Black or white grille on a white speaker?

[Alexanderc]

I have a whole 5.1 system of mordaunt-short speakers painted silver-gray with matching grills. After 12-13 years they look as good as new. I’ve also seen white grills of unknown age that looked super dirty. I voted for black, but gray will hold up over time. How gray grills will look on white speakers is another consideration altogether.

 

[HooStat]

You should be a little bit careful with this. If people tend to prefer black speakers and would not get a white speaker, is their preference for the grill color the one you want to use as the basis of your decision? Perhaps they want black grills because, subconsciously, it looks more like their preferred black speaker from the front. I would ask the people who have white speakers what they prefer. Or look at what other manufacturers do.

Having said all this, I wouldn't be surprised if it were still a 50-50 decision.

 

[HooStat]

FWIW, KEF seems to do black speaker grills on the white speaker (at least the R3). And they make the buyer pay for them separately. You could go without grills and offer both colors for people to buy what they want. If they even want them.

I voted white, for the record.

 

[JSmith]

Black black black on black... including the speakers!

JSmith

 

[boXem]

Some shade of grey. Black is too contrasted, white gets dirty.

 

[Mnyb]

Eggshell offwhite aka ligth beige ?

 

[sigbergaudio]

FWIW, KEF seems to do black speaker grills on the white speaker (at least the R3). And they make the buyer pay for them separately. You could go without grills and offer both colors for people to buy what they want. If they even want them.

I voted white, for the record.

Good point on the fact that some of the voters may actually prefer black speakers too. Still looks like it's at least 50-50. I'm leaning towards offering black, and possibly later on offering the option to purchase alternative colors as an accessory if the demand is there.

It also looks like most manufacturers do black grilles on white speakers. How informed that choice is, I don't know.

 

[LTig]

The white Genelec 8020a have both. A small black metal grille over the tweeter (where the color of the housing around is black) and a white metal grill over the black woofer. Since the woofer shines through the grille the color of the grill appears to be gray. I prefer the white grill here and wonder whether a white grill over the tweeter might look even better.

 

[boXem]

Some shade of grey. Black is too contrasted, white gets dirty.

May I add that the advantage of the shades of grey is that there are at least 50 of them?
...
Sorry

 

[Mnyb]

Grey on white can not that be a bit boring ? some warmth into the cloth color .

Hopefully the speakers are not the whitest of white ? it's hard to see on screen .

Personally i loath white speakers or any white furniture the finish is instantly ruined by actual use ( or unpacking or cleaning it for the firts time ) it's even worse than black piano finish .

Wood finishes get a nice patina over the years some scratches here and there only ads to it and you can sand and oil to improve .
I'm not a big fan of gaudy clear coated wood finishes they looks like plastic in many cases but are still much better than white or black paint

 

[sigbergaudio]

Grey on white can not that be a bit boring ? some warmth into the cloth color .

Hopefully the speakers are not the whitest of white ? it's hard to see on screen .

Personally i loath white speakers or any white furniture the finish is instantly ruined by actual use ( or unpacking or cleaning it for the firts time ) it's even worse than black piano finish .

Wood finishes get a nice patina over the years some scratches here and there only ads to it and you can sand and oil to improve .
I'm not a big fan of gaudy clear coated wood finishes they looks like plastic in many cases but are still much better than white or black paint

I guess the problem is that there are as many opinions as there are people.

They are satin black and satin white. I'd say they are a muted white since they're not gloss, so it's not like you're blinded by looking at them. Also, this is probably not the right forum to talk directly of my speakers, the point of the thread was to get some help on what people prefer, to the benefit of me and potentially others. Please use our thread in the desperate dealers forum for specific questions on the product so I'm not thrown out for violating forum rules.

 

[Mnyb]

Muted white is much better !

 

[JSmith]

Muted white is much better !

This is a moot point...



JSmith

 

[Balle Clorin]

The whole point of having a white speaker is lost if the grille is black.!!
https://www.revelspeakers.com/on/de...-2_F35_White_3-4_Pair_RT-1605x1605px-hero.png

 

[JSmith]

The whole point of having a white speaker is lost if the grille is black.!!

They look better without any grille... mine are black on black, so the sounds comes from a dark background. White will make the sound too flighty....



JSmith

 

[richard12511]

You should be a little bit careful with this. If people tend to prefer black speakers and would not get a white speaker, is their preference for the grill color the one you want to use as the basis of your decision? Perhaps they want black grills because, subconsciously, it looks more like their preferred black speaker from the front. I would ask the people who have white speakers what they prefer. Or look at what other manufacturers do.

Having said all this, I wouldn't be surprised if it were still a 50-50 decision.

I tend to think white only looks good with at least some black to contrast with. This is why I think the Genelec Ones look great in white(black in the center), but hate the look of the 8000 series speakers in white(grey/white grill).

 

[richard12511]

The whole point of having a white speaker is lost if the grille is black.!!
https://www.revelspeakers.com/on/de...-2_F35_White_3-4_Pair_RT-1605x1605px-hero.png

I think this looks terrible with the grille on, but super sexy with the grille off. The black drivers provide that much needed beautiful contrast. Visual preferences seem to differ greatly .

It really is fortunate that most of us share the same sound preferences(neutral) . If sound preferences were as variable as visual preferences, it'd be so much harder to find good speakers.

 

[Laserjock]

The whole point of having a white speaker is lost if the grille is black.!!
https://www.revelspeakers.com/on/de...-2_F35_White_3-4_Pair_RT-1605x1605px-hero.png

a step up

 

[Laserjock]

Good point on the fact that some of the voters may actually prefer black speakers too. Still looks like it's at least 50-50. I'm leaning towards offering black, and possibly later on offering the option to purchase alternative colors as an accessory if the demand is there.

It also looks like most manufacturers do black grilles on white speakers. How informed that choice is, I don't know.

This ^

 

[rgpit]

Tweed grills