We're using Triad Bronze in-walls in one of our demo rooms, and it's been matched to the same color as the wall.

One of my clients asked if the speaker could blend better with the wall. She noticed that even though the grill is yellow, the black speaker behind it still shows through to a degree.

I thought I remembered someone here using some kind of white acoustically transparent material behind an in-wall grill to minimize the black front of the speaker. Does anyone have any info on this? I did a search but came up with nothing.

Dawn

Some inwalls have a white foam material of some kind behind the grill to block the black, you could use this and dye it to match, or you could do what I found at an old remodel once and just take the grill off and spray paint right over the whole thing ;)

you can get white cambrick (spelling?) from an upholstry supply store. Basically, its the stuff that they use on the bottom of matress pads, couches etc... Many speaker manufacturers use this as scrim cloth in their in wall grills.

Nothing is truly acousticly transparent, but you could use a little spray glue (3M 77) to hold it in the grill. Just be sure to spray the inside of the grill and apply the scrim. Do not pu the glue on the scrim itself. In the long run it will change color and attract dust.

TruAudio speakers utilize a thin layer of dacron behind the grills. Maybe this is the material you are thinking of?

Dawn

Leave them in the front seat of your car in a bad part of town with the door unlocked. Those suckers will disappear in a heartbeat!

Dacron is the stuff I was thinking about, too.

www.stealthacoustics.com

About the same price as a good set of inwalls, They sound pretty good, and once they are skimmed and painted you won't see them at all.

Mike

You could use a good acoustical grill cloth inside the grill, or depending on the wall, just stretch it over the grill and reapply the grill.

Guillford of Maine is the resource for Acoustically Transparent Grill Cloth, plenty of colors and styles.

This is but one place that sells their products. Google will turn up... a Google of em!

[Link: acousticalsolutions.com]

I agree that they vanish completely...but sound as good as Triads?

Get some of that 3m spray on glue and spray the backside of the grille and then press on a used dryer sheet. You know those anti-static sheets for clothes? It's got to be used so that the chemicals in it are gone and it will stick to the glue. I came up with this one day when I was doing a retrofit in an old home. The lady of the house did not like the black holes in her white walls. Right then I noticed that there was a box of new anti-static sheets on her counter and asked if she had a used one. I ended up digging 2 out of her garbage and trimmed them using the grille as a template. She stood there with her mouth open and shook her head and muttered "Oh my god I don't beleive it". She was very happy when I left but was still shaking her head. I'm not sure if she was amazed by my abilities to deal with an issue so fast or if she was just stunned that I used her garbage to do it. What ever the case I could not stop grinning all the way home. I image she has told this story a thousand times by now.

Way cool. I'll try that! Tomorrow is laundry day.

Thanks everyone.

Dawn

P.S. Fred, let's take a drive after EHX. Bring your favorite speakers .... :-)

They sound decent if you build a back box for them. Without the backbax the bass is very hollow (Echoey). With a good quality amp and a good quality sub, I would say they sound as good as a decent pair of In-walls. Probably not as good as the Triads, but you are paying for the design. They are great for background music.

Mike

Not even in the same ball park as the Triads!!!

I'd agree with the earlier post... Take off the grilles and lightly spray just enough reduce the black... kind of dust em a bit with the paint. Don't coat them, or it could affect the compliance of the woofer surrounds, and also eventually crack and flake off.

Could also try painting that plastic screen door mesh (not the metal stuff), and lightly spray glue the back of the grilles, and lay the painted mesh into place.

Not slamming the Stealths, it's just that the Triads are really hi-performance & the Stealths are more "music wallpaper" - background sound quality.

I've installed Triads and Stealth Acoustics. Everything in life is a compromise. If they truly want them gone then the SA would be an option. Using something like the audio control amps with room by room EQ would be a requirment to get them anywhere in the realm of the Triads. But even then it's just backround. I did use a set of stealths as mains for an older client. They sounded just fine to them.

the dryer thing is a great idea. May have to overlap them a bit though. The look of a dryer sheet is just like the look of the cambric (dacron)

I never said they were in the same ball park as Triads, you are paying to make them disappear. For background music or a DA system they will sound fine. If you want them to sound as good as the Triads then you shoul be looking at Sound Advance. But then you are more expensive than the Triads, and three times the install time.

www.soundadvance.com