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Has anyone used the Parts Express Speaker Frame Grill Kit?

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Never used it. Never knew it existed, until you brought it up. I will be watching, to see what folks think.

:lurk:

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
For some reason, the grill kit does not come up easily on the Parts Express website.

I founding it by searching for "speaker grill kits" or something like that.
 
If it's the same kit (and it looks like it is) that I used a few years ago, I can say it worked VERY well. As long as you're careful cutting the parts to the right dimensions, it looks very good when completed.

And, searching for the string "grill frame kit" makes it come right up, on PE's website.

Regards,
Gordon.
 
There is also a video showing you how to do it. I have not bought the kit but did buy the ball and socket fasteners. You get 8 pairs for under $3 dollars and they work great. They include no instruction as how to install them. It's easy, place the frame up against the front of the speaker. Mark on the frame where you want the mounts to be. Drill a small pilot hole through the frame and into the front of the speaker. This is done before you mount the speaker grill cloth. Then drill the correct hole size, they do provide the 2 sizes, and press them in place.
 
That is great news.

Measure once and cut twice, right?

Now I just need to see if the frame will work with the domed tweeters and mid-ranges of ADS speakers.



GordonW said:
If it's the same kit (and it looks like it is) that I used a few years ago, I can say it worked VERY well. As long as you're careful cutting the parts to the right dimensions, it looks very good when completed.

And, searching for the string "grill frame kit" makes it come right up, on PE's website.

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
 
I did see that video, thank you.

My concern was if the frame would block sound waves coming from the domes and create a focusing of the sound.

I assume that was the purpose behind the design of metal grilled ADS speakers.
 
CKDC said:
I did see that video, thank you.

My concern was if the frame would block sound waves coming from the domes and create a focusing of the sound.

I assume that was the purpose behind the design of metal grilled ADS speakers.
Click to expand...

You can just cut the side rails so the cross member isn't right over a speaker. It doesn't have to be right in the center. And if its a smaller speaker you might be able to get away with not using a cross member. The grills I saw made for a few MTM's didn't have them.
 
I haven't used the frame kit, but I have ordered and used some of their audio cloth to recover some existing grills and found it too stiff and not easy to work with.

M2
 
Lavane said:
You can just cut the side rails so the cross member isn't right over a speaker. It doesn't have to be right in the center. And if its a smaller speaker you might be able to get away with not using a cross member. The grills I saw made for a few MTM's didn't have them.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I understand that.

My concern is that if a tweeter/ midrange is designed to put sound out at 180 degrees, will the thickness of speaker grill frame affect the sound coming from those drivers.

Also the woofer goes pretty much to the edge of the cabinet. I am wondering if the frame will have an issue with that. Check out the photo, there is not much wood left at the edge of the woofers.

 
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Few things:
I got my kit yesterday and the pieces are long enough that no cross-member will be necessary.

It looks like the frame, which is right-angled with a very narrow riser on the edge, will not contact the woofer.

Since I'm not keen on drilling out the speaker, I'll be cutting/filing the nubs off and substituting velcro. I'll cut out the edge and offset it with a new backing piece tp make the fit more flush along the face of the speaker. May not happen until this weekend, but I'll post pics.

Curious what kind of adhesive is best for this project. Suggestions are welcome.

-Marc
 
I think Goop or hot glue work just fine. I can't recall which one I used.

household_goop-sm.jpg


Clever design, isn't it?
 
I appreciate your desire not to drill into the speaker. One thing about Velcro is that there can be some play/slop in the connection between the two sides. This fastener might be a better alternative:

http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-All-We..._indust_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0WRJ91P8ZNZ7DYKDNVYQ

I think I would use a cross member for something that long.

I also suggest cutting the plastic in a miter box, rather than free hand like in the P/E video. It will give you a cleaner and more accurate cut.

Since P/E suggests hot glue, why bother to experiment with anything else?

Thank you for the update and please keep us informed as you go.

(I managed to massage the metal grills back into what I think is going to be good enough. For the time being I will be pursuing that. I just need for the temperature to warm up a bit so I can paint them.)
 
Okay, so project done. I'm not exactly handy so bear that in mind. Some things to consider:

1. I don't have a proper shop. This was done on my office floor (frame cut-out and sanding) and at my dining room table (gluing frame, applying cloth)

2. I wasn't looking for perfection. The hunt for factory grills goes on. This was a function over form project.

3. As I was warned, the grill cloth was stiff and hard to work with. Not exactly a terrible thing.

Upon completion, here's what I found along the way:

1. Frame cutout is easy. No matter how much you stretch the Parts Express cloth stuff, it's never going to be flush to the face of the frame, so there was no need for the cross-member. In order for it to go between the midrange and woofer drivers, it was going to be 75% of the way to the top of the grill anyway, so it wouldn't have prevented bowing (which didn't end up happening anyway.)

2. Hot glue was perfect. Used the higher temperature of the dual-temp gun with dual-temp glue sticks. Some blistered fingers, but no worse than a night of playing hard on a Telecaster.

3. Hacking off the nubs from the corners of the frame was a good idea. I didn't want to drill these cabs. I wish Parts Express had a kit without the nubs, but the plastic sawed easily so it was no big. Industrial velcro holds nicely. When I get the factory grills, a touch of goo-gone will get the adhesive off the cabinets.

Overall, I'd give the whole thing a C+. I did the whole thing by eye, based on a visible line in the cab from where the light used to hit it with the old grill on it (bit of sun-bleaching on the lower cabinet.)

Here it is:
L990Grills.jpg
 
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I also have a pair of L990s missing the factory grills. Almost ordered the PE kit but noticed they looked a lot like the rails and connectors for making window screens. Built a grill from some surplus window screen parts and the results were OK. Wound up building a set from wood utilizing a cross brace between the mid and woofer. These have worked fine and keep inquisitive fingers out of those fragile domes. Sorry no pics available right now.
 
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