Grille on or grille off?

[PristineSound]

I'm shocked that I couldn't find a discussion on loud speaker grills on or off.

Figure I start one. If there is already a discussion on it, sorry Mod, please delete or move.

 

[HalSF]

I’m a grump about presenting this question as a subjective connoisseur issue.

If a speaker designer includes a grill and it makes a negative difference in sound quality, that’s just bad design. If measured performance is negatively affected by the grill, don’t sell the grill with the speaker. If the grill is an integral part of the sonic design, say so. Claiming that you can somehow tune the sound with the grill on or off as a form of sonic seasoning is an invitation to audiophile woo-woo.

Having the impression that the sound changes with the grill on or off without objective data seems like a blatant and hilariously literal instance of invalid sighted testing

 

[PristineSound]

I’m a grump about presenting this question as a subjective connoisseur issue.

If a speaker designer includes a grill and it makes a negative difference in sound quality, that’s just bad design. If measured performance is negatively affected by the grill, don’t sell the grill with the speaker. If the grill is an integral part of the sonic design, say so. Claiming that you can somehow tune the sound with the grill on or off as a form of sonic seasoning is an invitation to audiophile woo-woo.

Having the impression that the sound changes with the grill on or off without objective data seems like a blatant and hilariously literal instance of invalid sighted testing

If the speakers are half way decent designed, I doubt many people would be able to tell any difference with the grill on or off.

I'm pretty sure I can't tell the difference in all the speakers that I currently own that comes with a grill. Ascend, Revel and Perlisten. Maybe sometimes I thought I noticed a difference but there is a very good chance that it might be in my imagination.

I think most people keep it on or off for the aesthetics.

I know I keep it for the aesthetics and for some level of driver protection.

 

[antcollinet]

I'm shocked that I couldn't find a discussion on loud speaker grills on or off.

Figure I start one. If there is already a discussion on it, sorry Mod, please delete or move.

Grill on - it protects delicate drivers - especially tweeters, and should not impact sound.

Just look at all the second hand speakers on ebay with pushed in domes.

 

[Redacted]

I have had many speakers with removable thin 'mesh' covers and cannot tell a difference in sound, on or off. I'm sure there are many who can but they are also the people that won't want to blind test this.

I leave mine on. They also prevent dust getting into small crevices.

 

[EasyC]

I don’t think grills exist for the LS50’s… But Kef looks better without anyway, and vaguely remember some comb filtering happening when you put them on.

 

[TurtlePaul]

The kids are four and seven. Grills on.

 

[Somafunk]

Back in the late 90’s my mates toddler poked in the alloy tweeter on my Tannoy 607’s, so for that reason I’d say if there is any fear of pokey finger action then grill on.

On my Dynaudio Lyd 48’s there is little Mercedes icon wire work to cover the soft domed tweeter, the can be pulled off if you are fussed about aesthetics (example below) but i prefer to leave them on

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

I've taken the grills off many speakers and haven't heard a difference. Someone whose hearing is better than mine might hear a difference. We've always had cats, have had small children, and at least one clumsy adult--me. The grills have stayed on.

 

[LTig]

I bought the protective grilles for my Klein&Hummel O300D although the price was very high, but I wanted the drivers to be safe against any force from outside - and they deliver. You could beat thern with a hammer and they will protect the speaker.

The influence on sound, as Markus Wolff (chief designer) told me on the phone, can be measured but is inaudible.

 

[Audioagnostic]

I have an enthusiastic cat. Grills off.

 

[jhaider]

I wouldn’t say “sounds better,” but…nothing says “canned music” to me like visible pulsating drive units. So IMO grilles are necessary, and speakers with no grilles are unfinished speakers.

That is over and above the protection aspect, the virtues of which are obvious with any search on a resale site for KEF speakers, which despite the generally elite audio engineering are compromised by thin metal cones and generally absent protection.

 

[sergeauckland]

Grills are what you do your steaks on. Loudspeakers have GRILLES!

Hurrumph!

S.

 

[thcdru2k]

I prefer grills on. Grills off looks better but takes away from listening to the music because your eye is drawn to it.

 

[Martini]

Genelec have driver protection, but not "grill covers" per se, so I'm not sure how to answer this question.

