What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?

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gregfisk

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What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« on: 21 Apr 2018, 11:58 pm »
I'm getting ready to build frames and cover some 703 panels that I have with fabric. What I'm wondering about is how do I know if the fabric I use is going to allow the 703 panels to absorb the sound properly? I have heard of people putting insulation that's in plastic bags in their rooms and claiming that it still works. It seems to me if the material covering the insulation is solid like plastic it would disallow the absorption of the sound waves.

I have some really great looking fabric that I would like to use but I'm not sure it will allow the 703 panels to work as they should.

I was thinking that if you put your mouth up to the fabric and can blow through it then it should allow the  703 panels to work properly. If not, what measurement do I use to make sure the fabric I cover the panels with allows them to work properly?

Thank you for any help on this.

Greg


timind

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Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #1 on: 22 Apr 2018, 12:15 am »
I used speaker grill fabric purchased from Parts Express when I needed to cover my bass traps. I found a color that matched my room and figured grill cloth would be transparent to all frequencies. It's also pretty easy to work with.

Photon46

Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #2 on: 22 Apr 2018, 12:18 am »
Sorry I can't provide a link for this, but years ago when I made panels for myself I remember running across a website where an acoustician addressed this topic. Basically he said that only two options were advisable, either burlap if one was on a budget or ideally, purchase cloth specifically designed for acoustic panels. Anything else was going to have substandard performance in some respect. One can purchase Guilford of Maine fabric from GIK Acoustics and other places. If you Google the topic you can investigate the subject to your hearts content. 

konut

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Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #3 on: 22 Apr 2018, 12:21 am »

I was thinking that if you put your mouth up to the fabric and can blow through it then it should allow the  703 panels to work properly. 
Greg
 

That's what I did. Seems to work OK. Went to JoAnns and looked for thin fabric. Tested it by blowing through it. I didn't even build frames. Just pinned the fabric, gathered, using safety pins on the rear corners. The fabric had a gradation that came out pretty nice.






I didn't use frames to save weight as I was hanging them from the molding. Have since pit heavy curtains on that window behind the TV.
 

drummermitchell

Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #4 on: 22 Apr 2018, 12:52 am »
I believe with the plastic covering the insulation it would reflect upper mids and high frequencies while digging down lower in the bottom end.
Membrane,scatter plate ect.
I think if you had to many plain 703 panels(full absorption)it would kill the upper end,so I've read.
Gik,RT's say the same thing.
Plain oc-703 is good for first reflection points and seems you don't want that for bass trapping unless you want to kill the top end.

richidoo

Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #5 on: 22 Apr 2018, 01:02 am »
Guilford of Maine makes acoustic fabrics. Their FR701 fabric is said to be "acoustically transparent." It does work very well for acoustic treatments, only absorbing the very highest frequencies. Residential acoustic treatments usually focus on absorbing bass frequencies, so virtually any fabric will allow LF to pass through unattenuated.  If you're doing something that needs higher frequencies to pass through, like BAD (binary amplitude diffusion)  then FR701 is a good solution. It is available for many online sellers.

https://www.guilfordofmaine.com/patterns/2100

gregfisk

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Re: What Type of Fabric to Cover 703 Panels?
« Reply #6 on: 23 Apr 2018, 10:28 pm »
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this. I has heard of Guilfords of Main but hadn't looked at their options before. They do have a lot of choices for sure. I did some looking on line but can't seem to find any kind of chart of list of how fabric effects what freq. are absorbed. I have no idea if blowing through cloth correlates to it's ability to absorb sound.

It does make since that fabric would effect lower freq. less than higher freq. but how much and how important is that anyway? I'll keep looking but if anyone else knows of other places to get fabric so I have more choices. Or knows where to look for answers regarding fabric and sound absorption I'd like to hear about it.

Again, I appreciate what I've gotten so far, it is very helpfull. If I can't use the fabric I have in mind I can always get something else from Guilfords of Main.

Greg