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One for the Isobarik Experts

Ribs773 said:
When my original Isobariks were installed the dealer supplied acoustic wadding which he stuffed tight inside the stand/panels.
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This is why I had pillows stuffed in mine, it was Bill Fraser who suggested this. At the time mine were converted I don't think the fill in panels were available so the external crossover just sat on the floor? They were only recently removed because I was asked why they were there!!!

Regards

Richard
 
...thought I'd wake this thread with a question for the experts!!

Toying with making foam grilles....essentially just for the top faces (thinking dust covers as much as anything here!)
How much clearance is required by the mid drivers please....I'm assuming the HF tweeters wouldn't require ....any ??
 
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If you are hankering after foam in particular, then @itsmarkie in Cornwall could well be your man. He often turns up on eBay with foam grilles for SBL & SL2, and I think he can do custom jobs. I think he is a member here as well. I've got some of his SBL foam grilles and they're very nice.

Another option to look at are the cloth-on-frame grille sets sold by Wilmslow Audio (£128). We have them on our Briks
 
I’ve had the Winslow Audio cloth grill on my Isobariks for about 7-8 years excellent build quality with postage and vat they came out at £160.

Regards,

Martin
 
I use mine without grilles and I heard a definite improvement for removing the velcro from the speakers (I ship you not!)
 
Spent toooo much time removing original velcro glue remnants to consider going down that road again...for the time being anyway!! :)
So at this stage...thinking of just the TOP face of the cabinet....thinking that suitably fitted foam layer might just sit there under it's own weight perhaps?
 
Tonewheelkev said:
...thought I'd wake this thread with a question for the experts!!

Toying with making foam grilles....essentially just for the top faces (thinking dust covers as much as anything here!)
How much clearance is required by the mid drivers please....I'm assuming the HF tweeters wouldn't require ....any ??
Click to expand...

The Sound Organisation in York got me a new full set of foam grills last year after mine almost totally disintegrated, I couldn't keep the front ones from falling off all the time. They offer a choice of flat or fluted. I got the fluted as originally fitted by Linn, they are superb, identical to the originals. Makes my Briks look brand new:).

I prefer them with the grills on, they sound better like that to me.
 
david ellwood said:
I use mine without grilles and I heard a definite improvement for removing the velcro from the speakers (I ship you not!)
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I'm sure you did David,

Have you tried putting a small square of blue paper under one foot of your source/pre/power amps you may hear a definite improvement also, (Mr Belt).

I tried this as a joke on a friend once sometime back. We listened to my system for a couple of hours, I then asked him to go and make a cuppa whilst I carried out a small mod, (didn't tell him what).
I then placed previously prepared squares of blue paper under one foot of all the electronics.

When we started listening again he said "Wow what did you do? That's amazing.

It was total nonsense of course, but it proved to me that the psychological effect of thinking you have changed something, can have a (probably temporary) effect on what you hear.

I'm sure you know your own mind when it comes to listening to your system David, and if that is better for you, then great, stick with it. Have you tried putting the Velcro back on though and listening again?
I've changed things on my system and thought "that's better", only to change back a few weeks later and think "nah definitely better as it was".

Funny old game this Hi-fi malarkey.
 
Ribs773 said:
The Sound Organisation in York got me a new full set of foam grills last year after mine almost totally disintegrated...
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How much did they cost?

I bought a set from Korea about ten years ago thinking the formulation of he foam would surely be updated and they would not rot. Wrong! :0( They are falling to bits.

I know it's expensive but I like the look of the foam grilles. They look correct. If I wanted cloth I'd make them myself. Pretty easy, I've done a couple of sets for other speakers.
 
Mr Pig said:
How much did they cost?

I bought a set from Korea about ten years ago thinking the formulation of he foam would surely be updated and they would not rot. Wrong! :0( They are falling to bits.

I know it's expensive but I like the look of the foam grilles. They look correct. If I wanted cloth I'd make them myself. Pretty easy, I've done a couple of sets for other speakers.
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I have just checked for you, I got mine in 2018 and they were £120 for a set of fluted grills, and £90 for flat ones, they may have increased in price slightly now.
 
david ellwood said:
Next time you're in Sö ask about my speakers.
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I probably won't be in SO for quite a while now due to Covid.

So please elaborate, do the SO think that your speakers sound better without the Velcro?

I am not doubting you at all David, but it is all down to personal taste, otherwise why do I prefer the sound of my speakers with the grills on and you prefer the same model of speaker with them off.

Every ones hearing is different, some people love briks whilst others hate them, everyone to their own.

I know your taste in SQ (if that makes sense) is different to mine, because IIRC when you came to mine for a visit some years ago, you preferred the 44.1 16bit CD version of Fleetwood Mac's Dreams to the 96kHz 24bit DVD-A version. You are the only person who has listened to "Rumours" on my system to have that preference (Including Hamish from the SO). It is night and day (to me).

But there is nothing wrong with that, whatever floats your boat, after all it is all about your enjoyment of music, which is far more important than speaker grills and Velcro.
 
No but david has heard my record player recently and its really singing at the moment. The velcro thing was done so many years ago that I couldnt say with any authority if I was dreaming the difference but it was hardly night and day.

My preference for lower bit rate renditions continues however as I am now the owner of a digital box of tricks and I find myself preferring 44.1khz 24bit over the high bit rate stuff. Its almost as if
the higher bit rates confuse the DAC but again it could all be in my head or a limitation of my DAC.
 
david ellwood said:
No but david has heard my record player recently and its really singing at the moment. The velcro thing was done so many years ago that I couldnt say with any authority if I was dreaming the difference but it was hardly night and day.

My preference for lower bit rate renditions continues however as I am now the owner of a digital box of tricks and I find myself preferring 44.1khz 24bit over the high bit rate stuff. Its almost as if
the higher bit rates confuse the DAC but again it could all be in my head or a limitation of my DAC.
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That's great David,

I sometimes wonder (it is just a thought) whether it is the long term listening and your preference of vinyl that contributes to that.

I was never into vinyl in a big way (my personal preference, not wishing to start a nuclear war here) for me I could never live with the faffing, the surface noise, and the wear and tear.
As a teenager in the 60s, I would buy an album and play it once, to transfer it to a high speed half track Ferrograph or Revox and then use the tape.

When CD came out around '82 it seemed the perfect answer, unfortunately initially it sounded dreadful, but I stuck with it for convenience and no wear. Over time possibly my hearing adjusted and the Players/CDs got much better, so now I've got used to listening to digital all the time whilst most of your listening is vinyl analogue.

Is it just an acquired taste? We like what we get used to. (Or he says tongue in cheek, are my speaker grills taming the digital sound):p
 
I fully understand the faff factor, it would be great if all vinyl were perfectly pressed and never developed any defects.
 
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Tonewheelkev said:
....Toying with making foam grilles....essentially just for the top faces (thinking dust covers as much as anything here!)
How much clearance is required by the mid drivers please....I'm assuming the HF tweeters wouldn't require ....any ??
Click to expand...

Would still like to find this out!! :)
 
I have flat foam grills on my Briks. The tweeter cone is well clear of the foam as the driver is rebated and the dome is sunk into the faceplate. The mid range units surround is 3-4mm below the speaker top, the velcro adds about another 2mm clearance. I would not expect the grill to interfere with the drivers in normal use.
 
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