Audio Asylum Thread Printer

Get a view of an entire thread on one page

FAQ / News / Events

Speaker Asylum

Actually I heard that if you take

207.216.246.51

In Reply to: RE: Who makes the most 'transparent' grill cloth . . . posted by mr grits on August 28, 2011 at 17:12:32

100 vestal virgins and shave all of the peach fuzz off their arms and form said fuzz into a material, this material will lift at least 2 veils more than ordinary high-performance audiophile grill cloth...

Now, bad humor aside. You have me wondering about something.

Could changes in grill cloth be actually measurable? Audiophiles sometimes think they can hear +/- 0.1db differences (ha ha!) but I find (for me anyways) changes in frequency response are quite hard to detect unless they are at least an order of magnitude higher (or even higher yet in some circumstances).

I believe a trip downstairs to the laboratory is in order....

Thanks for the brain food! :P

Cheers,
Presto

Follow Ups:

Grill effects are measurable AND audible - caspian@peak.org 20:56:38 08/31/11 (2)
Dunno about differences between grill materials, but the difference between grills on and off is really noticeable. With typical open-weave polyester grills, I've measured a -.75dB or more attenuation above 12kHz on the tweeter axis at one meter, vs. with the grills removed. And that definitely sounds duller, with a loss of "shimmer and sparkle" at the very HF. If the grill frames stand out from the baffle, there will also be diffraction issues off the frame.

The best grill during listening is none at all, but grills are useful to protect the drivers from bumps and dust. Best if they're removable for serious listening.
- RE: Grill effects are measurable AND audible - genungo 04:21:09 09/01/11 (1)
  Don't automatically chuck the grills. Some speakers sound better with the grills on. Some speakers have grills that are designed to work with the drivers and the cabinet during playback.
  - True 'nuff, but . . . - caspian@peak.org 17:41:57 09/01/11 (0)
    . . . you look at the vast majority of S'phile speaker reviews, where JA measured response with grills both on and off, and you see some serious degradation of HF performance with the grills on. Not only is the top octave suppressed a bit, but a bunch of peaks and dips appear, probably due to diffraction effects.
    
    Now a PROPERLY designed grill won't do that, if the speaker was voiced with the grill in place. Some Paradigm models, for instance, where the grill frame is designed to fit snugly around the protruding driver frames, giving the effect of flush mounting the drivers on a flat baffle. Those would most likely sound worse without the grills.
    
    I try to design my DIY projects for maximally flat response with the grills off, but find that with "hot" recordings, the grills do help ameliorate some excessive brightness.

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: