Speaker top protection cheap solution with photos showing results

[sparrowho]

I purchased my La Scalas used and the tops had been damaged from water rings. Knowing that I did not want any further damage and my significant other would like to place items on top of the speaker cabinets I thought about how to solve the problem with the least effort and expense yet still have a good solution. My solution should work for most any sized cabinet and really was cheap (less than $20 for the pair). I purchased two 2x2 x 3/4 inch particle board slabs from the local Lowes store and also a can of spray adhesive that indicated it was good for fabrics. I then went down the street to the fabric store and despite feeling quite out of place, managed to buy a piece of brown, thick felt that would cover both sides of the particle board slabs. These slabs were slightly wider than the tops of my speakers so I measured each one to determine which side was shorter as they are often not exactly 2x2 foot square. My speaker is a bit deeper than 24 inches so wanted the longest side retained. I then cut the shortest side on a table saw such that it was 23 - 5/8 inches wide. I rounded all the sharp edges with a sanding block after this. Next I applied two full coats of sanding sealer to both sides and the edges. This was to seal the particle board in case it came in contact with any water and also to provide a good surface for my spray glue. Next I cut the felt such that the top piece would wrap around the edges and overlap the back by about 1/2 inch. Felt is pretty forgiving so I didn't have to take much care with these cuts. I read the can of glue and it indicated that I should spray both surfaces for a permanent bond. I did this outdoors to avoid the mess and fumes. First the panel and then the felt. I then attached the felt to the panel and wraped the edges. I wanted it to not have any overlaps so I cut the corners of the fabric to achieve this. Once that was done I pulled back the fabric from the back or bottom of the panel, which is easy as no glue yet on the bottom of the panel. One more trip outside to spray glue on the fabric and panel bottom and the felt was then pressed back onto the bottom of the panel. This overlap was about 1-2 inch to 1 inch around all the edges of the bottom of the panel. I then cut another piece of felt to be slightly smaller than my panel dimensions and sprayed it with glue. This felt was then pressed on to the bottom of the panel such that it covered the prior fabric and all of the bottom. I now had a 2x2 panel fully wraped in felt which I could place on top of my speaker cabinet without fear that it would be scratched or vibrate.

In case my description is unclear here is a few photos that may help.

Parts needed

Getting ready to cut felt to fit

Gluing felt to panel

All done

Installed and doing it's job

These will probably last a long time with reasonable care but if they become dirty or damaged I can replace them and still have my speaker cabinet in the same condition as it was. It took less than a few hours total time to make these felt covered panels and I am pleased with the results.

[cueman]

Not too shabby. Shouldn't they be green for this time of year

[WMcD]

Very impressive.

Thanks for sharing your work with all of us here.

I'm taking some of this to heart because I'm considering wrapping fiberglass panels with speaker grill cloth. I've worked with frames for speaker grills and getting the wrapping of the cloth to work out correctly. Not easy.

This hobby requires the work of a tailor.

Best,

Gil

[JohnA]

Hey Gil,

It sounds like you are working on room
treatments. Look at HVAC Duct Board. It has the same
acoustic properties as the $$$ professional panels.

Build
a frame from 1x1s or 1x2s, cut the duct board to fit. Use foil
tape on the back to hold it in place. Then, wrap it with a thin
muslin-like cover and once more with a coarse, textured fabric, like
Steelcase cubical walls have; attach both with staples.
Voila! Absorbtive panel that looks good.

[sparrowho]

You are correct that green or red would have been a good choice for the holiday. In fact these units replace a piece of red felt that was just draped over the top. I decided to make something more permanent as the loose cloth would skid out of place too easily. I honestly like the look of red better but since I permanently attached the brown cloth by spraying both layers it is not a option any longer. The brown felt was also thicker than the other fabrics of the same type. There was a pretty wide choice at the fabric store and brown seemed to be one of the cheapest. It was cheap enough that I could always build some more in other colors but storage of them would be a problem for me. Despite the instructions on the glue I suspect I can rip off the brown felt should it become too badly worn or dirty and add new fabric. Not likely that I would do this since blank particle board panels were only about $5 of total cost. I am very pleased that I no longer need to get up and adjust loose cloth protectors that fell down across the high freq driver. Loose felt just slid too easily for it to stay in place for more than a short time. I am going to build a couple more of these for my rear surround speakers to prevent anyone from marring the tops with a cold drink can or car keys.