Acoustic grill clothes....

[real1shepherd]

Out of curiosity, has anyone found a close match for grill clothes on the original Advent loudspeaker?

I know back when I rebuilt my original pair, there was nothing close and I went with a darker material. I also forgot which sides the badges went on and hot glued them on the right bottom instead of the left.;-) The ironic thing now is that anyone who comes to listen to my ‘double Advent system’, will invariably at some point make a comment about the badges and the grill clothes (one pair came from ebay with the grill clothes & badges pristine). I’d love to lay it in on Advent for some assembly line discrepancy, but alas this just isn’t true….

[Doug G.]

I've never had to look for any myself but I've also, in any of the forums I frequent, never heard of anybody that has exclaimed with exitement that they had found a perfect replacement. And, even though they are the same color, the cloths are different on the Walnuts and the Utilities. The Walnuts cloth is a softer, smoother material and the Utilities is a stiffer material. Both have the same weave.

The badge on one of my pairs is in the upper right.... oh wait, that pair is the upside down one in the triple stack :^)

I suppose you could say something like, "Ahem... my pair of Advents is extrememly rare. The Irishman who assembled them not only put the badges on the wrong side, he spilled the Irish Whiskey that was the cause of him putting the badges on the wrong side all over the front of them."

Doug

[real1shepherd]

LOL....but then I would be demeaning Irishmen everywhere who like their whisky, me included.;-)

Yeah, the original grill clothes look like almost a soft burlap....I kinda like them, but I think the only real importance is that the sets look similar and to that end, I have one original and one dark brown.:-( I never noticed the difference between the utility and the walnuts-principally because I never had them in the same room at the same time with original grill cloths...oh well....

[Guest speaker freak]

Ihad to replace the grills on my large advents also. I found some material that was as close. It is a burlap material about the same color.Ifound it at a local fabric store.

[pmsummer]

I bet a match could be found here.

http://www.acoustex.com/Colorcard_designer.html

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

Carl did a very detailed and thorough grille cloth review, in the Acoustic Research forum not long ago, of a few samples of grille cloths, that are available through him.

It would be interesting to see the comparisons of that companies products with their 97%+ transparency claim and Carl's samples and OEM.

I see they use a standard to test them, but we can't.

[Carlspeak]

>Hi there;

>

>Carl did a very detailed and thorough grille cloth review, in

>the Acoustic Research forum not long ago, of a few samples of

>grille cloths, that are available through him.

>

>It would be interesting to see the comparisons of that

>companies products with their 97%+ transparency claim and

>Carl's samples and OEM.

>

>I see they use a standard to test them, but we can't.

I believe Acoustex uses the ASTM standard test method in a way that it wasn't really intended, but nevertheless suits their purpose. Below is a quote from the ASTM web site describing the scope of the method:

"1. Scope

1.1 This test method covers the measurement of sound absorption in a reverberation room by measuring decay rate. Procedures for measuring the absorption of a room, the absorption of an object, such as an office screen, and the sound absorption coefficients of a specimen of sound absorptive material, such as acoustical ceiling tile, are described."

It seems clear to me from this description that the method is intended to measure sound absorbtion, not transmission. However, if a sample fails miserably, then the absorbtion rate is very low (i.e. the transmission rate is very high). Clever approach.

I used a more practical approach in my test methodology as described in my grill fabric study. Who's to say it couldn't be made into an ASTM method. I used to be a member in my former working days. They were always looking for members to come up with new methods and performance standards. You can buy the above referenced standard as a .pdf download direct from the ASTM web site for ONLY $40.

I"ve attached the AR grill fabric study here once again for the Advent readers.

Remember, it's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[Carlspeak]

>Hi there;

>

>Carl did a very detailed and thorough grille cloth review, in

>the Acoustic Research forum not long ago, of a few samples of

>grille cloths, that are available through him.

>

>It would be interesting to see the comparisons of that

>companies products with their 97%+ transparency claim and

>Carl's samples and OEM.

>

>I see they use a standard to test them, but we can't.

Ooops! I chose the wrong file extension option. The grill cloth study is a .pdf, not a word file.

Here is the pdf file. Sorry folks :-(

Remember, it's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[dynaco_dan]

Thank you, Carl;

As always, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Perhaps, Carl, if you could also add this to the other forums as well or a link.

This problem, of finding appropriate grille cloth material, is and will be, for almost all speaker brands and models.

Thank you again, Carl.

[Carlspeak]

>Thank you, Carl;

Vern wrote:

"This problem, of finding appropriate grille cloth material, is

and will be, for almost all speaker brands and models."

A few more comments on the Acoustex web site. There specs indicate the material is polyester. This is a significant departure from the linen/burlap type materials of the vintage, Kloss-designed speaker grill cloths.

Accoustex also didn't specify the basis for their high transmission claims. The ASTM test methodology calls for reporting the absorbtion rate at a few, pre-selected levels of test frequency. Is the Accoustex claim an average of all the levels? or, the best level they found?

Has anyone bought any Accoustex material as replacement for AR or Advent grill cloth? I'd be interested to know how close they could come to the original in terms of look and feel.

Remember, it's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[Guest speaker freak]

I found some material that was close to the original at my local fabric store it is a burlap material and the color was very close.but was a real pain trying staple it.

[dynaco_dan]

Hi Carl;

After you did such a very thorough test on your sample clothes,

It is a shame that you can't be commissioned to do the same with their cloth samples.

At least we would have a standard test procedure review from someone we all really trust un-questionably.

It is only a thought.

[Carlspeak]

>Hi Carl;

>

>After you did such a very thorough test on your sample

>clothes,

>

>It is a shame that you can't be commissioned to do the same

>with their cloth samples.

Maybe I could be. Never say never. Just look at all those Red Sox 9th inning walkoff saves!

Anyone willing to sacrifice some original Advent grill cloth? I need at least enough to cover one grill.

>

>At least we would have a standard test procedure review from

>someone we all really trust un-questionably.

Thanks for your kindness

Remember, it's all about the music

Carl

Carl's Custom Loudspeakers

[Guest retsoo]

I'm in the process of refurbishing a pair of A3's, the grill cloth is stained on one of them so may have to replace them. What is the very fine black cloth that goes underneath the grill cloth? What is the purpose of it? Mine is ripped and will have to be replaced.

Thanks...Fred

[Guest russwollman]

That fine black cloth is probably just cosmetic. I used some of that when I recovered a pair of front baffles. It does enhance the appearance of the finished product, doing a better job of obscuring the speaker guts and making the grille cloth stand out better without, I guess, obscuring the sound.

I think you could take your pick on this one. But do compare before you staple!