Loudspeaker Grilles: Do They Have An Impact On Sound?

Рет қаралды 8,104

Күн бұрын

This is an interesting, and frequently asked question: do the grille covers on speakers affect the sound? The obvious follow-up question is should the grilles be on or off?
Chief Product Officer Andrew Welker walks you through how the sound is changed, with a very simple example that you can see. He also goes further into how this comes into play in loudspeaker design. Followed by answering whether you should have the grilles on your speakers at home, or if you should have them off.
"Loudspeaker Grilles: Do They Have An Impact On Sound?" is the latest video in our playlist "Ask The Audio Engineer" where Andrew answers questions we get from you. As always we look forward to your comments and questions: yours might be the topic of a future video.
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#GrillsOnOrOff #LoudspeakerGrille #SpeakerGrills

Пікірлер: 69

@josephseman5333 2 жыл бұрын

I believe that running Audyssey (or some equivalent) will compensate for having the grills on. If you were to take them off then re-running Audyssey would be recommended.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, if you are using any sort of correction system you will need to re-run it if you install or remove the loudspeaker grilles.

@MrElchav Жыл бұрын

This is 100 percent true and something I discovered by accident a few weeks ago. With grilles off, there's a lot more detail in the sound from my Klipsch RP line. The only drawback being that the surrounds look better with the grilles on.

@AxiomHomeTheaters Жыл бұрын

Glad you found an improvement in your sound, and yes it's always hard to pick between looks and sound.

@ozgurinsan 29 күн бұрын

So good explained.

@valantj Жыл бұрын

Hi. I also must agree with that... Over the time my Energy 22 tweeters give up, and replaced them with Audax. Since i was used to bit darker sound, the change at first sounded to bright. Putting the grille on, helped a bit and it was easier for me to get used. And after a while, i even removed the grille off... Thanks for really usefull info, Andrew!

@roberteshaw4590 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Andrew, I always enjoy your presentations. Informative and delivered very nicely. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I have tried on and off, not really knowing? After listening to your explanation, may revisit my experiment. Thanks again. Very much appreciated. Robert TN

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment on your enjoyment of the videos, it’s appreciated. If you do try the grilles on / off again, do share how it went.

@broadcastmedia 2 жыл бұрын

It is because of the reasons you mention here that I have been listening to my speakers with the grilles removed for many years. And, the reasons I audition speakers with and without them installed. I've had friends and audio sales people look at me as though I was insane. These days I'll leave the grilles on for CD listening, to mitigate some of the more unpleasant high frequencies. I remove them when listening to vinyl, to preserve the better balance created by the media, the cartridge and the phono stage.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Perfect example of you listening, and choosing what sounds best to your ears. Thanks for sharing and detailing that perfectly.

@joechlystun7979 2 жыл бұрын

i think this aswell

@denisblades1375 Жыл бұрын

My Wharfdale Diamond 225 2 way speakers have separate push on circular grills. Removing the tweeter grill which has a plastic ring supporting the fabric has definitely improved the frequency response and dispersion width of the tweeter.

@lamptl3607 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Andrew. Your explanations sound reasonable. I found the high frequencies from the tweeters become richer and clearer after removing the grilles. If the situation allowed, I think removing the grilles is justified. Thanks for your help.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Glad you took them time to listen both ways, and found which sounds better to you. Most of us have to deal with real world situations, and that can make grilles on an absolute necessity.

@FrankeeD 2 жыл бұрын

I'm curious if any of the commenters have done blind listening tests with the grilles on and off. It makes perfect sense that there's a difference that can be measured technically, but I'm wondering if people can hear the difference without any visual cues.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Blind listening tests are the best way to judge, for sure. Look forward to seeing if anyone takes you up on this challenge.

@frankfarago2825 2 жыл бұрын

Not sure what I had learned here -- and why it took seven and a half long, agonizing minutes to get to the end. BTW, ever since sound movies came out in 1926, speakers have been placed behind grilles. We call them "cinema projection screens." They have little perforated holes in them, too. Gee-whiz, Louise.

@MrElchav Жыл бұрын

Totally pointless contribution!

