Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ.

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Re: Silk facing for absorption?

Posted by Jon Risch (B) on January 23, 2007 at 19:39:27

In Reply to: Re: Silk facing for absorption? posted by tpcarter on January 23, 2007 at 12:41:35:

Wool rugs are typically going to be too dense to do much good in the HF's and midrange, and not be thick enough to absorb much bass, while the tapestries are even worse, denser and thinner.

As for cashmere, this is still mostly wool, and from what I have seen, the density is still on the high side.

Realize thyat most of these types of fabrics that look fuzzy or velvety are woven very tighyt/dense on the rear, and just about the only sound absorption will come from the very thin layer of "fuzz" on the front surface, the midrange and most of the highs will reflect off of it by say 70-80%, and waste the sound absorbing material behind it.

If you want a "nice" looking fabric, and are willing to pay fo it, check out the Rolls-Royce and Cadillac of acoustic fabrics:

Guilford of Maine - FR701
http://www.silentsource.com/acousticore-colorchart1.html
goto
http://samplecenter.guilfordofmaine.com/servlet/Search
and select "FR 701® - 2100"
under the 'Browse Products' Search function

and
Acoustone Cloth (for speaker grilles)
http://www.acoustonegrillecloth.com/

These are considerd to be the premium acoustical fabrics for interior use, fire-retardant to UL standards in most cases, absolutely uniform and consistent, with color fast shades.

However, I know of none of their offerings that are as sheer and smooth as silk, your best bet is still some double-knit ployester speaker grille cloth (not just any old double-knit or polyester, it needs to be rated for speaker grile use, and preferably obtained from a suitable source such as Parts Express or a speaker supply companies/vendors).

The main criteria is that the fabric either allow the sound to pass through unimpeded, so the sound absorbing material inside the cloth can do it's job, OR that the cloth be absorbent enough in the highs and midrange, and alow the bass to pass through to the sound absorbing material behind. Speaker grille cloth and most of the offerings of the above two mentioned firms fall into the first category, while burlap and other corse weaves fall into the seccond category.

Both Guileford and Acoustone offer samples and sample books, so you can send for them to let your wife see what they are like.

Good luck!

Jon Risch

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