Confessing to not cleaning my ELS panels

[JonFo]

I'm a new ESL 13a owner. Only owned about 2 months. But have a dusty house. So a swifter duster is not the way to go correct?

https://www.amazon.com/Procter-Gamb...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RS2Y72XQDTE361B389M5

I was thinking just a gentle down motion to clean but wanted to ask here first. I'm sure the answer is a big fat NO.

Yep, a big NO !

Please read my previous posts in this thread, and use the suggested soft-bristle attachment on a good strong vacuum. Do that regularly and they can last decades, mine have.

 

[Northy]

I am going on a limb here and say that my Theos are always covered by the factory cloth. I only remove the covers when I want to listen very critically. Believe me, with the covers on, they still sound very good for casual listening/TV and movies.

 

[RyanB]

Northy, I am going to go out on the limb with you. I ran my speakers once with sheets over them, just to see what difference it made. I expected it to be like wearing ear muffs, but actually the difference was not much. Although I will probably not partake, I can totally understand leaving them covered for casual listening (is there really such a thing??), or when someone in the house just wants some background music.

 

[JonFo]

With you guys talking about running your ELS with a sheet or cover over them, I can share that my center channel runs behind my microperf screen + a blackout layer of cloth and still sounds amazingly clear. The drop-off in HF is measurable (a dB or two) but the Room EQ easily corrects that. These huge panels really help with getting sound through a cloth or vinyl (screen is perforated vinyl) barrier.

Matter of fact, I've always thought that a high WAF solution to allowing ESL in the main living space would be to use a tensioned, thin knit cloth material to create a cylinder (or any other shape defined by top & bottom frames) and hide the speakers.

So something like this as a frame:



And have a thin stretch fabric printed to taste like this:

 

[Timobi]

Yep, a big NO !

Please read my previous posts in this thread, and use the suggested soft-bristle attachment on a good strong vacuum. Do that regularly and they can last decades, mine have.

Yes Sir..and thank you.

 

[Gordon Gray]

I vacum religiously every 30 to 45 days. Keeps the mylar light and clean.

It's one of the reasons my Sequels have lasted >24 years on original panels.

JonFo is correct. Don't be lazy about this.

 

[RyanB]

With you guys talking about running your ELS with a sheet or cover over them, I can share that my center channel runs behind my microperf screen + a blackout layer of cloth and still sounds amazingly clear. The drop-off in HF is measurable (a dB or two) but the Room EQ easily corrects that. These huge panels really help with getting sound through a cloth or vinyl (screen is perforated vinyl) barrier.

Matter of fact, I've always thought that a high WAF solution to allowing ESL in the main living space would be to use a tensioned, thin knit cloth material to create a cylinder (or any other shape defined by top & bottom frames) and hide the speakers.

JonFo, that is a really neat idea. Seems like a half round wall-mounted version could be made for the EFX series also.

I have noticed that I have a very low WAF for the idea of room treatments, and distance from wall spacing. Speakers too far from the wall and it starts to impede the flow of traffic. I have been able to get away with just over 2ft without causing alarm.. Luckily they back up to a picture window, which now always stays closed to avoid UV damage, so I could add a heavier weight curtain to absorb some reflections.