Grilles or No Grilles

I think you cannot generalize.

If the speaker was designed and voiced with the grille cloth on, then it will only be able to perform as intended with the grille cloth on.

If the speaker was designed and voiced with the grille cloth off, then it will only be able to perform as intended with the grille cloth off.

Someone's personal preference is simply a personal preference.

Kal

And equally valid is the psychological effect of removing the grilles and believing, therefore, that the sound was more direct. There's little doubt that the grilles change the sound but it is not universally true that the change is an improvement. See JA's measurements and comments here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/paradigm-reference-studio60-v3-loudspeaker-measurements

Kal

Eee3:
So, the grilles off have it!

50,000 Frenchmen can be wrong.

Orpheus10 wrote:
I have never heard a speaker that did not sound better with the grills off.

I have heard speakers that are better with them off and speakers that are better with them on. It really is not something that one should make a blanket statement about unless one has heard them all.

How they look with the grilles on or off is another matter.

Kal

Stanwal-

I know what you are saying but, in the context of this thread, it seems that most people are generalizing and, unfortunately, I took your statement as an example.

Of course, the original post is a little confusing as it refers first to "a more accurate listening experience" (without specifying how accuracy is determined) and, then, refers to what "works better for me" which is a matter of preference. Yet, the OP is asking "what do you think?"

What is more accurate is measurable and has been.
What is preferred may be something else, of course.

Kal

Airegin: I fully agree and that is the point I was trying to make in my first post.

Kal