Hey Dan,

All the hardware needed for this install method was included with your Speaker Light Kit. There was no need for more time or money spent on Amazon...or even the need for the hardware Flipper Fidelity included with their speakers.

AS PICTURED BELOW: Put down acrylic design, put on hex standoffs (included), put down the light frame, put on the grill, put on the speaker, attach with the included extended screws...and done.

I know the install instructions on my site are outdated, they were made before I even offered the light frames with the round holes, but they do mention the different install methods for the acrylic designs (acrylics in front of grills, acrylics behind grills or acrylics in the front and the grills behind the light frames). It also explains the extended hardware (which used to be sold separately, but is now included) is used for after market speakers that have the spacer rings attached to the front of them.

Sorry for any confusion, but your frustration was all for nothing as everything that was needed was included with your Speaker Light Kit.

PS: I include the female / female hex standoffs instead of female / male so you can even mount the light kits with acrylic design, light frame, different acrylic design, speaker grill and then speaker. This double acrylic stacking method looks really good with certain designs (EX: AC/DC figures in the front with lightning bolts in the back, Iron Man figure in the front and Arc Reactor in the back, KISS logos in the front and the KISS icons in the back...) and can't be done if a female / male hex standoff were included as the little thread that come off the male end of them isn't big enough to accommodate the light frame, back acrylic design, speaker grill and speaker. An example of the acrylic double stack can be seen here:

https://1drv.ms/v/s!ApLozahRRppJgT5QFVae6OYdpsSd

The mounting order of things do change the look quite a bit...for different reasons. In the case of Star Trek, I think having the grill behind the light frame helps because it is brighter, since the grill is not blocking any light, plus if you look back in the design area you won't see the speaker lit in the back....you will see the grill lit up back there instead. That gives it a more uniform and less cluttered look.

On other acrylic designs it is even more important to mount the grills behind the light frames. Specifically the mirrored designs that have etched details in them. The bigger the etched area on these acrylic designs...the more important it is to mount the acrylics in the front and the grills behind the light frames (so they are not directly behind the designs and not between the design and the light source). A Ghostbusters, Family Guy or South Park design with the grill mounted directly behind them looks pretty bad compared to one mounted with the grill back behind the light frame. As I mentioned, the different mounting methods are mentioned in my install instructions. I also say each design is different and some may look better mounted one way while others look nice another way. I like many of the bolder, black acrylic designs (ex: Shrek) mounted behind the grills so they can't even be seen until the game and light kit is turned on. So it's largely a judgment call and up to preference.

I hope you enjoy the light kit and sorry for any confusion.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)

01 acrylic (resized).JPG

02 hex standoffs (resized).JPG

03 light frame (resized).JPG

04 grill (resized).JPG

05 speaker (resized).JPG

06 extended screws (resized).JPG

07 done (resized).JPG

Just another thought...you could have put down the acrylic design, Flipper Fidelity's 5/8" female / male hex standoffs, the light frame, the grill, then my 5/8" female / female hex standoff, the speaker and then attach with my 3/8" screws.

As you know from installing them both ways, the light frames can be flipped either direction when mounting them (with the mounting holes against the speaker panel, as the install manual describes or with them toward the speaker).

In either case, they work fine and it is usually just the visual difference of how much of the light plate you can see in the back part of the lit area. How much of the light frame you can even see back there varies a great deal, depending on what acrylic design you are using. I usually chose to mount the light frames with the round hole with the round hole toward the back (against the speaker). The round hole in the plate matches the round hole in the speaker panel if you can see it back there behind the design. Others like to keep the round hole toward the speaker panel so they see less of the light frame in the lit area. As I said...that works fine also. It just makes a small difference visually and is up to a persons personal preference.

I had never thought of having the round part of the plate toward the back making them brighter, but that does make sense and I can understand that it might have that effect.

Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad you are happy with the Speaker Light Kit.

Doug (SpeakerLightKits.com)