Replacement foam around EMITs/EMIMs?

[Whitehall]

On my RS2.5s, the foam on the upper section around the EMITs and EMIMs is falling apart. One touch and it crumbles. It still works but the housekeeping could be better.

The purpose seems to be to minimize sound reflections. Anyone with a successful replacement material?

The existing stuff is rather dense. The closed cell foam I've got on hand is nowhere as dense so there must be something better out there.

[bastek]

The big infinities -IRS 1B, IRS V, Epsilon etc. - don't use any kind of foam, so i say clean it well and let the wood show. None of the high end brands use baffle foam today anyway, as it don't make a measurable or audible difference.

[EchoWars]

There's lots of HD foam out there (think: upholstery shop), but it's all the wrong color. I'm with bastek...scrape the crap off and call it a day.

[Tedrick]

All of those big speakers (and including the RS-II/a/b's) have curved front baffles, which minimize direct reflections from the surfaces surrounding the drivers. The foam anti-diffraction pads were put on some Infinity's that had large, flat front panels to reduce these reflections, 'cool' the upper registers a bit, and reduce 'beaming.' IMO, since the designers put the foam on there they probably had a good reason to do so, and I would replace it.

I've purchased open-cell foam from The Foam Factory to replace the anti-diffraction pad around the Polydomes and EMITs on my RS-IIIb's. I got the Charcoal-R open cell foam (http://www.thefoamfactory.com/opencellfoam/charcoal-R.html), which is available in a variety of thicknesses. If you want denser, try their Charcoal-F foam. Foam Factory also sell acoustic foam, closed cell foam, and sound-barrier foam products direct to the public.

Others have used thick felt to replace the foam padding, to reportedly good effect.

[rabbit]

When I purchased my RS4.5's recently the previous owner used an open cell acoustic foam. It is a much lighter grey color but with the grills on you don't notice it at all.

[geoff727]

Foam Factory also sell acoustic foam, closed cell foam, and sound-barrier foam products direct to the public.

Yep, they'll custom-cut it to shape, too. It ain't cheap, though. I think it's about 100 dolalrs for a custom layout.

For the material that gives the same visual effect as the original, with the diamond pattern on it, you can try BlackHole5, available from www.soniccraft.com. It's not cheap, either. But, then again, it's more of a specialty constrained-layer damping material. I don't know how easy it is to cut it, or if it's available as a custom-cut shape.

[totem]

My RS2.5s came with only the remnants of the foam left
on the upper panels.
After some looking around for a color and thickness that might work,
I ran across 2 pieces on a job site I was on.
A little cutting and some spray adhesive and I could now leave the
grills off without having to look at the mess.

As to any sound difference, it was noticeable fairly quickly.
The mids and upper end were more balanced sounding, and a little less ragged
around the edges.

[Whitehall]

Looks like OPEN cell is better for noise control, not closed cell as I had thought. The visual appearance of the replacement material is not a priority although I suspect that a dark foam would be better since the covering cloth is thin and translucent.

[totem]

Whitehall what I ended up with was the open cell in charcoal. When I was on the lookout
there was not much around, then every where I turned was sheets of the stuff. (free)
For some reason I now have enough to open a foam shop.