felt

[rajacat]

Perhaps some speaker manufactures have to make compromises for aesthetic reasons or aren't aware of the felt option. Since my speakers are single drivers, a  crossover is not in the equation. I think that with my speakers it has something to do with the interaction of the backwaves curling around the wide baffles and interacting with each other. Of course, no speaker designer would want to admit that his design could be tweaked to good advantage. In addition, maybe the felt compensates for less than ideal room acoustics .

[Face]

Blu tack can also be used to fill the screw holes.

[Response Audio]

Hi rajacat,
I have to apologize. My comments were directed more towards tweeters and upper midrange drivers. I am not sure how it would react with a full range driver as you have to take other variables into consideration.

Then you enter open baffle full range designs. The narrower the baffle, the more pronounced the upper frequencies are going to be due to limitations in the lower frequencies. The baffle acts as the low pass filter in this type of design and more difficult to tame due to no crossover being used.

As stated under my avatar. "Build your system for yourself, not the critics". In other words, whatever works best for you in your system is what's best.

[tmazz]

I would  (and probably will) try it, but recommend that however you put the felt on, make sure that it can come off easily if you don't like what you hear (no crazy glue.   )

Audiophile Math:

Any glue + Tom (tmazz) = Crazy Glue   

SN

Hey watch it, I resemble that remark! 

[rollo]

I made these defraction devices with 3/8" wool felt ordered from http://www.mcmaster.com/#f13-felt/=9g3m02

I used an utility knife with a new blade in place. It wasn't particularly easy to cut the bevel for the "waveguides" . Nevertheless, despite not being exactly perfect, the imperfections are not obviously visible. You can get this felt with a self adhesive which may or may not be hard to remove. A way around this is to use blue tape on the speaker baffle and then cut out a bit of the  self adhesive cover  to stick the felt to the blue tape thereby avoiding a potentially messy cleanup job. I regret that I didn't use this solution instead of ordering the felt W/o the self adhesive and having to hassle with Velcro and other stuff to mixed results.  Since my Omega Hemp Bipoles have a relatively large baffle the felt probably has a more profound impact than with many other speakers.



I did notice an approval in SQ with better imaging being the most obvious benefit.

-Roy

Hey Roy welcome to AN, That compressed wool can be used to damp the chassis and circuit boards as well. Very interseting product.


charles

[TooManyToys]

A few years ago on a web site no longer in existence Mr. Jim and I traded some thoughts about his product cost and that this has been done long before him.  So I usually post about the McMaster source already noted.

You can get 3/8" (or other thicknesses) F13 felt from McMaster in a 12'x12" sheet for about $7 + shipping and for a few dollars more get Velcro dots from somewhere as simple as Walmart.  A very sharp razor knife and a pattern will make the circle you need, although it may take a few trials before you get good at it.  F13 according to SAE is the best grade for acoustical absorption.

My trials showed the same as mentioned, it does assert some clarity, but at the expense of spacial imaging.  I don't use it.

Keep in mind that the adhesive used on various products can have a detrimental effect on your speakers finish.