Speaker Grills

[joec64]

How important is it to leave speaker grills on,does this really effect the sound,speakers look so nice with them off,will clean with feather duster daily Thanks Joe

[boa12]

klipsch seem to have pretty good grille cloth

for acoustics but my rf-3, rc-3 & cornwalls do seem to sound brighter w/ the grilles off.

i think it's pretty subjective though so if u like the look & their's no threat of direct impact driver damage (my biggest concern), go for it.

[rowooo]

joec64......speaker grills can definetly effect the sound of speakers. You'll find that a lot of audio magazines will test speakers with the grill on and off. What these tests usually conclude is a slight improvement in the higher frequencies with the grills off, but this isn't always the cases. There are a few companies that have come out with speaker grills they say actually IMPROVE the sound of there speakers, but who knows. The best way to find out on your specific speakers is to A/B them. For me it's easy.....when the kids are running around, I leave the grills on, when there gone and I'm doing some serious listening I take them off. I personally think there's an improvement with them off, but even if there wasn't I'd still continue to take them off, due to how cool they look. You know what I'm talking about. After you wash and wax your car it's always a little faster........

[WMcD]

I don't think there is any question that grills effect the sound. In tests of speakers, there are annomalies in the respose curve shown in the graphs. Grills off show a smoother response.

The bumps show up in the high end.

Whether one can hear these differences is another matter and may vary depending on the cirumstances.

If you're a technophile and like looking at the hardware, no grill is a good way to go. Looks good, sounds good.

Naturally, if you have pets, grills do protect the exposed bass driver.

Gil