My experience is similar to Pro's - a grill close to the tweeter affects sound more than further. I put my latest on 2-1/2" standoffs. Not much effect but sill noticeably duller than clean.
If you have little ones around or a party it is nice to be able to protect your tweeters, but for "serious" listening, go naked.
If you have little ones around or a party it is nice to be able to protect your tweeters, but for "serious" listening, go naked.
Do not stress over the grills, i have never noticed the difference in sound, thoug for critical listening i remove them, i only put the grills on when i go out to stop others from pushing on the cones etc.
when building a grill though try to use as little materials as possible, try to make it as transperant as possible(im talking about the frame still, not the cloth)
when building a grill though try to use as little materials as possible, try to make it as transperant as possible(im talking about the frame still, not the cloth)
The frame
Like Dave said, The frame is often more of a problem than the grille cloth.
The general rule is that if you are listening seriously and no chances of anyone poking the cone in , remove the grille.
It makes a bigger difference than you might expect. Try it out sometime.
Cheers,
Ashok.
Like Dave said, The frame is often more of a problem than the grille cloth.
The general rule is that if you are listening seriously and no chances of anyone poking the cone in , remove the grille.
It makes a bigger difference than you might expect. Try it out sometime.
Cheers,
Ashok.
If there is some distance from the tweeter to the grille frame then the grille it will affect its dispersion, not too much in the close field but in the far field. Using some type of soft material to control baffle dispersion/reflections around the tweeter is a good idea & will make this difference less noticeable; it also depends on the toe-in of the speakers.
The general consensus is to leave them off if you can, or at least test it by having someone removing the grills while you have a good listening from your 'sweet spot'.
The general consensus is to leave them off if you can, or at least test it by having someone removing the grills while you have a good listening from your 'sweet spot'.
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Joined 2003
I think he was shouting with a grill cloth in front of his mouth.
Seriously, the difference between grill cloth and no grill is measurable. But it comes down to practicality- when friends/family are over I don't even take my grill cloths off to show my DIY speakers speakers- they're all to tempted to touch the drivers...
But when I'm listening on my own, I take off the grills. The difference (real or perceived) is worth the effort.
Seriously, the difference between grill cloth and no grill is measurable. But it comes down to practicality- when friends/family are over I don't even take my grill cloths off to show my DIY speakers speakers- they're all to tempted to touch the drivers...
But when I'm listening on my own, I take off the grills. The difference (real or perceived) is worth the effort.
It is truly unbelievable how people can't restrain their urge to poke the dustcap with their fingers, it is frustrating how little respect and care some people have for other's valued possessions!
I find an obvious difference with and without the grilles. More so than I expected. Take the grilles off, and the sound is more crisp, treble seems to have just slightly more resolution and detail.
My grilles use that very light black cloth that is supposedly "acoustically transparent." IMO the cloth and the frame affect the sound in relatively equal measures. The cloth does absorb treble and the frame does have some ill effects. My grille frame is made of 12mm MDF, I cut circles around each of the drivers as large as possible with the edges rounded.
In the end, the only way to answer this question is to play some music, take the grille on and off many times. Let your ears tell you!
I find an obvious difference with and without the grilles. More so than I expected. Take the grilles off, and the sound is more crisp, treble seems to have just slightly more resolution and detail.
My grilles use that very light black cloth that is supposedly "acoustically transparent." IMO the cloth and the frame affect the sound in relatively equal measures. The cloth does absorb treble and the frame does have some ill effects. My grille frame is made of 12mm MDF, I cut circles around each of the drivers as large as possible with the edges rounded.
In the end, the only way to answer this question is to play some music, take the grille on and off many times. Let your ears tell you!
Use foam grilles!
Foam grilles is the solution to many of your problems...
On my diy-speaker I use foam grilles like the stuff seen on commercial speakers like "Rega Kyte" and "Naim SBL"
Some advantages:
Plastic foam loudspeaker front is found at:
http://www.elfa.se/en/
http://www.elfa.se/elfa/produkter/en/5617.htm
Foam grilles is the solution to many of your problems...
On my diy-speaker I use foam grilles like the stuff seen on commercial speakers like "Rega Kyte" and "Naim SBL"
Some advantages:
- The main advantage is no frame to destroy sound
- Cheap
- Very easy to make
- Easy to mount and unmount using velcro
- I can not hear the difference naked vs. 1cm foam
- Flexible for non-plan designs
- Not that ugly
Plastic foam loudspeaker front is found at:
http://www.elfa.se/en/
http://www.elfa.se/elfa/produkter/en/5617.htm
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This certainly won't concern much of you, but...
At my new year's party, we turned the volume knob near to 100%. It was loud, not ear plitting loud, but loud enough. And the sound became strange, the bass seemed to saturate.
At first I thought that 60W out from my gainclone with 1000uF per rail was totally impossible.
But that wasn't the problem.
The grill was shaking so much that it was hitting the BR port. After putting the grills of, the strange sound was gone
Of course, it's only for speakers with the BR port in the front, and covered by the grill
At my new year's party, we turned the volume knob near to 100%. It was loud, not ear plitting loud, but loud enough. And the sound became strange, the bass seemed to saturate.
At first I thought that 60W out from my gainclone with 1000uF per rail was totally impossible.
But that wasn't the problem.
The grill was shaking so much that it was hitting the BR port. After putting the grills of, the strange sound was gone
Of course, it's only for speakers with the BR port in the front, and covered by the grill
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