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Grill Cloth Subwoofer Cover

So, my girlfriend decided that the sub in the living room was an eyesore and she decided on her own to do something about it. She purchased some grill cloth from Parts Express and made a cover for the sub and put a silk fern on top of the sub to further hide it. It covers the sub fairly well and the silk fern takes away the hard look. She made the cover so that it covers three sides of the sub and does not cover the amp side of the sub which faces the wall. The fern on top of the sub basically holds the entire thing in place and keeps it from rolling off. However, I think the sound has lost some of its oomph and she says it sounds the sme. I think the loss of oomph is in my head.

Anyone else do something like this?
matchstikman
macrojack
1,303 posts
 
Count your blessings. Most guys will tell you that their woman just put her foot down and insisted you change something. Instead your girl chose to fix the "problem" herself making changes she needed in a way that costs you nothing in terms of performance. Thank her and cherish her. She sounds like a real keeper.
ckoffend
684 posts
 
The problem is the fern. Ferns are a shade plant and as a result, you will end up with a darker sound. I would definately go with a daisy, it should give you a more lively, open sound, not bright but maybe a little bit warm. I think a sunflower may result in too bright of a sound, so I would avoid them. Lillies are typically too stodgy or formal sounding and will drain the sub of its life - but they work great at funerals.
onemug
784 posts
 
Ckoffend,
Excellent advice. With the daisy, if he ever decided to add more subs, he could daisy chain them together. I've heard some people put marijuana plants in the room. I guess it makes the highs better.
rrog
1,958 posts
 
Possibly the weight of the fern has an effect on the subwoofer cabinet changing its resonant frequency. If you have a forward firing subwoofer and the added material is hanging over the driver there is potential for a dampening affect.
seakayaker
78 posts
 
'Ckoffend', I may laugh here, but you do have a point. Research suggests that significant interprocessing goes on in the brain between sensory modalities, especially the visual and the auditory. Center dialog with properly set up A/V systems tends to be subjectively attached to the visual subject by such intracranial processing; just closing the eyes can noticeably change the sound for many people.

B&W many years ago compared different loudspeaker finish colors on how this variable affected the subjects' perception of the sound reproduction. The differences were significant, and the results followed along the lines you might predict. I, for one, always try to design an audio set-up for it's effective visual support, in psychological terms, of the musical illusion I'm seeking to achieve. I don't like fancy and distracting wood finishes on the face of loudspeakers for this reason, whatever the girlfriend acceptance factor.
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