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I know that speaker grill cloths should ideally be 100% acoustically transparent. But I also find such materials expensive for experimentation purposes. I would wish to use worn out shirts and flour bags--dyed in black--as speaker grill cloth. Would these materials do?
There is nothing that is truly acoustically transparent. If you want the best fidelity, don't use a grille. If one is needed, put it as close to the speaker as possible. Several materials are made specifically for the purpose, and they aren't that expensive so I would suggest that you use one of them where possible. Not only will it be better in terms of less attenuation, but also in terms of less reflection. Reflections cause response aberrations, which is why I suggest putting the grille as close to the speaker as possible. That will reduce the amount of response irregularities from self-interference caused by the grille.
Thanks for the reply Wayne. Right There's no need for grille in fact for experimentation purposes. Anyhow, thanks for the tip on putting the grille as close to the speaker as possible.