To grill or not to grill?

[KEW]

On every speaker I have ever measured, grilles have always made the response worse, from baffle diffraction. How audible this impairment was is another question, usually its not terrible, but grilles have never helped. Grilles are there to protect the drivers only. Sometimes they are also there to protect your eyes from the speaker baffle if the speaker is particularly ugly.

Have you measured the Paradigm Signature series?
I ask because they claim that their speakers (in this series, at least) are designed to be listened to with the grills on. They do have some extra shaped surfaces in the grill.
I never could hear a decisive difference (although I can imagine stuff all day).
In the end, they just look too sick to cover up:

 

[shadyJ]

Have not measured the Paradigm Signature speakers. There are some speakers that have waveguides built into the grilles, and this might enhance the performance rather than degrade it. I have not measured a speaker like that yet, personally.

We will be publishing a Paradigm review in the future, by the way, but it won't appear for awhile.

 

[Bucknekked]

Since this is simply grilles on / grilles off and what it is we do: I can say I have done both depending on the family situation. With small kids and cats and hamsters and whatever else wandering around loose, I kept the grills on. Now that I have a dedicated room, and I only have myself to worry about, I'm a grills off person.

I've never heard a lick of difference between on and off but that's just me and I would be the last person to solicit audio listening tests from.

When I first read the title of the thread I was thinking food and whether or not to grill or to bbq with propane verses fire. Again, did it both ways depending on the family. Propane grill for a lot of years because it was easy, neat and clean. Now, I am back to lump charcoal and fire. Can I hear a difference?
Yes, I can hear the difference in contentment as I scarf up the food.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Since this is simply grilles on / grilles off and what it is we do: I can say I have done both depending on the family situation. With small kids and cats and hamsters and whatever else wandering around loose, I kept the grills on. Now that I have a dedicated room, and I only have myself to worry about, I'm a grills off person.

I've never heard a lick of difference between on and off but that's just me and I would be the last person to solicit audio listening tests from.

When I first read the title of the thread I was thinking food and whether or not to grill or to bbq with propane verses fire. Again, did it both ways depending on the family. Propane grill for a lot of years because it was easy, neat and clean. Now, I am back to lump charcoal and fire. Can I hear a difference?
Yes, I can hear the difference in contentment as I scarf up the food.

Haha! I thought the same thing when I saw the title. That's good stuff. I've recently converted back to charcoal. I have kids and convenience is king. I ended up buying a Weber that uses propane to light the charcoal. It only takes about 10 more minutes, and I'm ready to grill best of both worlds!

As a nuts and bolts kind of guy, I say grills off always from a visual perspective. But just like you Buck, sometimes practicality wins the day. So they come off in my house almost only when it's just me. I have read about speakers that were voiced to keep the grills on, although I can't recall them all.
Those paradigms are great to look at!!!

 

[MrBoat]

I don't care for grilles but I have seen my grandkids change Barbie into Superwoman before and it would cause me anxiety with them exposed so, I opted for a compromise being the drivers in the horns are somewhat protected.

Plus, I put the gnarliest, most obtrusive, battle hardware looking grilles I could think of. I was going to incorporate knurling or some spikeyness to them to make them somewhat unpleasant to come in contact with, similar to the natural defenses of say a briar bush or other things that bite back but, I held back.

I'm no fashion Joe and have no real aesthetic sense but people were saying that even E.T. was cute so. . . .

At any rate, the look has grown on me and I like it and I can still see the drivers and I am sure these don't take away from the sound.

 

[Bucknekked]

I don't care for grilles but I have seen my grandkids change Barbie into Superwoman before and it would cause me anxiety with them exposed so, I opted for a compromise being the drivers in the horns are somewhat protected.

Plus, I put the gnarliest, most obtrusive, battle hardware looking grilles I could think of. I was going to incorporate knurling or some spikeyness to them to make them somewhat unpleasant to come in contact with, similar to the natural defenses of say a briar bush or other things that bite back but, I held back.

I'm no fashion Joe and have no real aesthetic sense but people were saying that even E.T. was cute so. . . .

At any rate, the look has grown on me and I like it and I can still see the drivers and I am sure these don't take away from the sound.

If i could make grilles like you, i would have them too. Yours are awesome.