@perrysmiles60 2 ай бұрын

If you're not happy with the content here, why do you even listen to or visit this You-tuber...? Just go back to 1926! People like you look to criticize others (I wonder what YOU would look like on a KZfaq video!) and are not home theatre enthusiasts, otherwise you would appreciate this kind of information.

@chadkoehler8021 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for such a well thought out explanation of this grille question. I’ve always enjoyed my grilles off for the aesthetics & more open sound to my ears.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

You’re very welcome. And yes, aesthetics can play a big part in the decision of grilles on or off.

@TimpBizkit Жыл бұрын

I've found most grilles to mellow out the upper midrange a bit, but muffle the top high frequencies.

@radtek2 2 жыл бұрын

When you were using a window screen as an example it brought to mind the same thing can happen when taking Xrays between the Xray beam and the grid plate. We called it Grid Cutoff (was a radtech for 30 years) That said I prefer sound with the grilles off, but I had to wait until the Grandkids were old enough not to "poke" at the speakers! I like the looks better too.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

It’s very interesting how sight and sound are wavelengths and have similar properties, thanks for sharing your Rad Tech info! Grilles can be all about the protection, that’s a reality of our lives. It’s nice when you have the luxury of choosing what you like the sound, and look, of best.

@garygray3834 2 жыл бұрын

I have the Andrew Jones set . I removed mine grills and got a better Crisp sound from them . Thank you

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, you listened both ways, and found what sounds best to you.

@chadkoehler8021 2 жыл бұрын

I have the FS-52’s. Incredible speaker. Grilles off for me too…more spacious open sound.

@patrickverner7643 2 жыл бұрын

I keep the grills on for movies as the aluminum-cone woofers of the VP180 are so damn gorgeous it distracts me from the movie ☺️ I do take them off if I'm listening to music...

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic compliment to the VP180, what a great reason to have the grilles on!

@david5oo 2 жыл бұрын

I use grills because cat claws cause a permanent change in the performance of my speakers. No kidding, that's what killed my last speakers.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, the speakers are going to sound much worse if they have scratched drivers, let alone shredded!

@khoi83 2 жыл бұрын

Cats and kids!!! Expert speaker Drivers'killers 😆

@brydon10 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Andrew, thanks for the video. What are the advantages to having no high pass filter on a mid-range driver (for example the M60). I saw in a comment on one the videos by Ian saying that there are some advantages to it but he didn't say what they were. Thanks and keep it up.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

There is a mechanical high-pass created by the small, enclosed volume that the mids are inside of, there is no electrical high-pass network in the crossover. From our standpoint, the advantages are more freedom with the crossover point, which helps with the family of curves, and also it allows us to keep everything connected in electrical phase with one another. I know it’s somewhat controversial, but it works to allow us to achieve our design goals.

@brydon10 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters I remember the small box on the midrange driver in one of your speaker assembly videos (I think it was the M80), looked like a great solution. I know there's sound (no pun intended!) science behind everything that Axiom does. Thanks for answering my question.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

@@brydon10 You’re very welcome, talking about loudspeaker design is something I enjoy doing!

@adamant3844 Жыл бұрын

With cats in the house I choose to keep them on. Some speakers DO sound better with the grilles off like my vintage Paradigm 5's. With the rest of my speakers I find the differences negligible. My issue with leaving the grilles on is the drivers end up caked up full of dust if they're not removed occasionally. Thanks for addressing this rarely discussed topic Andrew

@AxiomHomeTheaters Жыл бұрын

Very good point when you have cats! And yes, grilles are not really dust covers. It’s a good idea to remove them and clean the drivers occasionally.

@mfkhometheater7742 2 жыл бұрын

A similar topic... Any suggestion on distance from an acoustically transparent screen? My old theater didn't but my new theater will have an acoustically transparent screen. Since I've never tried such a screen, I'm curious how critical it might be to keep the speakers a particular distance behind the screen. The speakers are DIY with DSP and separate amplification for each band so I can EQ the response to compensate for any impact of frequency response but I'm concerned about getting the speakers too close to the screen.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Since there will be some level of reflection, no matter how acoustically transparent the screen, you’ll need to play a bit with the distance. I would think that being closer to the screen would be best, as long as the speakers are not touching. Remember to allow to driver excursion too!

