....my situation at the time was very involving....
Oh, Yeah....grilles off....fer shure.....
I'm still distracted by 'heavy metal grilles'.....screwed down so the bass lines make them Flex....Drum lines that can churn butter.... |
When you use the grills as a tone control to soften or tame high frequencies,that is something I did long time ago and it does work slightly but you are robbing yourself from better performance by having the grills on. Years ago, audiophiles didn’t have the amount of recent tweaks we have today. Many audiophiles, years ago, were restricted to tube rolling and component swapping to get that “correct sound”. Today, we now know certainly that cables, isolation point, tubes, room treatment, etc. make a significant difference. So one should tweak the hell out of the system with all the many tweaks we have available to get the tonality and clarity right without having to use the grills as a “tone control”. I really believe so strong in removing them from my own experience and the performance I have achieved from my systems. The only good reason I could see keeping them on would be that the speakers/drivers look very bad when the grills are removed or dealing with children and pets at home. But if you can live with them off, the sound is much more involving. |
might of removed them
30 years ago |
|
'Near field' stuff...close 'miked'....good rhythm sections.... |
@jacksky....Hmmm....the only times I've listened nude is when I was 'occupied' listening to 'someone else'....;)
Real 'primal' live stuff....nothing for 'reproduction', frankly.
Even the practice sessions tended to go well...*G* |
Guys, the grills, no matter what material they are made of, will affect the sound. Most of us are in this hobby because we are looking for the purest, most musically satisfying sound we can achieve. Otherwise, we would had stood with receivers and average Components. We spend and spent a lot of money in this hobby. If one has to use their grills to tame brightness or shrill sound, that means the setup is not tweaked correctly. Grills when used always veils the sound SLIGHTLY and when not used, opens up and give a clearer picture into the recording. Removing the grills doesn’t give more resolution or things like that, it just lifts a slight veil that is between you and the music. Transparency, clarity and openness of sound, focus is what’s immediately noticed. |
Lowtubes, i’ve Been in the hobby for many years and yes removing the grills is quite elementary for any audiophile. My point was to the impact this made to the overall sonic improvements. I’ve owned over 50 hi-end speakers and have probably removed more grills from speakers than I care to mention; so removing the grills isn’t new to me. As for the comment about Focal from Jon-5912: I can only say never comment on something that makes one look so foolish when they don’t have a clue to what they’re talking about!! |
Gave it a try and listened in the nude. At first deep bass passages made my chest hairs oscillate and it felt strange. Then I wondered is the the deep soundstage I’ve been missing all this time?
|
At least you tried. Next step, remove the plastic dust cover. |
@geoffkait Quad 57s. Took my perfect metal grills off. You haven't lived until you pull 80 staples embedded in wood from a creaky frame. I was expecting a massive difference what with all that metal. Not that big a change but I rest easier knowing it's not in the way even though they are ugly now.
|
In the Revel Salon 2 manual it says to remove the grills when doing "critical listening". They do sound different on vs. off, but i leave them on usually, since my room is bright, and my cat is crazy.... |
My Focal Electra 1038's are the same and do sound better with the grills off but present a problem as they are tricky to put back on especially after a glass or seven of listening enhancer.
|
@audiorusty thats the best comment yet. Ya'll must have some Shi**ty grills if it sounds so much better with them off. I like to drool over the looks of my drivers too but I also like to protect the drivers, keep bugs out of the ports, kids hands out & dust off drivers.
|
Focal must be really bad at designing speakers if the grills make that big of a difference. |
I am chill, as I said ,this is basic knowledge with audiophiles. Just because a speaker is voiced with the grills on means absolutely nothing to you or me. That means absolutely nothing. I know a ton of speakers that are all meant to always be played with the grills on. But by tweaking a system properly, the sound will ALWAYS sound more open and transparent with the grills off. I personally wouldn’t bother with placement of on and off with the grills as this may eventually damages the connectors that hold the grills in place. A little bit of dust on the drivers will not damage them and a slight dusting does fix that concern. Straight to the point- you want the best sound from your system? Tweak it well, leave the grills off. The ground you have yet to step on my friend, I have walked long time ago. |
lowtubes, chill, no reason to ride the OP. Everyone is at a different place. Some people are more into the media collecting, etc. and don't pay that much attention to the nuances of gear, etc.
As for speakers that are "voiced" with grills on, whatever. It's usually because it looks like crap, for they used ugly materials underneath to save money - not always the worst thing cost-wise - but a disadvantage when it comes to performance. Yes, this is true of Vandersteen and Magnepan, too. Sorry, fanboys. :)
Do I care if the manufacturer says the speaker is better with a grill? No. I'll probably never own it. It's that important when you put systems together for high performance. I get the aesthetics thing and WAF etc, but I'll not quickly succumb to acceptance of a speaker without removable grill. In 30+ years a speaker with a grill has never performed superior to without. The only exception, as I said, was if they did a poor job on the tweeter. YMMV
|
Hello, what planet are you from? You mean you didn’t know removing the grill off ANY speaker improves it’s transparency and openness? These are the basics, what level in this hobby are you at? Sorry if this sounds a little rude, no offend but I can not believe that you are actually surprised with this basic knowledge. |
Quad ‘75s are a little different. Now, those heavy metal grills ARE physical. Whose brilliant idea was that?
|
My Acoustat electrostatics went nude 15 years ago. It was one less cloud on the window.
|
OK, try this. Take the grills off and listen for a while. Then place one grill in front of your head while listening. If you don’t hear a difference in the sound it’s because the reason is not physical. Fair enough? |
It is a physical principle.
