen anyone use them on woofer.
Well that said I do have a big criss/cross grill on my 12" Shiva.

Anyone know of pitfalls in this areas?

Any help would be much appreciated even if it is from that imposter ET. :rofl:

Regards
John Q

[Volenti]

Heavy grilles on speakers can act like a band pass enclosure, the air volume between the grille and the cone is the vented chamber and the "port" is the total area of the holes in the grille x thickness of the grille. Many new cars have thick plastic grilles on their factory speakers and the peak caused by this effect is very noticable.

[cjd]

Dust cap?

W22?

If you're going to go with a protective metal covering, don't bother with the W22. But, I'm still pondering "dust cap" and "W22" :P

C

[Dennis H]

How about a cloth grill to keep curious fingers away? The cloth itself has very little effect on the sound. The frame can cause diffraction problems but thick felt, either on the baffle or built into the grill, can help quite a bit with that.

[joecarrow]

I agree- out of sight is out of mind. It's a shame to cover up such nice looking drivers, but kids will be kids.

I hate to say it, but I'm 24, and I remember being 4 or 5, and how angry my father would get when I would push on the dust caps of his Infinity Qa's. Later, when I was in high school he upgraded and gave me the Qa's- and it wasn't until college that I gained an appreciation for that kind of thing and felt bad about it for a reason other than having angered my dad.

That said, the W22 has a phase plug- no dust cap. As long as the kids don't go hammering on the gray cone itself, the speakers will be fine. Discoloration is the only likely consequence.

[fjhuerta]

I someday want to copy Definitive Technology's "grille". It's just fabric covering the speaker all around. But I wonder about diffraction issues...

[jquin]

Thanks for the responses.
I haven't got any W22's yet so it was not possible to assess how fragile they might be.
But considering the cost of them I dont want to find out that my kids have taken an intrest in the surrounds or that forcing the cone might cause it to damage the voice coil.
Anyway although you are right the cloth covers do eliminate most of the threat I still want to protect the drivers considering the investment.
They are $340 Australian dollars each. Ouch!!!

Regards
John Quin