 

[MrBoat]

If i could make grilles like you, i would have them too. Yours are awesome.

I wanted at least trim rings to hide the gaskets and the screws. In my case, it just looked unfinished that way.

 

[awdio]

I am sure it is different for different speakers, but are grills soly for clean looks and keeping small inquisitive fingers out? I like the look of drivers and would never put the grills on if it affected the sound in any negative way. Are there any sound benefits to putting grills on?

Very few speakers sound better with the grilles in place. In a revealing system grilles reduce clarity but sometimes , although rarely, the grilles may improve lateral cohesiveness. Some speaker designers offer grilles only as an added cost because most audiophiles do not use them. I never use grilles and I seriously doubt they offer any protection. Some may protect from dust.

 

[Pogre]

If i could make grilles like you, i would have them too. Yours are awesome.

I love Boat's grilles. They remind me of a fancy push bar on a 4x4 vehicle.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I cannot hear the difference with grilles on vs off among all the speakers I have owned or heard.

So I keep the grilles on.

And I definitely like to grill now that I have a natural gas grill.

 

[KEW]

I never use grilles and I seriously doubt they offer any protection. Some may protect from dust.

That just strikes me as an absurd statement!
True the grill won't much slow down a die cast F-16 going nose first into the front of the speaker!
However, having a bland cover over the drivers make them much less of a point of interest, and you know if a kid decides to crash a jet into the speakers, they are going to target the "bullseye" of the drivers if they can see them!
If nothing else, they reduce visual interest.
Hell, I even will often feel the mechanism of the woofer by pushing gently on it in a store if there is no grill. I know how to not damage the speaker, but the grill is admittedly a deterrent!

 

[TLS Guy]

That just strikes me as an absurd statement!
True the grill won't much slow down a die cast F-16 going nose first into the front of the speaker!
However, having a bland cover over the drivers make them much less of a point of interest, and you know if a kid decides to crash a jet into the speakers, they are going to target the "bullseye" of the drivers if they can see them!
If nothing else, they reduce visual interest.
Hell, I even will often feel the mechanism of the woofer by pushing gently on it in a store if there is no grill. I know how to not damage the speaker, but the grill is admittedly a deterrent!

If you don't use grills prepare to replace drivers. I don't like to look at driver cones. Grills make speakers blend into the surroundings and less obtrusive.

I voice my speakers to have grills on. All the measurements I have posted here are all with grills on.

 

[MrBoat]

I love Boat's grilles. They remind me of a fancy push bar on a 4x4 vehicle.

lol. . . . a cow catcher.

 

[MrBoat]

My old speakers I could notice a very subtle difference with the cloth grilles but not enough to make me take them off and even less so at louder volume.

I agree that naked drivers attract little ones attention to the dust cap, that just begs to be pushed in.

A lot of this is probably from our own experience. I am pretty sure I have pushed in one or two dust caps in my past.

 

[Pogre]

Phew. That's the most money I've spent at once in a very long time. You only live once! Am I reading that right? It'll be here in two days? That's pretty fast!

I used to spend a lot more than this on dirt toys. Now there's an expensive Hobby.

 

[Pogre]

Wow. Wrong thread. LOL!

 

[Bucknekked]

Wow. Wrong thread. LOL!

Any thread is good enough to announce a purchase like that. Too cool.

 

[Pogre]

Any thread is good enough to announce a purchase like that. Too cool.

I'm pretty stoked. I aimed high on purpose too. I do not see me getting another amp, or upgrading this. One thing I've learned about this hobby is, I will always eventually get or wish that I had gotten the better version the first time around.

 

[MrBoat]

I do not see me getting another amp, or upgrading this.

Said no one in a group of Audioholics and gotten away with it. . .ever.

 

[MrBoat]

I was laughing in your rabbit hole thread, watching the enabling and the self justifications. I remember asking a question about bass, or a statement about doing 'without' subwoofers and it wasn't long after that not only did I build a sub for my system, but bought another driver just incase I want to try something else.

I almost bought the Outlaw amp just because it has a sub connection and it looks cool and I can blow $600 on just about anything in the mean time. It would probably be sitting in the box right next to said 'extra' subwoofer driver.

At any rate, congratulations on your new (last. . .bahahaha) amp.