Speaker grills on or off??

[madmac]

How many members here play their speakers with the grills on or off and why? Are speakers designed to play with the grills on? Why?? What difference does it make for you sound wise?

Obviously with children around, it pays to keep them on for obvious reasons and we have all seen the results of not doing this in regards to the middle parts of the speaker cones!! :roll:

Sound off !!! I'm curious !! :T

[Kal Rubinson]

How many members here play their speakers with the grills on or off and why?

I play mine with the grills on because I selected them for the way they sound with the grills on.

Are speakers designed to play with the grills on?

Some are and some aren't.

Why??

Depends on the manufacturer.

Ideally, grills should be either unnecessary and/or completely transparent. However, some manufacturers acknowledge that many users require the protection a grill affords.

[Alaric]

My Paradigms sound much better with the grills off. It's a quite noticeable difference , but when I had to deal with cats and children they were left on unless I was sitting in front of them. Cats and kids knew , if Dad is downstairs nobody else is (had a finished basement). Now that I'm single , I just leave them off. I had a pair of A/D/S speakers about a million years ago that also sounded best without the grills , but my mother complained it made her living room look like a 'G0$#%&@ rock concert!". They were the L1530 speakers and were pretty big. LOL
Most of the B&Ws I've heard didn't care , along with some big Revel Salon beauties. Klipsch almost always sound less strident/harsh with them on and I've heard several Energy speakers that worked better without them. Bose sound "best" if the grills are on-and made of concrete.

[madmac]

I play mine with the grills on because I selected them for the way they sound with the grills on.
Some are and some aren't.
Depends on the manufacturer.

Ideally, grills should be either unnecessary and/or completely transparent. However, some manufacturers acknowledge that many users require the protection a grill affords.

Thanks kal !! Perfectly said !

[Kal Rubinson]

My Paradigms sound much better with the grills off. It's a quite noticeable difference , but when I had to deal with cats and children they were left on unless I was sitting in front of them.

Interestiing. Paradigm is one of the companies that has stated that their speakers are voiced for use with the grills on. Of course, that doesn't preclude someone preferring them off.

[Alaric]

The more I think about it now , the more I suspect a less than stellar listening environment. They were against the long wall of a shallow room , with a very low ceiling. Also , pulling them out away from side and back reflections was often more work than I wanted to do. They weigh around 70 lbs. each. (carpet and spikes) But they picked up detail without the grills in that environment. Finally , while I like the way my amp sounds , it does have a sound-not exactly transparent. Something like an older Bryston would probably have made a huge difference in whether or not the grills came off.

[iiaudio]

I keep the grills off. I'm afraid the cat will turn them into a scratching post!! I haven't really noticed a tonal difference with them on or off.

[madmac]

Interestiing. Paradigm is one of the companies that has stated that their speakers are voiced for use with the grills on. Of course, that doesn't preclude someone preferring them off.

I've often thought that speaker mfr's might 'voice' their speakers to be used with the grills on (ie....bracing and ribbing behind the grill fabric etc).

[Kal Rubinson]

I've often thought that speaker mfr's might 'voice' their speakers to be used with the grills on (ie....bracing and ribbing behind the grill fabric etc).

I think it is something that companies do not publicize to leave the user free to pursue preference. In addition, particular setups could easily shift preference. One needs to be one's own judge, as Alaric is.

[madmac]

I think it is something that companies do not publicize to leave the user free to pursue preference. In addition, particular setups could easily shift preference. One needs to be one's own judge, as Alaric is.

Agreed !! I recently pulled the grill from my center channel HT setup just to give a little extra 'pop' to it's sound because it's a little lower than the main speakers and it's worked out quite well!!

[Lex]

I liken it to driving with the top down on a convertible, try it both ways, and see which way is best. Now, it may be that music is better with them on, and movies, it could aide dialogue to remove center speaker to make it articulate words better. Just a theory. I don't run the grill on my center, but I do my mains. Surrounds are mostly on i think. More to protect them than anything though.

[bostonmurf]

grills on for me, to keep my 2 year old from poking them!

[Alaric]

grills on for me, to keep my 2 year old from poking them!

That's a huge concern for many.

I think it is something that companies do not publicize to leave the user free to pursue preference. In addition, particular setups could easily shift preference. One needs to be one's own judge, as Alaric is.

My comments are purely anecdotal. Bad room , the amp in Class A mode , and years of listening to muddy , smeared , BPC crap. My only "real" rig prior to this one had A/D/S L1530s. The soft dome mid and tweet drivers could knock the edge off almost anything , and vinyl was my first choice. My current set up uses a tube phono pre with the afore mentioned caveats. My amp was chosen based on a decently detailed redbook player and very detailed speakers , bearing in mind my main music preference is saddled with lousy production values. (metal , hard rock , popular rock) I tried to build a system that provided detail without the harsh and often brittle side effects of a revealing system. It turned out to be pretty close to the best compromise of budget and ability. With Sinatra , grills on. Black Sabbath works best with them off. Then we have Dusty Springfield , Heart , Procol Harum , Iron Butterfly , etc.. It really is a case by case scenario for me. I also contribute some slight hearing damage to loud engines , wind noise , and age , to the mix. I need more detail to continue enjoying some music. Especially since I now enjoy albums like Robert Plant and Allison Krauss' Raising Sand as much as Jethro Tull's Aqualung.

Which reminds me-on the Mobile Fidelity half speed master of Aqualung , does anyone else get a chirping sound on the track Locomotive Breath? It was awful with the A/D/S speakers.

[madmac]

My towers sound somewhat clearer with the grills off (10% better or so) but I don't like the monolithic look they give the living room when off. I compromised recently with my rather large center channel and took the grill off permanently with good results.

The last thing I'm going to do is pop my grills on and off for certain types of music. They mount on quite tight and if I was to do that, I figure that sooner or later the connectors and/or frames would start to break.

Everybody has been to someone's house and witnessed the carnage that can be done to speakers by children with the grills off ! Tragic !!

And as we all know, the placement of speakers will invariably have a MUCH bigger impact on their performance than whether the grills are on or off ! Amen !

[John Holmes]

My Hales Revelation 3 speakers, have a cloth wrapped and tuck around a hefty tube wire frame. It is too much work getting it off and even more putting back on. I actually enjoy the sound with the cloth in place.