@mfkhometheater7742 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters I was actually thinking give it some distance but that's a problem because the screen will not be all that far off the wall. Thinking more about it, you're probably right, closer may be better which also solves the space limitation behind the screen. The speakers will be very large CBT line arrays so the radiation will be distributed over a very large area which I would think also helps. I know many people even put woofers behind the screen but I'm going to avoid that. Thanks!

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

@@mfkhometheater7742 You’re welcome, good luck with the install!

@mfkhometheater7742 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters LOL, I'm going to need it, the last couple days I'm working on wiring the arrays, seventy drivers in each main array and fifty drivers in the center array, two terminals per driver, so 380 connections! It's going to be a loooong process!

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

@@mfkhometheater7742 👍

@eyestick8012 2 жыл бұрын

Is the grille/frame "integral" to the M60's or M3's? Due to my wife's 3 cats, grilles are a necessity...

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

At Axiom, we measure both ways, and choose the happy medium. That way the customer has the option, as every person has a different situation at home, like cats, dogs, or children, where the grilles are a line of defense.

@sjbenes 2 жыл бұрын

The purist in me loves them off, and the M80s just look so cool with them off that that's the way I prefer to listen. I worry a little about dust build up over time and so I usually leave them on between listening times and for general TV watching. Thanks to the grills being magnetic, it's so easy to remove and install them, it's not a big issue like it once was years ago. I've never really noticed any difference in the sound, but I really don't have many off axis listening spots. And I always sit in the sweet spot when listening anyway. ; )

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Any dust build-up will likely be minor and your speaker drivers can be gently cleaned if needed. Enjoy the sweet spot!

@teleguy5699 2 жыл бұрын

Will dust affect speaker performance? My house is so dusty that's why I keep my grilles on. My speakers were balanced with Audyssey years ago and I really don't want to recalibrate with grilles off because of the dust issue and they sound great to me already, although if I try with them off I might have a decision to make. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Axioms run a little bright by speaker norms anyway? We only have a area rug on Hardwood with a big picture window, (if anyone needs the big picture I have it lol) in our living room. I'll close the curtains for acoustics, but not all the time. Plus we have an open ranch concept, not an enclosed room. We have a bright room to begin with I believe.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

A build-up of a layer of dust is not a good thing, and if you’re happy with your setup now I would not bother experimenting. In my opinion, today’s Axiom loudspeakers are neutral. They are, however, more refined today than they were back in the day of the original Millenia or “Ti” series.

@teleguy5699 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters Thanks again for your response. Be safe up there in Canada.

@miker718 2 жыл бұрын

I have a pair of speakers that didn't come with grilles, and the manufacturer doesn't have any grilles or a way to attach them. I really could use grilles because of a dog that will shed just by looking at her! What is the best way to clean the actual exposed parts of a speaker?

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Actually, did a video on this exact topic, hope it helps with the dog hair. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mpZ9grWT0p2zYKs.html

@miker718 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters Thank you so much for providing the video link, it was very informative, especially the caution of using a vacuum cleaner.

@rudolfhuijs4526 2 жыл бұрын

In sound everything comes down to test, test, test.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Exactly, first on the design end, and then on the listener’s end.

@ShaileshPatel-le8cq Жыл бұрын

Sir without grills dust can spoil speakers. It prevent dust so it protect dirt.

@AxiomHomeTheaters Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. Keep the grilles on when you’re not listening if you remove them to listen critically.

@bobbaretta 2 жыл бұрын

Grills used only for protection and maintenance. Always music on with grills off 🎼

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

Best of both worlds!

@BoredSilly666 2 жыл бұрын

The frame of the Grill causes Baffle diffraction. Why would people want them on, its distorting the sound.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

True, but in many cases the grill design can either be part of the baffle, or the frame designed in such a way to achieve the desired results. It al comes down to the design intent and, as always, your personal preference.

@BoredSilly666 2 жыл бұрын

@@AxiomHomeTheaters Imagine building a speaker that once built, you have to use the grill to tame some of the highs................ I know, I know there are plenty but just think about it.

@AxiomHomeTheaters 2 жыл бұрын

@@BoredSilly666 If the speaker sounds completely out of balance with the grilles off, there is a bigger issue with the design unless the grille itself is an integral part of the design. There have been many loudspeakers where the grille actuall changed the baffle shape when installed, lowering diffraction.