Speaker grills on or off?


Which sound do you prefer from your speakers - with grill on or off?
50jess
Off, off, always off. I'm told this often leads to a divorce but hey, it leads to better sound.
I have never owned a speaker that I could hear a difference one way or the other. I had Harbeth's and the manufacturer recommended they be left on so I did. The wood on my current speakers (Daedalus) is so darn pretty I sometimes take off the grills just to admire the view but more often than not I leave on the grills and they sound just as wonderful. I think this is another one of those things that audiophiles can get twitchy about for no good reason.
no difference for me, although mfr says they are designed to play with them on. at best, I think with grills on, you keep dust and other particulates from settling on the components and damaging sunlight out too. (I am a little ocd about keeping things nice and clean.)

my Samoyed loves to sleep smack in front of the speakers with my music playing
My son was born during my first few years of more serious interest in audio. He's ten now. I have never taken the chance of using speakers with the grills off.
My paradigm studio's (v.5) all sounded more cohesive with better imaging with the grills on. I think they were designed so that the grills helped with dispersion and less diffraction.

Can't really tell with my kef's. They may sound more crisp, slightly better details with the grills off but it could just be in my head too.

Both my kef and my paradigms looked equally good with grills on or off but because my paradigms sounded better with them on, I left them on. My kef's grills come off and then go back on every couple days just cause I'm weird like that.'