How grills affect?

I leave the grills on. Softens the highs just a hint. It is enough to reduce listener fatigue on less then ideal recordings and that occasional digital edginess.

Speakers are designed for use with grill cloths on. The Vandersteen owners manual specifically states this and that the grill cloths should not be removed. They refer to the cloth as "sonically transparent". Presumably all/most speakers are so designed. Cheers. Craig

In regards to Garfish's comment: yes, check the manual for the specific speakers. Someone with a pair of B&W Nautilus series; comfirm that B&W actually recommends removing the grills for serious listening. I can swear I read that when I was reviewing the manual at a dealer. I use to own a pair of the Matrix series, and those grills were designed to disperse the sound a certain way, so for the Matrix, they should be left on.

I have to agree with Bufus my Thiel 2.3’s to a very very small degree change the sound. Jon Risch has done some research on acoustically transparent materials for his DIY panels and has found that burlap to be the most transparent.

Burlap for speaker grilles- Perish the thought.

I've had the Forests for almost two years now. Couldn't imagine leaving them alone with the kids without the grills on. Nice that Totem puts the rigid mesh guard on the tweeters, huh? I also remove the grills for most critical listening, and have noticed a larger change in dispersion than anything else. The way Totem closely matched the opening and drivers (one opening, but really kinda teardrop-shaped once the tweeter and woofer circular cut-outs are joined),sound seems to beam a bit more with the grills in place. Effect is that of the drivers being recessed 3/4" into the baffle face. "Problem" is with the grill frame only. I have no doubt the fabric is fully transparent. Love the speaks though.Drive em with Stratos monos. Gotta get a real pre though.