As we can see, most speakers have a variety of designs, including the grille, which is important when it covers a large area of the speaker. Generally, there are two types of the speaker grille, which are soft and hard. Sound waves are longitudinal, where the particles are parallel to travel from the direction of sound energy. They can pass through air, liquid, and even solid. Therefore, we are still able to hear even if there are speaker grilles on the speaker. However, do the characteristics of the grilles affect the sounds?
Soft Grilles
Any suitable cloth, fabric, or other equivalent material can be designed as soft grilles, we can even “DIY” or buy grille cloth online. They provide protection from small, lightweight items and may be water-resistant to some extent, but they are prone to be torn or stretched. Aside from longitudinal waves, there are also pressure waves and mechanical waves produced by sound. Therefore, soft grilles are more flexible when they are soft and more free to vibrate synchronously with the waves, resulting in less rattling of the speaker.
Hard Grilles
A variety of materials, including metal, wood, and plastic can form hard grilles. In this case, a board or sheet of material with holes drilled or cut to allow sound to travel through – perforated metal sheets is the common speaker grilles. Perforated metal made of carbon steel, galvanized steel, and aluminum, as well as various plastics like PC, PS, and PET, are among the standard for speaker units and home theatre systems.
Unlike soft grilles, the hard material is not free to move with waves produced. Therefore, the speaker’s output level must be considered when designing the grille. A grille with more holes will allow more sound to pass but will offer less protection from small objects. If there is a huge area of hard materials covering the speaker driver, it will most likely create rattling, impairing the experience, and sound quality, which ultimately damages the speaker.
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