Covers to hide ugly satellite speakers?

[skygreenleopard]

Hey guys,

I have a couple of satellite speakers I need to hide. They're about 7" high and 4" wide and deep. I like how they sound but they're an ugly beige and there are stains on the mesh grilles. I'm looking for an acoustically transparent solution to hide them, either bought or homemade.

Best Buy has a brand named Home Decor that is kind of what I'm looking for, only they're also ugly as hell: http://www.bestbuy.com/olspage.jsp?i...&type=category
and
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...t=Submit+Query

Pretty ugly, egh? The fake "books" are laughable.

I don't even need to disguise them, any shade of brown or black cover would do. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't care if they still look like speakers with covers on, I just can't stand looking at my ugly beige stained speakers. Thanks!

[zombie77]

you could try fabric paint, and just black out the grills you have now. its like 2-3 bucks at a craft store or even wally world.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by zombie77

you could try fabric paint, and just black out the grills you have now. its like 2-3 bucks at a craft store or even wally world.

I agree. Painting the speakers and re-doing the grills will be the cheapest route. The only prep would be a light sanding and wipedown. Are the grills fabric or metal mesh?

[skygreenleopard]

Originally Posted by Rob71

I agree. Painting the speakers and re-doing the grills will be the cheapest route. The only prep would be a light sanding and wipedown. Are the grills fabric or metal mesh?

They're fabric. They're non-removable, which is what worries me (I don't want fabric paint leaking through). It'd be easy to paint the speakers themselves, but we'll see what I do with the fabric. I might just have to buy some new speakers eventually...

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by skygreenleopard

They're fabric. They're non-removable, which is what worries me (I don't want fabric paint leaking through). It'd be easy to paint the speakers themselves, but we'll see what I do with the fabric. I might just have to buy some new speakers eventually...

Depending on your woodworking skills you could build a simple open sided box like this

untitled.JPG

Then a picture frame out of some 1"x 1" material the same basic shape.
then take some speaker cloth and stretch and staple over your frame.
then use velcro to hold it in place on your box.

[skygreenleopard]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Depending on your woodworking skills you could build a simple open sided box like this

Attachment 6027

Then a picture frame out of some 1"x 1" material the same basic shape.
then take some speaker cloth and stretch and staple over your frame.
then use velcro to hold it in place on your box.

I was hoping for a smaller alternative just to barely cover the speakers, but I might have to end up doing this. It's a really good suggestion. A big 4-sided box with fabric in front might make a cool art project. I might have my girlfriend paint some kind of design on some speaker fabric, and on the wood sides, then stretch it over the frame myself. Thanks for the idea. Might be cool to have sound coming out of a 1'x1' cube covered in art, maybe something similar to this:

[aramis109]

I would think doing anything like that would make the speakers boomy as the sound would still reflect to some degree around the larger "cabinet".

[Jbald87]

I gotta admit those look really really cool.

[Cisco in HD]

It would give you that "where did that sound come from" feel, but if you cover your speakers most likely sound quality will suffer. So that's entirely up to you.

[skygreenleopard]

I was under the impression that most mesh/reasonably thin fabrics wouldn't harm the sound too much. Anyone out there who can confirm/debunk? I don't want my highs to be too muffled.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by skygreenleopard

I was under the impression that most mesh/reasonably thin fabrics wouldn't harm the sound too much. Anyone out there who can confirm/debunk? I don't want my highs to be too muffled.

It's not that, it's the big wooden box you're putting around it.

[kingofgrills]

I would suggest that you do not enclose your speakers in another enclosure - it will adversely affect their sound.

Either paint and re-fabric your speakers, or save up and get some that are more asthetically pleasing.

[skygreenleopard]

Good suggestions, and good call with the wood box maybe affecting the sound. I might try a cube or rectangular wireframe with cloth/mesh stretched around it, so as to not enclose the sound in wood, then maybe paint the fabric. Maybe a wireframe of a cylinder would look cool too. If not, I'll just have to save up for some better speakers.

[Steve]

I've also seen where some people have been able to restain fabric grills with shoe polish. I would guess they used one of the thinner, liquid varieties and not the thick stuff in the little flat cans. I've never tried this myself, so I don't know how difficult it would be, but I'm just throwing it out there for something to consider.

[kingofgrills]

If you go to www.parts-express.com , they'll have a variety of different grill fabrics and other materials to choose from, and they're dirt cheap. They also have vinyl laminates you can use to recover the sides of your satellites too.