Carpet over subwoofer???

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Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=407
Printed Date: August 05, 2025 at 1:50 PM

Topic: Carpet over subwoofer???

Posted By: david914
Subject: Carpet over subwoofer???
Date Posted: April 21, 2002 at 6:50 PM

I've built a sub enclosure (sealed box w/ a single 10") for an SUV and because of where it is, I'd like for it to be completely disguised. Is there any problem using non-backed carpet (Ozite) and covering the woofer grill? The carpet appears to be fairly transparent, but I'm not sure if it's enough to prevent problems. Anyone have experience doing this? Any advice? Thanks!!!

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David

Replies:

Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: April 21, 2002 at 6:55 PM

I would not suggest doing that because under high volumes the woofer excursion will start hitting the carpet and it will sound like someone hitting carpet on a clothes hanger with a tennis raquet !! posted_image If there's anything in front of the woofer , the woofer will hit it causing noise and possible surround or cone wear. What you can do is take a metal woofer grill and wrap speaker cloth over it and then mount the grill over the woofer. The speaker cloth is very porous and sound will not get muffled by it.

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

Posted By: david914
Date Posted: April 21, 2002 at 7:12 PM

Don't know if it matters, but I've got a metal mesh grill on the woofer and would be going over that, so the carpet hitting the cone wouldn't be an issue. That said, I've seen installs where it appeared that the woofers were covered with some type of carpet. For instance, where the subs are sunk into the floor and covered to hide/protect them. What do they use?

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David

Posted By: NyxBass
Date Posted: April 22, 2002 at 5:37 PM

Actually, If you have a metal grill, you should be fine. A general rule for me is, if you can breathe through the covering and not be starved for air within a few seconds, you should be fine. I woudl suggest that you attach the carpet to something or make it rigid in some way over the speaker...If you're not careful, you'll get the sound of the carpet flapping on the grill. If the grill is tight against the carpet, you could use some light tack spray adhesive or somehting to make it stick to the grill, or create some sort of backing for the carpet over the speaker (i:e: flat metal grill material bonded to the back of the carpet at the spot.) Or, if there's enough room between the grill and carpet, you can just stretch the carpet very tight over the speaker hole and it will vibrate when the sub plays, but w/o hitting anything, it won't make much of a difference.

/NyxBass

Posted By: david914
Date Posted: April 22, 2002 at 6:21 PM

Yeah, I actually tried the "breathing" thing before I posted. Glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks like that! The metal woofer grill will be flush with the surface to which the carpet will be glued, so it should be nice and tight. We'll give it a go! Thanks for the suggestions guys! posted_image

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David

Posted By: NyxBass
Date Posted: April 22, 2002 at 7:40 PM

Good luck to you and let us know how it turns out!

/NyxBass