Grilles on or off?

[Huey]

:text-+1: Yea, what's with that ......... leave my cones alone damn it!!!

You sound like my wife.




My speakers have no grills, but until he gets older, little man is not allowed downstairs so I don't have to worry about any kid issues.


I would like to add some speakers to the living room, but I will go super cheap that way I'm not out of any expense should they become damaged.

You got the little guy locked in the attic? :text-bump:

My opinion, I notice that the speakers tend to be a little more open with the grilles off, but still sound very acceptable with them on.
Rob

 

[topper]

My Klipsch speaker grill frames have a full grid of hard plastic diamond shapes in them, so
I go without 'em. (approx. 4 per sq. inch)

Probably not a major gain, but enough to be audilbe.
To me, that design begs, "Take me off . . "

>>

 

[Randy]

My Klipsch speaker grill frames have a full grid of hard plastic diamond shapes in them, so
I go without 'em. (approx. 4 per sq. inch)

Probably not a major gain, but enough to be audilbe.
To me, that design begs, "Take me off . . "

>>

Ya, cuz what do those guys at Klipsch know about designing speakers???? :violence-torch: :text-imsorry: :teasing-tease:

 

[Rope]

OFF!

Rope

 

[topper]

Yeah, still "off" ...

You got me, Randy.

I confess ~ my pair of 4' tall towers are good looking, and I just enjoy seeing them.

It's a freudian/macho defect in my psychological makeup.

. :text-nocomment: . :happy-smileygiantred:

 

[heeman]

With my speakers and my equipment in my acoustically untreated room, I am not able to discern much difference either way. My setup gives me very acceptable sound quality, but there is no comparison between what I have and what someone would experience in a proper acoustically treated environment. I think this has something to do with my inability to hear the lobing effect of my horizontal MTM center channel unless I'm more the six feet off center. I've always had my system in a general purpose living room where I've had to make compromises. Someday, I hope I have the luxury of a dedicated space where I can go completely nuts and obsess about speaker grills and horizonal center channels.

Exactly............ :text-+1: X 10,000 :text-bravo:

 

[MatthewB]

Flint, glad to see my Strata Minis had minimal difference either way. :happy-smileygiantred:







Yes i know you still hate my speakers. bscene-buttred:

 

[Flint]

Minimal? But I wrote "clear".

 

[Alien]

Mine are designed to have the grills on to curb diffraction. And they DO sound better with them on...the imaging gets a little funny otherwise.

 

[milpool]

While many people cannot hear the difference and the audibility will vary from speaker to speaker, you can measure the difference between the output of a speaker with the grill on versus the grill off.

This reminds me of how companies like Monster make their fortune. They make a tiny measureable difference in a cable's performance, which probably cannot be heard, and sell it by saying it makes a huge difference. I know that Flint was not taking that approach, it just made me think of it.

I agree that making measureable changes are a priority over making unmeasureable ones. And I have also heard "clear" performance differences when grills are on or off. I personally like mine better off, but almost never actually do it (kids/WAF).

 

[Kazaam]

fwiw... I like the look of my speakers with the grills "on".

Which isn't to say that my speakers don't look cool with the grills off, because I think they do. (They're nothing too fancy, but nice looking: B&W DM303 with its BB shot mold and plethora of screws, and my Energy S10.3 subwoofer with its rubber ribbed surround).

And, now that I think about it, maybe it's a good thing that I like the look of speakers with grills on because it seems like every time I take 'em off I haveto touch the woofers---just like Soundhound's visitors!!! :eusa-whistle: I probably couldn't really tell much of a difference between the sound of 'on' vs 'off', anyway.

 

[malsackj]

Law of diminished returns!

Measured change in performance. Will the change add up to a change that can be heard by the human ear? At what cost will this be to me the consumer.

Loose the speaker cone to kids/animal, Vistor ? or Loose the wife to divorce over reconcilable differences over house decor. I for one have not altered my living room to include the acoustic treatments to keep peace. If I have room in the new home someday I will devote a room to a 7 wall studio for my fun.

Back when the children were younger I had a 4 year old get into the back of the rack and stick a screwdriver mom gave him to play with into the back of the scott 208 tube amp. He crossed the plate feed onto the grounded frame. Pritty Blue spark and loud pop. Good thing he was holding the handle. Just popped the fuse and the circuit breaker. Lucky day. Still have not figured out how he moved the furnature out of the way to get to the amp.

 

[heeman]

My Paradigm Studio's look great without the grills however I have very curious cats that would no doubt take their paws to the cones.

Grills stay on!

 

[Mag]

Mine are designed to have the grills on to curb diffraction. And they DO sound better with them on...the imaging gets a little funny otherwise.

Same for mine, designed to have the grills on. Soundhound makes an interesting point as well. When somebody sees a cone, or even worse with a tweeter, something makes them want to touch them.
Odd...better all around if nobody sees what is under those sock cloths.