Leave grills on or off?
I've noticed that many people remove the grills on their floor standing speakers. Is this a photography thing, or do they sound better without the grills? They do look better without them though. 
Post edited by tseryan on
Comments
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Its like raising the hood at the drive-in, its a guy thing.;)We want to see how things are built.
In theory, the grills should be thin enough to be acoustically transparent, but that is difficult to meet both acoustic and durability needs with something so thin, so sometimes a compromise is made which tones down highs a little.
Grills are 2 fold for me......they smooth out the look, and keep grandkids 2 year old fingers away from dustcaps. You know that poked in look....:DHT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable
2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable -
Leave them on. It looks neater & it keeps the dust out.Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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I leave mine on.
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On all the time
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Maybe it's subliminal, but when I take the grills of the sound feels more "right there". I only do this when I'm alone and doing serious listening.
Combo rig:
Onkyo NR1007 pre-pro, Carver TFM 45(fronts), Carver TFM 35 (surrounds)
SDA 1C, CS400i, SDA 2B
PB13Ultra RO
BW Silvers
Oppo BDP-83SE -
Basically like speaker condoms....If I dont need the protection ( Kids...dogs....vacuum cleaner wand waving wife ..etc ) , they come off for listening.The first rule of Fight Club is you don't talk about Fight Club
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The cat trashed my old Infinitys. So, I have never put the grills on my Polks. The cat stays away. I like the way they look without the grilles but would have them on if the cat wasn't a problem.HT-- Denon avr-2808ci,Emotiva UPA-1s, RTi 10's, CSi A6, ERD-1 surrounds, Vizio P50, Yamaha yst-sw300, DVR hr21, 40g PS3, APC-h15
Downstairs-- Denon avr-3300,Emotiva UPA-2, Toshiba 50" rear projection, Denon 2200 sacd, Emotiva ERM-1s, small Yamaha sub -
Leave mine on unless I have a song turned up rely loud and want to see what the woofers are doing.HT setup
Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ80U
Denon DBP-1610
Monster HTS 1650
Carver A400X :cool:
MIT Exp 3 Speaker Wire
Kef 104/2
URC MX-780 Remote
Sonos Play 1
Living Room
63 inch Samsung PN63C800YF
Polk Surroundbar 3000
Samsung BD-C7900 -
shadowofnight wrote: »basically like speaker condoms....if i dont need the protection ( kids...dogs....vacuum cleaner wand waving wife ..etc ) , they come off for listening.
+1 :d -
I leave them on because during movies light will reflect off the silver woofers, very annoying.
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I leave mine on most of the time because they become invisible to the kids. If they are off little fingers start touching the cones and dust caps. One time I had to pry a Polly Pocket out of a front port.
I have noticed a slight reduction in upper end with the original SDA grill cloth.
ScottI like speakers that are bigger than a small refrigerator but smaller than a big refrigerator:D -
I was looking at the Tyler Acoustics site last week, and noticed they charge extra for the grills. The implication being the grills degrade the sound. After all, if you are spendings thousands for one speaker, why not include the $50 dollar grill.
Anyway, I pulled the grills off my front LSi15s, and left them on for the rear LSi15s. It is hard to tell if it makes any differance or not, but it does look better.Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes
Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables
Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
Three 20 amp circuits. -
Leave them on. Don't you think the manufactures design their speakers with the knowledge that they will have grills on the them and therefore make allowances for that? You bet your a$$ they do.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I'd leave mine off but the cat"no calws" likes to paw at em while they are moving. So i leave em on even though he doesn't have any claws. Not worth the risk.Living Room Rig:D
Rotel RSP-1069/Rotel RMB-1095/Rotel-1072/Polk lsI15's W/modded xoverW/DBsubs/Polk LsiC/lsI7's/Klipsch sub-12"the weak link"/DLP Mitsubishi 65"
Xbox360/PS3/WII
M.Br. setup:)
Emotiva MMC-1/Rotel RMB-1075/Polk BlackStone TL350's/Velodyne SPL1000/Samsung 51" Plasma
Computer Rig:
Rotel RB1050/Tannoy DC4's/Klipsch RW-10d/ImodIpod/HK AVR230 for now....
Headphones-Ultrasone-HFI780's w/LittleDot MK Vamp Portables Panasonic HJE-900's -
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I like the look of exposed drivers. However I run with my grills on. Personally I find the exposed drivers distracting-I can't help but look at them. With the grills on they are nore liely to disappear, which is what I want them to do when I am watching a movie, etc.
Now if they had magnetic catches, I might remove them more often, but they really are a pain in the arse to get on and off on the RTi12s.
I usually only run them with the 'hood up' when I am watching for excursion when I am really playing them hard. My 5 and 3 year olds think its the coolest thing. :cool: especially on the sub.Leave them on. Don't you think the manufactures design their speakers with the knowledge that they will have grills on the them and therefore make allowances for that? You bet your a$$ they do.
I would agree with this from a acoustic sound design perspective, but the manufacturers also keep in mind that some want to keep the hood up. Why else would Polk have redesigned the RTi series which has wood veneers all around except on the fronts (silver), to the the next generation RTiA series with veneer now also on the fronts? Must have been for aesthetics when running grill-less, since they would otherwise be covered by the grills.
I can understand veneers on the backs, but one thing I don't get though--on both RTi's and RTiA's (and many other reall wood veneer speakers for that matter), why the heck is the veneer on the bottom?
If the manufacture sells the grills as acoustically inert-then to me, that means that the sound should not be affected or changed whether they are on or off.____________________
This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.
HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
Pool: Atrium 60's/45's -
Well it does look better , but you see the creaters were more intelligent than us as in deign ingeneering and they did some of a good mechanical work than designing when they installed grills in the floor speakers.
When it is for high bass , teh speakers are in great motion an due to teh motion they tend to move tah box itself but due to the rubber grills , the box stays in place and thus we enjoy peace music rather than listening the music form a sound box that runs away fro us at every bass !!!! -
Preference.~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
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I was looking at the Tyler Acoustics site last week, and noticed they charge extra for the grills. The implication being the grills degrade the sound.
That's funny, because Paradigm is just the opposite
They make a BIG deal about leaving the grills on, because they're incorporated into the SQ. I've heard a difference, not better/ worse, just different:rolleyes:I refuse to argue with idiots, because people can't tell the DIFFERENCE! -
What I don't really understand is my SDA manual says to keep them at least 2" ahead of cabinets, yet the grill covers are made of 7/8" wood. Doesn't the thickness of the wood for the grills interfere with sound dispersion? Wouldn't having them flush with a cabinet have the same affect on them as the grills do?
Thanks!Driver carries only 20 dollars in ammunition
Pedestrians have the right of way, unless they are in the way -
Well it does look better , but you see the creaters were more intelligent than us as in deign ingeneering and they did some of a good mechanical work than designing when they installed grills in the floor speakers.
When it is for high bass , teh speakers are in great motion an due to teh motion they tend to move tah box itself but due to the rubber grills , the box stays in place and thus we enjoy peace music rather than listening the music form a sound box that runs away fro us at every bass !!!!
Ahem. - Anybody need any Life Insurance? ____________________
This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.
HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
Pool: Atrium 60's/45's -
