Build Slick Speaker Grills the EASY Way

[@keithmarlowe5569]

The gold standard for how to videos. Clear, concise, well explained, no annoying music, and material list.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks Keith! I appreciate the positive words. Thank you for watching!

[@russ4387]

All I can say is this really clear and very well done video baled me out on a couple Realistic Minimus 40-2039B speakers I'm restoring for our workout room "mini" sound bar! the grill cloth and frame are fine but the grill retaining pegs weren't holding it on anymore. In trying to remove those plastic parts, most of them busted the box particle board away around them so just installing new ones wasn't going to eork unless I filled the damage with something. while snooping around online for ideas, I ran across your video and remembering I had a bunch of 9mm dia N95 magnets Laying in my stash, i modded your process a little and went ahead installing them in redrilled holes! as us oldsters used to say: "thats the hot ticket!". Good job and keep up the quality tutorials, PLEASE!😊

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks a lot Russ. I appreciate the encouragement, and I'm glad it gave you an idea on how to fix yours. I had a pair of Minimus 7W's. Gifted them awhile back, but I really love Radio Shack speakers from back in the day. Thanks for the comment!

[@Toid]

Perfect time for this come out, it is grilling season 😂

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Ha! Yes, it is! Funny, I rarely ever put grills on my speakers... I love looking at the drivers too much, but for some folks, it's a necessity.

[@edzak7257]

Excellent tutorial for making grills! I made a few myself, and have a tip to add to your alternative method of aligning the holes in the frame and baffle for the magnets. With the grill frame mated to the baffle, you are drilling through both to get the holes perfectly aligned. That is great, however, if you use a smaller pilot drill to do this, you will still get the pilot holes in the baffle that will require being enlarged with the correct diameter drill bit, and the same for the holes in the grill frame, but you won't need to back fill the holes in the grill frame since the pilot holes are smaller than the magnet diameter!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Hey, good tip! Thanks!

[@jsgraham67]

Excellent tutorial. And I love the design of these speakers.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad you like them! Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@brianraulerson5037]

You make me want to build stuff, Zarbo. Another great video!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I'm sorry. I mean thank you! :)

[@Mattymew]

Great video - thanks so much!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

You're welcome, thanks for watching.

[@arturomty9969]

I love this video and that much work put into it, thanks a lot!!!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks!

[@halrichard1969]

Thanks Tom. I picked up a few tips from your Video. Nice Cabinets too.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks a lot! I'm glad you found a few elements helpful. Thank you for watching.

[@SqueamishPuppet]

Glad I seen this video before I finished the speaker grills on the Swan 3.1 kit I purchased 3 years ago 😀

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I hope it helps.

[@taewhakim]

I think your way of working is good.

[@DannerPlace]

Very helpful, thanks for posting.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad it was helpful!

[@rikardekvall3433]

Great tutorial! The corners are tricky and using grill cloths fabric works best. Stretching. But you should have shown how to round the edges on the inside of the frame, so you get less diffraction on the sound. Then the beautiful box will sound beautiful.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Great suggestion! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez]

Dude, what an awesome video. Sub'd. Great flow, editing, instruction, and tips. Well done mang.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you for that! It's good to know that I'm on the right track. Thanks I appreciate it!

[@TheDradge]

Excellent job!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you very much!

[@RobertGerman]

I've been looking for a video on this. Thanks!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad to help!

[@alexw890]

Good video. I made some grills recently and found that stray adhesive worked really well for attaching the fabric. I should have used your paper trick to keep the overspray off of the inside of the cloth though.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Yes, spray adhesive offers the ability to re-position things until you get it perfectly where you want it. It can be a little trickier than using hot glue particularly in how much spray to apply. I'm always afraid that the spray will work its way through the fabric to the outer surface and cause issues. If you were to only spray the wood frame and not the fabric, I bet that would work pretty well. Thanks for offering an alternative method. And using the paper to contain stray adhesives... I learned that the hard way. :)

[@RolftheRed]

Well explained! TY!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you!

[@bigd835]

you made that look doable, as you are skilled. I always wonder how hard it will be to do a grill thats 21 inches tall and 15 inches wide. it seems if you pull the fabric you wont pull it entirely straight and the lines in the fabric (if any) wont be straight.. there is a lot of skill involved in this.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I think you could pull it off just fine. For a taller speaker grill, I'd use 3/4" pine ripped into 1" wide strips. I'd add one horizontal brace of the same material between the woofer and mid or tweeter and that should eliminate most, if not all the flexing of the frame as you stretch the grill cloth over it. Pine because MDF is not as rigid. I don't usually do grills because I love the looks of raw speaker drivers and grills are kind of a pain, but I believe you can do it. I've been doing this for decades, so I guess you just get used to knowing how to handle certain things. Thanks for the comment and for watching!

[@zyga399]

Perfect job.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@nathandaniels4823]

Excellent video! I’ve heard that the inside of grilles should be routered because sharp edges of a speaker *or its grill* cause additional diffraction. Have you found that to be the case?

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

A grill frame like the one I built on this speaker is bound to create ripples in the response. A roundover or angle will help, but I would always listen grills-off. I almost never build grills for my speakers so I'm not real familiar with the sonic characteristics of speakers with grills on.

[@rizball1]

Great grill... love the speaker box but my only criticism would be id oil the venere afterwards instead of that gloss coat... Ill be building a grill the way you showed for sure!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I agree, the gloss didn't come out as I'd hoped. Thanks for watching and for the comment.

[@DIYAudioGuy]

Nice!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you!

[@DanielMartinez-rv6su]

Do you offer this as a service?

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I don't, but thanks for asking.

[@RennieAsh]

6:58 you could use an additional piece of tape as a marker for the poles and only use red on baffle, blue for grills etc

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

True, good observation.

[@0cch10]

Great tips!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks.

[@TheGreatTomDix]

SIIICK!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thank you!

[@maxquigley9524]

You only need magnets on either the cabinet or the grill. A steel washer or nail/screw head will be attracted to either pole of the magnet.

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

I know a few guys who have done it that way, but it all depends on the size/strength of the magnet itself. Using magnets on both the cabinet and grill assure a strong hold and near perfect alignment,so that's my preferred method. Thanks for the comment!

[@jameshuntley428]

Awesome video. Thank you!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching!

[@STRANGE_hour]

Nice!

[@zarboaudioprojects1430]

Thanks!