Am I the only one wiht speaker cozys ?


I was just thinking about something. My speakers end up being too close to other furniture and to the walls so I ended up covering them with unused, sound dampening curtains to improve the smoothness and imaging.

They can look rather nice if clean and ironed.

Am I the only one who does this?


erik_squires

erik,

I'm with you on this.  I'm sort of amazed so few people think of the idea of covering their speakers.

I really like a nice room decor and hate to ruin things with a pair of either ugly speakers, or even with just the wrong speaker finish.  (I didn't keep my Harbeth SuperHL5 plus speakers mostly due to the fact I still preferred my Thiels over them, but also the aesthetics weren't right.  In of themselves, their wood finish was gorgeous.  But it was a totally wrong wood shade for the rest of the room, and just stood out as 'blech.')

I had looked at a number of speakers, and some intrigued me on sonic grounds, but didn't come in a finish I liked.  I was fully prepared to try a fitted fabric over them, as it could be chosen to perfectly blend with the room, and it worked out so well for my home theater speakers.

But I found speakers whose finish I love, so never got to that point.
I surmise you're not married/living with anyone....

True, but given how hideous some speakers may be to room decor, this idea is not aesthetically incompatible. Just have to pick the right colors and fabrics.

It's not like my speakers look homeless or sick with the flu you know. :)

E
My home theatre speakers (and I occasionally use my L/Rs for music listening) are all covered in black velvet. (Except the front of course).

In this case it is to eliminate any light reflection from the speakers back to my projection screen, and also for the speakers to totally disappear from view when the lights are out for movies.

Though I also like that benefit when I pull out the L/R speakers to listen to music.   In low lighting they really disappear from view leaving just the sound floating in the room.
In my view, I'm adding more damping to the living room. The goal is not to make the speakers sound better so much as improve room acoustics, and reducing the speaker to speaker reflections that can happen when you are forced to keep the speakers too close together.

Best,
E
"  Am I the only one who does this? "

Probably.

"   so I ended up covering them with unused, sound dampening curtains to improve the smoothness and imaging. "

you shouldnt have to cover a speaker in order to make it sound good. 

 maybe a different speaker or equipment or room treatments are needed?