Ask an Audio geek

[Kosh]

So I'm having one of those moments where I feel the need to make a change to my system which is nothing earth shattering at the moment.  It's a bit of a hodgepodge when it comes to speakers.  I have a 7.1 setup with three different pairs of speakers.

Right now I'm using a pair of Vintage Vandersteen 1b's for my surround speakers.  I picked these up super cheap on craigslist, and I've had them for about five years.  Richard Vandersteen makes some very nice and affordable speakers. His signature design philosophy is to put the money into the speaker drivers, crossover, and cabinet design instead of cabinet asthetics.  What you get is a great sounding speaker that is surrounded by an audibly transparent "sock".



Here is a stock photo with the sock and without.

The 1b's sound fine for what they are asked to do, but that cloth sock is tough to keep clean in a house with a couple cats and two great danes.  The other day I came home to find a six inch long dried chuck of drool on the fabric.  I think they need to go