speaker grills?

[juanedilio]

I am starting to build my first home theater system and am starting with a receiver and two bookshelf speakers (AVR123 onix is). When I checkout the prices it charges more if I get "cloth grill" or with "metal grills". Is this important soundwise? And are they worth the extra 20$

Thanks

 

[Adam]

IMO, it's just personal preference on how it looks. A lot of people even use speakers without any grills.

So, no - I don't believe that it's important soundwise at all.

 

[garbage pale kid]

reflect

i would think the sound would reflect off of the metal

 

[markw]

Sound wise, it's debatable but if they are properly designed they should be benign.

But, if you have visitors or children, be aware that tweeter dust caps seem to draw little (and big) fingertips like a picnic draws yellowjackets.

Pets can be an issue too but at least they don't know what they are doing.

IMNSHO, I'd look at them as cheap insurance.

 

[fmw]

Not important in terms of sound.

 

[Thaedium]

Would have to agree its relatively cheap insurance, and also often a WAF thing as well.

However, there are some companies like Paradigm for instance that say their grille's are specifically designed to improve the diffusion of sound.

I've played mine with them off and on, it sounds great either way to me. Though I prefer to leave them on... Friends commented that my living room looked like a spaceship with so many drivers. haha. And I also have smokers over occassionally, so for me I just think of it as a cheap way to protect them.

 

[juanedilio]

Thanks for the help.

I actually looked at a picture of both with and without the grills and I have to admit, without them I did feel some strange urge to touch those caps and feel the glow.

So I better get them!

 

[juanedilio]

And between cloth grills and metal grills? Is it just an aesthetic decision? Or should is there a difference?

 

[jcPanny]

X-series speakers

Yes the grills are optional and strictly for asthetics. The low promo price of $165/pair for the X-ls speakers does not include grills. Suposedly the new metal design is >90% open which is better than the cloth grills. If you think about it, the cloth grill is blocked on all edges by the wood frame. Also I think that in the future all X-series speakers will include the metal grills but durring the transition right now they are offering both cloth and metal.

Check out the AV123 forum or give them a call for more details.

 

[Romulus]

Would have to agree its relatively cheap insurance, and also often a WAF thing as well.

However, there are some companies like Paradigm for instance that say their grille's are specifically designed to improve the diffusion of sound.

I've played mine with them off and on, it sounds great either way to me. Though I prefer to leave them on... Friends commented that my living room looked like a spaceship with so many drivers. haha. And I also have smokers over occassionally, so for me I just think of it as a cheap way to protect them.

The front of my HT room looks entirely too "busy" without covers on.

I can't tell a difference in sound with them on or off.

 

[highfihoney]

The front of my HT room looks entirely too "busy" without covers on.

I can't tell a difference in sound with them on or off.

My votes for getting cloth grills purely for asthetic reasons,speakers without grills look tacky to me no matter what quality they are,every time i see a guy running his speakers without the grills it screams of "look how cool my speakers are".

 

[fmw]

However, there are some companies like Paradigm for instance that say their grille's are specifically designed to improve the diffusion of sound.

AAArgh! Anybody do a double blind objective listening test? That's one I would take with an entire shaker of salt.

 

[juanedilio]

where can I find this AVR123 forum?

 

[OttoMatic]

Click here

http://www.av123.com/community.php

and then look for "AV123 Forum"

I think that's the one.

 

[Thaedium]

AAArgh! Anybody do a double blind objective listening test? That's one I would take with an entire shaker of salt.

I absolutely don't disagree with that statement. In fact, I'll have to invite a couple of willing friends over some day, have everything set up in the room. Bring them to the kitchen, blind fold'em, and lead them into the living room. Play a song on CD, lead them out of the room. Re-jig the setup, and bring them back out again. Then have them tell me if they noticed a difference between the two times they were in the room.

If you have any other suggestions for limiting the amount of variables in this sort of homeade test, I'm all ears

 

[fmw]

I'm not suggesting you do an objective listening test. Obviously, you don't know how to conduct one. I'm suggesting that speaker manufacturers not make statements like that unless they can back them up. To say that I'm skeptical that a speaker manufacturer did or even could design a grill cloth to improve the sound of their speakers would be an understatement. If they can prove it, then they should publish the proof or at least explain the science behind it. Isn't this the same speaker manufacturer that recommends biwiring?

 

[Halon451]

In my humble opinion, it's all in the overall aesthetic value of your room. With or with the cloth grills, or metal covers - of the hundreds of speakers I've heard in my life and/or owned -I've never been able to distinctly tell a difference with them on or off.

Without the grills does make the setup look too busy IMHO. In a HT setup, I wouldn't want my visual attention drifting away from the screen to the speakers, which is what would inevitably happen. The speakers themselves, I want to dissolve into the background, but project a captivating sound environment that accompanies what I am watching on the screen. Only with the system turned off, and the lights back on, do I want them to once again stand out - usually as a compliment to the other furniture I have in the room.

Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

 

[highfihoney]

Dear mother of god ! Does every last thread on this site have to stoop to the DBT or some other nonsense about hearing a difference,by the same culprits every time,not one person here said anything about a speaker sounding better one way or the other

You guys who lay in wait, over the subtlest mention of any difference to be heard need to get a grip,its called thread hijacking no matter how you slice it.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

Dear mother of god ! Does every last thread on this site have to stoop to the DBT or some other nonsense about hearing a difference,by the same culprits every time,not one person here said anything about a speaker sounding better one way or the other

You guys who lay in wait, over the subtlest mention of any difference to be heard need to get a grip,its called thread hijacking no matter how you slice it.

I agree 100%. I know what I hear or don't hear without requiring such formalities, and its a good bet that most other people do too.

 

[fmw]

Dear mother of god ! Does every last thread on this site have to stoop to the DBT or some other nonsense about hearing a difference,by the same culprits every time,not one person here said anything about a speaker sounding better one way or the other

Yes I did. I said the grilles don't affect the sound. And they don't.

You guys who lay in wait, over the subtlest mention of any difference to be heard need to get a grip,its called thread hijacking no matter how you slice it.

Why? The original question was whether or not grilles made an audible difference. Dealing with anything else would be hijack as I see it.