Speaker grilles on or off?

[Bn43]

Is this guy right?

Do speaker grille cloths damage sound? - YouTube

I've just always kept them on because I didn't notice any difference after minimal testing last year.

Front speakers: Sony SSCS3, SSCS8 and SSCSE
Rear speakers: Pioneer SP-FS52 x2

[slimdude]

I didn't watch the video, I'm only commenting based on my personal experience. I prefer to keep my grilles on because, it help to prevent household dust to accumulate inside of the speakers, and the speakers look much better and elegant with them on. I have cloth grilles, and I dust them with a damp cloth every two weeks, and they'll look brand new. Leaving the grilles on does not reduce, nor hinder the sound quality at all. The manufactures make the speakers grilles for a reason. If the grilles were not essential or needed for the product, they wouldn't make them, so they do have a purpose of use, whether if they're made of cloth or other material.

[evoll]

I keep mine on for dust and little kids poking at the speakers but i will say if you do some reading some speakers do sound a little different with the grills on or off. I would say if you run some kind of avr set up to have the grills on or off before running it.

[RalphoR]

I have a cat...grill stays on.

[CompleteCount]

If you have kids and want the best sound, then the following combination provides both optimum enjoyment and longevity of audio equipment:

Grills off, fingers severed.

[slimdude]

The grille is the beauty of the speakers. You pay good money for high end speakers, and don't want to take care of them, by not putting the grills on. The cloth grilles are sheer and wafer thin, so having the grilles on will sound the same as if they were off. It just doesn't make any sense.

[recS-12]

Grills on. Dust being the main reason.

[Maax]

Grills off. Changes sound of my speakers in a very subtle but noticeable way.

[evoll]

Originally Posted by slimdude

The grille is the beauty of the speakers. You pay good money for high end speakers, and don't want to take care of them, by not putting the grills on. The cloth grilles are sheer and waffle thin, so having the grilles on will sound the same as if they were off. It just doesn't make any sense.

So not true, you need to do some reading. The fabric is not going to change the sound but the frame the fabric is on can change it depending on the speakers off angle dispersion. Not all speakers are affected and depends on the brand but to say it can't at all is very wrong. https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/grilles

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by evoll

So not true, you need to do some reading. The fabric is not going to change the sound but the frame the fabric is on can change it depending on the speakers off angle dispersion. Not all speakers are affected and depends on the brand but to say it can't at all is very wrong. https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/grilles

I've paid good money for my speakers, I want to take care of them so the grilles stays on. The frame (as you've claimed) is not going to make that big of a difference in sound as in night and day, if at all.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by evoll

So not true, you need to do some reading. The fabric is not going to change the sound but the frame the fabric is on can change it depending on the speakers off angle dispersion. Not all speakers are affected and depends on the brand but to say it can't at all is very wrong. https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/grilles

Good read. Thanks for sharing. I met Phil Jones who made my speakers and asked him the same question awhile ago. He shared that they do make a small difference, but it comes down to personal preference. No pets are allowed in my room so I don’t have to worry about that (or kids) but I still keep them on for appearances. For my 2 channel system, I do take them off when in use as the tweeters seem to open up a bit more. Then again, I am in the camp that cables can make a difference as well depending on what you are running, but that is a whole other can of worms.

[frogmort]

Originally Posted by slimdude

...The cloth grilles are sheer and waffle thin...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylCR...ature=youtu.be

[BluVinyl]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

I have a cat...grill stays on.

Great point. I usually keep the cat out of the basement, he snuck downstairs a few weeks ago and went over to scratch the speaker grills. I yelled at him, and he got both front claws stuck. Had to get the little bastard off the grills. That would not have been funny if he was stuck in a woofer.

[j2raymond]

As my wife prefers.

[toliveanddie]

if I had no pets. grills off.
I have pets so grills on.

[KubrickKurasawa]

On the Center MOST DEFINETLY!

To me it's like cutting a pillow sheet in half or a rectangular loose sheet bedding and smothering your center channel tweeter. If you don't have a tweeter on your center LOL.

A quote from Hellraiser....