 

[LTig]

Genelec have driver protection, but not "grill covers" per se, so I'm not sure how to answer this question.

The smaller 8x?0 speakers have builtin grilles. The Ones don't which is one reason for me to avoid them (the other being the price).

 

[thcdru2k]

Back in the late 90’s my mates toddler poked in the alloy tweeter on my Tannoy 607’s, so for that reason I’d say if there is any fear of pokey finger action then grill on.

On my Dynaudio Lyd 48’s there is little Mercedes icon wire work to cover the soft domed tweeter, the can be pulled off if you are fussed about aesthetics (example below) but i prefer to leave them on

It looks better on , makes it more unique

 

[Martini]

The smaller 8x?0 speakers have builtin grilles. The Ones don't which is one reason for me to avoid them (the other being the price).

This is mostly true. I have a pair of 8030c & 8351. The Ones do have the built in protectors on the tweeter, but not the mid-driver; the 8030s both. The protectors on the Sub, most definitely qualifies as a grill, perhaps even taken from Char-broil

 

[Doenerkunde]

Erins review of the Wharfedale Linton is the only source for NFS measurements with grille on and off I am aware of. The Lintons are supposed to be used with grille on.

On axis the effect ist obvious, but looking at estimated in room response the effect seems rather negliable:

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Speaker Review

Wharfedale Linton 85th Anniversary Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Audioholics measured several speakers with grille on and off and came to a similar conclusion:

"Since the overall acoustic energy generated by the speaker per frequency remains the same, and also since much of what we normally hear from the loudspeaker is not just direct sound from the speaker itself but also the many acoustic reflections from the various surfaces of typical rooms, baffle diffractions effects may not be significantly audible in ordinary listening situations unless it is severe. Whatever the audibility if diffraction effects, in practice they are going to be more significant in the near-field than in the more reverberant far-field, since grille/baffle diffraction does not affect the speaker’s total acoustic power output."

Speaker Grilles On Or Off: Which Way Sounds Better?

Do speakers sound better with their grilles on or off? This article compares the two options to scientifically determine which way is best and what other factors can impact sound more dramatically.

www.audioholics.com

 

[MattHooper]

This question has been asked in every audiophile forum and it’s interesting to see that so far more people than I usually see are preferring grills on.

My preference is: Grills on.

With caveats.

The reason I generally prefer grills on is that I’m generally not a big fan of seeing all the technology producing the sound - to me very often, speaker drivers are like exposed to plumbing. And when I see the speaker drivers my mind helplessly maps the sound I’m hearing onto those drivers. “ those drum symbols are coming from that tweeter right there.”

Once grills have been placed covering the drivers, for me that seems to sort of relax my brain and then speaker seems more like a piece of furniture around which the music is just occurring.

Another thing is, I tend to find more speakers actually sound a bit more coherent with the grills on.

On the other hand: so many audiophiles listen without the speaker grill as the default that many if not most speaker manufacturers seem to design for grills off listening (if they even supply a grill). So that often means the speakers sound best without grills.

But what it also means aesthetically is that when speaker manufacturers supply grills, they look more like an afterthought “ hear these things just in case you want to use them.” And they tend to stick awkwardly on the speaker looking more like a Band-Aid placed over the driver’s rather than integrating the look of the grills.

So I don’t like ugly grills either.

Fortunately one of my favourite loudspeakers that I own are the Thiel 2.7s, which were designed to sound correct with the grills on, and we’re also designed aesthetically with the grills in mind, so that the inset grills fit flush with the front baffle, making for a very deliberate cohesive look IMO:

My Joseph audio speakers have grills that I keep on when I’m not listening. They aren’t as coherent looking as the Thiel grills, but for “ stick them on her off” type grills they aren’t too bad:

I like the sound with the grills on, but they definitely need the grills off to get that final bit of airy magic and timbral beauty.

Fortunately, I find the SEAS graphene drivers (and the tweeter with the copper ring) or actually some of the finer looking drivers, they have a very high-quality materials finish that I can appreciate:

But I often listen with lights down on the speakers, so I end up not seeing the drivers while music is playing, while getting the best sound from the speakers: