Grille re-covering

[mikmas]

I recently acquired a pair of Quad 22L floor standers that were going locally via ebay auction (£206 bid).
They are in fine nick with only a couple of very minor marks. The finish if Bird's Eye Maple which I was really chuffed with as I like light coloured wood.
Only thing I didn't like were the black grilles so I decided to refurb them in something more turd coloured to match the plethora of wood in my listening room.

Initially I thought the frames were plastic which bothered me as, although I have a lot of relevant upholstery experience, I have never fitted material to plastic frames. Fortunately closer examination revealed that they were actually heavily coated MDF - so panic over :)
Even better, when I finally got around to tackling the job (staple gun in hand...) I discovered they had used a rather neat method for fastening the covering; about 10mm in from the edge is a groove running around the back of the frame and the material was simply pressed into it:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/955/41038007794_20b3f863d7.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/25wovYw)old corner (https://flic.kr/p/25wovYw) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr

So removing it was simply a case of pulling it out of the groove:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/830/41755640671_17a9f8eba4.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26BNzea)old remove (https://flic.kr/p/26BNzea) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr

[mikmas]

I had envisaged some coffee coloured material for the re-covering. Initial searches of local (UK) suppliers only yielded chocolate brown, which for me was too dark and not much better than black. I eventually found a decent colour via a German trader on Amazon and ordered a piece.

Unfortunately online colours can deceive and when it arrived it turned out to be a delicate hue akin to cat diarrhoea :lol:

In the end I opted for cotton/linen scrim sourced locally. Scrim used to be fairly common in upholstery applications and has the advantage of being A. naturally coloured and B. very open weave (and acoustically transparent)

Fitting it was simply a case of cutting approximately to size and wedging into the groove with a filling knife:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/958/39947772840_0655a17567.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/23S3M79)new fit02 (https://flic.kr/p/23S3M79) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/867/41755636991_6bc0aa81f6.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/26BNy8H)new fit (https://flic.kr/p/26BNy8H) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr

[mikmas]

Once the scrim was fitted a simple case of trimming of the excess with scissors and then pushing the badge back on the front.


https://farm1.staticflickr.com/906/26887426317_19e193a546.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/GXX66P)new trim (https://flic.kr/p/GXX66P) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr


All in all, a couple of hours total; a before and after to show the difference:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/905/39947790520_fc083194f3_c.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/23S3SmY)Quad 22L grille re-cover (https://flic.kr/p/23S3SmY) by miktec101 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138540546@N04/), on Flickr

[struth]

looks good

[walpurgis]

Nice job Mike. Smart choice of material too.

(might even pinch that idea for one of my projects :D)

[Stryder5]

Really useful post! Thanks.

[mikmas]

Cheers chaps :)

Was mightily glad that the solution was so simple - so much so that I'm now doubting it will hold up :rolleyes:

Will see how it fares and if the scrim slackens can always apply a few judicious dabs of glue.

(was quite fun taking some pics of the process - filled in a dull and rainy morning anyway...)

[bumpy]

In my experience that material sheds quite a lot of fibres around the cut edges. I would be inclined to cover it in tape to avoid bits finding their way into the drivers

[mikmas]

In my experience that material sheds quite a lot of fibres around the cut edges. I would be inclined to cover it in tape to avoid bits finding their way into the drivers

Thanks for the tip Chris - will do that :)

[Qwin]

Good job!

[DSJR]

They do look good and more retro-modern with that colour griolle cloth I reckon.

For vintage 'radio' cloths, try here - http://www.retrospecialist.co.uk/

[Werner Berghofer]

Congratulations, you did an excellent job! I have a similar project, I need new grilles for my Triangle speakers. The original grille is black, but I think about something turd coloured, very similiar to the material you choose.

http://www.berghofer.com/photos/gear/even_more_space.jpg

Your loudspeakers look phantastic and wonderful. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them now even more.

[mikmas]

Your loudspeakers look phantastic and wonderful. I’m sure you’ll enjoy them now even more.

Thanks you Werner - most kind. I can assure that they also sound twice as good now :lol: - well worth doing.

[Primalsea]

I wonder if the material from good quality ladies tights could be used for speaker grills?

Thin and I would have thought sonically transparent.

Obviously I would go for something classy that doesn’t look like some tights on a speaker, but you older guys probably would prefer something from Nora Batty’s bottom drawer.

[DSJR]

Linn Keilidh fronts were covered in some form of negligee material I recall. Worked well too...

[Primalsea]

Linn Keilidh fronts were covered in some form of negligee material I recall. Worked well too...

Do you know if there were any peepholes for the bassports?

[Jac Hawk]

A nice pair of fish nets may be a little open on the weave me thinks:eyebrows::eyebrows::lol::lol: