She loves me she loves me not!

Of all the speakers I have owned, scores of them, I have only had1 pair that didn't sound better with the grills off. My Infinity Renaissance 90's sound much better with the grills on. I have  therefore found it well worth it, soundwise, to enclose most other grills in plastic bags, and tuck them away in a safe place. Cupboard or wherever.

mg16

@baylinor I could not agree more, about the nice set, lol.

But, I meant like a sexy Italian motorcycle without a fairing. My old Ducati used to have a full fairing, but the look without one is called naked.

: )

Like a broken record, I suggest you use 'reality' to help you make a decision.

A sound pressure meter, tripod mounted at seated ear level.

A test tone CD with selectable individual frequency bands.

Chart the results 'on' and 'off'. Differences?

Despite differences, Preferences: Visually/Audibly?

inexpensive SPL meters work just fine, even if not calibrated, relative differences +/- is comparative reality.

make sure it has a tripod mount

I have this excellent CD with 29 individual frequencies

There must be others, perhaps I could help you find a copy.

It’s your speakers so the risk is yours. 

• We can’t determine your “carefulness” as we are all different
• We can’t determine the “impact” (emotional, financial, replacement) on you if damaged

We can only tell you what we would do aka our own risk level.

 ..   if I keep them off inevitably I will damage them moving them around….

So the question is: 

Do you prefer to leave them off then replace the speakers when damaged (which could be multiple times) or just leave them on?  

Most here would choose save $ and time to replace damaged speakers by choosing the careful path. 

When I was younger, I liked them off. Perhaps (yes) it was a showoff thing.  Now I like them on and if it was up to me, I would like the speakers to be invisible, as if coming from nowhere!  just beautiful sound originating from an invisible "nowhere".  Interesting how we change with age and maturity... 

My speakers don't come with grills so I have nothing to lose so to speak. 😄I also generally prefer the off look.

My Heresy IIIs sound fine with grills, better without...the magnetically attached grills are very easy to remove,  tuck away next to the gear rack, and I put 'em back on every night to keep dust off the drivers...is this sort of thing really difficult for people? Please don't answer as it could upset me.

For me my Bryston Model Ts sound better with their cloths off. I put the bases and the grills in the OEM shipping boxes and stashed them in the basement. 

Additionally I really like seeing the woofers moving when the volume is cranked. It's fun to see which notes make which movements. 

I took my grills off and put one in each corner to use as a bass trap. I only put them back on when I have guests or my exterminator over who have probing fingers and like to touch things.

@motown-l I guess it’s true that perception is everything. I also have Revels and prefer the sound with the magnetic grills installed. I had Focal’s previously and preferred them without their grills. Go figure. 

I hear more upper scale frequencies without grills on Elac DBR62 ... others no discernable difference.  Obvious design differences at play.

+1 @ naked.

They are a beautiful set.

Sonically, I have always found speakers to be more open sounding with the speaker grills off.  If you're concerned about protecting the drivers you can always put the grills back on after a listening session.

If the speaker port is on the front then the grills help prevent insects from crawling into the speakers.   I keep my grills on.

Point blank works Great. ;)

...with the water, anyway.

Tasers?  Haven't had the need.

Your results?

Will likely vary....a lot.

GFLuck

Off...into ’large format’ plastic bags (or plastic sheet diy versions), placed into diy cardboard sleeves sealed shut....back of a closet works, behind ’something’ large enough to do so.

Put a post-it on the back (or bottom) of one of the units if you’re ’out of memory’ like the early versions of ’puters used to be....

We have 2 young cats that we supply a plethora of things to claw up.

Knock on wood *rapping skull*, we’ve NEVER had pet damage on ANY speaker EVER.

We employ a squirt bottle (type usually found for a couple of $, used for cleaning liquids; here, water) to discourage unwanted behaviors.

We have 0 children, but believe the same technique would work with them without getting you arrested or the kids to be sent off to strangers.

....and there’s always tasers for the older ones, or your drunk brother-in-law...

On at all times because the midget menaces cannot be trusted.

I think the OP is talking about accidentally damaging or losing the grill covering if they are left off and stored somewhere like the garage.  We can’t help with that.  One has to listen to determine which sounds better, and if it is grill covering off that sounds better, and the look is acceptable, the storage issue really matters only for the re-sale value of the speaker.  I would keep them off myself, if the speakers sound better that way.

There wouldn’t be an issue if the speakers only come naked, like Audio Note speakers; even the ones well up into six figures are naked.

Naked.

I tried my Revels grills on/off when I first purchased them. The grills had a noticeable detrimental effect on the sound. Luckily the baffles have the same finish as the rest of the cabinets. I also know where the grills are, on the top shelf, in the back of the garage, with all of my saved component cartons.

For all the money you spend to buy the KEF Reference series speakers, they don’t even come with grills.

Why are you moving your speakers around in the garage? Put them in their place in the listening room and leave them there.

If you feel the speakers are unsafe with you near them, leave the grills on except when you’re’ listening.

I remove them when listening.

I replace them when I'm finished.

Every speaker is different. The Spendors that I've owned were better with grills on, but almost all others I've had were better with grills off. Store them in your closet if not being uses. The garage is no place for them. 

@czarivey - are Kevlar the white-looking cones? I like those too; my Marten speakers have those, and they don't even make a grille for them.... 

@larsman, aesthetics are truly subjective. I like views of speaker drivers exposed especially if it's kevlar. 

Joy of Vinyl YouTube channel just had a vid on this earlier in the week. From my experience, I can't tell any sonic difference; to me, it's a matter of aesthetics....

some speakers, like Avalon, are designed to listen with grills on, others it's up to you...I always put grills back on at end of day...(except for my Avalons...)..

Is their enough sound difference between on and off to warrant keeping them off?

I put mine in a plastic bag in the back of my clothes closet. Long ago I created a list on my phone of things to remember. I entered the location on that list.

I truly feel sorry for you. 

Definitely keep those on.

You don't want to end up like me - I really forgot where I've placed mine and cannot find them for the past several years.

Really?

Definitely on unless you're LISTENING to them...