Try for example to speak with your hand in front of your mouth, or wear a mask and talk.
The material may be "sound transparent", but it will still be a barrier.
My advice is always to remove the grills when listening.
Put back once the listening is over, they will avoid the dust settle on speaker drivers.
|
I wanna know what Magico charges for replacing a poked tweeter...I actually asked somebody about that at Goodwins and the dude looked a little pale and said, yeah, it happens...didn't mention the cost. |
Hmm, "Really nice looking magnetic grills"...…...
1. A statement that "I", shall never make.
2. (The form needs "must", follow the function). For them, "Grills", to be accepted, "At all", in any meaningful way.
Therefore; Those do not actually exist. Since a speakers design is for sound production/ reproduction. And any, "Grill", at least in this context. Adds nothing to the purpose of the object, "Speaker".
And further, this is not a "Subjective", situation at all.
That's my story. And I'm sticking to it!
|
I don't have any of those 'issues', but just thinking....
(It hurts, but I've got to exercise the wetware....) |
GK....Let's chalk it up to the 'observer quantum effect'...or at least, it's a handy thing to blame it on...
One unconsciously feels that 'anything' between the driver(s) and your ears 'Must Be Doing Something'....
Either the air molecules are not able to 'pass through' the fabric/screen, or transmit the waveforms in the air without some resistance from said grille material in some fashion.....
Or we just prefer naked things in front of us.... ;)
ESL's aren't going to work very well without them...
f208frank's has a good rationale for being a future 'baddad' and current one for not being 'a tolerant host'.
That, and keeping the pets at bay.....
"....Dear, why is the cat in the deep-freezer?"
...embarrassing questions like that..... |
The only reason why I have cloth grills on is because it does now allow guests to get too touchy with my babies. Or stupid kids of guests who are too curious.
Yeah I may be a bad father in the future lol. |
It’s kind of a mystery why speakers almost always sound better without grills on. After all, the very fine material of most grills is 99.999% transparent. So, that cannot account for the rather obvious difference in sound. Agree/disagree?
|
|
uhoh.....calm down....Geo's here.....
talk of speakers, grills, and girls....don't know how he'll react....
"...just an excitable boy...."
(put the girls down, and pull your grills up....;) *sshh*) |
5:59pmThe naked look is certainly fine, but, to me, speakers always look better with the girls on.
Better yet, combine the two. |
...easy, calm down...I'm sure you'll get your grills on... |
|
I wish they all could beat California grills!
|
The naked look is certainly fine, but, to me, speakers always look better with the girls on
|
...but the grills were great for melting marshmallows....*S*(⊙_⊙;) |
I remember the CSM 100's....they were unappealing until someone tripping fell against the TT, causing the tone arm to skitter across the record at full volume.....
...after everyones' ears stopped bleeding, the cones had all inverted...looking like cheap Ohms....
They only sounded better when they got thrown on the bonfire.....
They stopped playing.... |
I found that my speakers sounded much more open and had a far better sound stage after I took them out of their shipping cartons.
Wish I had done this six months ago.
The high end detail now is amazing. |
I just removed the grill from my Cheese Sandwich Model 100 speakers. They are less tonally dark, and softer. |
My Klipsch Heresy IIIs sound a little more "open" with the grills off (this could be imagined, but so what?) but look better with 'em on...since the grills are held on by magnets I try to remember to put them back after an "active" listening session as since they're tilted back they collect dust on the horns and the bottom ridge of the woofer. The dust refracts sound and reduces the accuracy of the speakers by .000243%, which can make violins and lap steels sound orange-ish. The best way to clean the horns is to take the speakers outside and blast the horns with a power washer...sure, it warps the cabinet and the horns don't work for a few days, but the dust is gone. |
*S* Personally, sans grills entirely....Lucifer 'n I get along just fine....🤪
...although...."The Grill Clapper! *clap* Grills off....*clap* Grills on!
Now available with AGP! Automatic Grille Protection!
If your speakers are approached by Any lifeforms, the grills are automatically deployed, covering your investment!"
(Not sold in stores. No liability for any and all injuries caused by AGP; the system is designed to be Very Positive in it's function....) |
From the early days the ADS speaker line had really nice metal speaker covers, especially for the time. Not sure the difference in sound on or off. |
A good rule of thumb. When you're not listening keep the grills on.
When you are listening take them off.I had a pair of Daulquist 20 removing the grill made them look like a science project. The sound was Incredible |
KEF R3 have really nice looking magnetic grills, but I do remove them when I listen.
|
I leave the grills on my Tekton Double Impacts now. It gives the cat something to climb on. It keeps him occupied and off my water bed.
|
My large SVS16 subwoofer has very tough metal perforated grill. I have often wondered ,,,,why?
|
Ofcours the sound is more clear whitout grills.. |
Sometimes it just feels better to remove the covers.
Just be sure to use plenty of SPF 50 on the exposed
skin to avoid ear burn.
I always tell the fairer sex my speakers were voiced
with coverings removed.
If you do not notice any difference when the grills are removed
save yourself some trouble and leave them in place.
-April Fools
|
The difference will be HUUUUGE! 😁 Kidding. I have metal grills and oddly doesn’t affect sound too dramatically. But there is a more loudness, focus and clarity without them. The speakers still sound great with the grills on though. |
Sometimes, when speakers are too bright for someone's taste, they sound better with grilles on - more balanced. It depends on speakers, room, personal tastes, etc. My speakers are Silverline Sonata-III and I remove the grilles when I want them to sound more open. |
