Speaker grills, on or off?

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Comments

  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited May 2005
    it depends on the speakers.. the SDA's look impressive off.. some other's don't look so impressive.. and i keep them on.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited May 2005
    I only keep mine on because I'm afraid they will get broken laying in the closet or something. I don't really notice a difference in sound either way, but they are cool to look at with the grills off.
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  • Mike Sedai
    Mike Sedai Posts: 49
    edited March 2006
    Well, since I got my front floors a couple of months ago, my cat has been eating the grills slowly, but surely. I guess I will have no choice but to remove them. Man, I hope he doesn't try to eat the drivers...

    So, where would I get replacements anyway?

    I have Monitor 60s, black (TB 90s really)
    Harman Kardan AVR 630
    Sony DVPNS665 DVD
    Polk TB 90 Front Mains
    Polk CsI3 Center
    Polk FxI3 Surrounds
    Velodyne VX-10
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  • mldennison
    mldennison Posts: 307
    edited March 2006
    Mike Sedai wrote:
    my cat has been eating the grills slowly, but surely. I guess I will have no choice but to remove them. Man, I hope he doesn't try to eat the drivers...
    thats no good :eek: might want to leave them on just for protection! better to replace the grills than the drivers...
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  • Mike Sedai
    Mike Sedai Posts: 49
    edited March 2006
    Yeah, I am wondering where to get replacements once he does these in. Also, someone told me there is a spray that supposedly gets cats to stop scratchinhg at stuff. Something they don't like to smell or something...
    Harman Kardan AVR 630
    Sony DVPNS665 DVD
    Polk TB 90 Front Mains
    Polk CsI3 Center
    Polk FxI3 Surrounds
    Velodyne VX-10
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,577
    edited March 2006
    I've heard zero difference in listening to my speakers while naked.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,852
    edited March 2006
    Mike Sedai wrote:
    Yeah, I am wondering where to get replacements once he does these in. Also, someone told me there is a spray that supposedly gets cats to stop scratchinhg at stuff. Something they don't like to smell or something...

    There is a spray you can get from PetSmart, but it only works for things they bite. They don't like the taste. It doesn't work at all for scratching. I know from experience.
    For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited March 2006
    If my speakers didn't look like frickin space ships without the grills, I'd remove them. The "futuristic look" doesn't mesh well with southwest/santa fe decorating...LOL, seriously. Click my sig, you'll see what I mean.

    I wish more companies would do what Polk does, eliminate the plastic mesh framing from in front of the tweeter...very good idea.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • Drumingman
    Drumingman Posts: 348
    edited March 2006
    Because of TWF I leave em on.
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited March 2006
    This is a very interesting thread. My RT speakers sound better in the mids with the grills on, LSi is better naked and my Klipsch is much better with the grills on(better bass and mids). Plus my RF-35 is butt ugly when naked. Cheap **** plastic moldings.
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  • speakergeek
    speakergeek Posts: 555
    edited March 2006
    Grills off. The RT7s are much more open and airy sounding to me.
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  • Larry Chanin
    Larry Chanin Posts: 601
    edited March 2006
    Hi,

    Virtually all "acoustically transparent" fabric will have some small effect on the frequency response of a speaker at frequencies over 10 kHz. However, the better fabrics will reduce the response by only a dB or two. This is likely to be inaudible even to trained listeners.

    Some speaker manufacturers build anti-diffraction devices into their grills. Therefore they believe the performance will be adversely affected by removing the grills. Here's an excerpt from the owner's manual of an Avalon Acoustics speaker.
    Grille Assemblies
    The grille assemblies, with their felt anti-diffraction masks, are integral elements of the loudspeakers' design. Unlike many other products, Avalon Acoustics loudspeakers are designed to be used with the grilles in place while listening, and removing them will degrade the system's performance. It is extremely important that the felt anti-diffraction masks make physical contact with the face of the loudspeakers, as air space between the felt and the speaker face will adversely affect sound quality.

    I notice that the LSi an RTi series of Polk speakers have Anti-Diffraction Grilles. However the LS25i owner's manual makes no recommendation on whether removing the grills will effect performance.

    Larry
    Larry's Home Theater
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  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited March 2006
    I go naked.
    Sharp Elite 70
    Anthem D2V 3D
    Parasound 5250
    Parasound HCA 1000 A
    Parasound HCA 1000
    Oppo BDP 95
    Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
    Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
    Totem Mask Surrounds X4
    Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
    Sony PS3
    Squeezebox Touch

    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
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  • aaharvel
    aaharvel Posts: 4,489
    edited March 2006
    on. less tacky and the grilles tame the sound on the rti's.
    H/K Signature 2.1+235
    Jungson MagicBoat II
    Revel Performa M-20
    Velodyne cht-10 sub
    Rega P1 Turntable

    "People working at Polk Audio must sit around the office and just laugh their balls off reading many of these comments." -Lush
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  • FicmanS
    FicmanS Posts: 134
    edited March 2006
    I leave mine on, looks great...
    Rockin' In My House :D


    Pioneer 50 inch Plasma TV
    Denon AVR-3806
    Denon DVD-1930ci
    Polk Montor 70's
    Polk PSW-12
    Polk CS2
    Polk Monitor 40's
    Sirius Satellite Radio, Monster 3500MKII
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  • MrBuhl
    MrBuhl Posts: 2,419
    edited March 2006
    BobMcG wrote:
    I've always found that my speakers sonically disappear when I close my eyes, which is the only way I listen to music.
    Eyes just distract from the experience IMHO.

    +1 I always close my eyes for critical listening...
    VA HT HK AVR20II, Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD, Polk Audio RC80i / Polk Audio CSi3, 60" Panasonic Plasma, Nordost / Signal Cable A2 / Wireworld / Pangea / Magic Power
    VA 2 Channel Focal Electra 926 speakers, Pass Labs X150.5 Amp, Eastern Electric MiniMax Preamp (Tutay mods), Eastern Electric Minimax CDP (Scott Nixon mods), Music Hall mmf 5.1 Turntable, Parks Audio Budgie Phono Pre , Audioengine B1 streamer, MIT S3 IC's / MIT Shotgun S3 Speaker Cables / PS Audio power cables
    Noggin Schiit Valhalla, Pangea, Phillips Fidelio X1, Polk UF8000

    Polk SDA1c modded
    Polk CRS+ 4.1TL modded (need veneer)
    Polk SDA2BTL (fully modded)
    A/L 1000VA Dreadnought Canare 4s11 SDA cable
    SACD Marantz DV8300
    Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD
    Yamaha YP-D6
    Soundcraftsmen PCR800
    Audible Illusions L1 Preamp
    Vincent MFA based Cocci Tube Preamp
    Pho-700 Phono Pre
    Signal Cable Silver Resolution IC's






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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,586
    edited March 2006
    I like how speakers look without the grills, I used to always store away the grills for my LSi9. As for my ML Vantage, they dont come with grills...
    Magico M2, JL113v2x2, EMM, ARC Ref 10 Line, ARC Ref 10 Phono, VPIx2, Lyra Etna, Airtight Opus1, Boulder, AQ Wel&Wild, SRA Scuttle Rack, BlueSound+LPS, Thorens 124DD+124SPU, Sennheiser, Metaxas R2R
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