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One of my six pair of speakers, Bose 901-VI don't have removable grills. I have heard no coloration or alteration to the sound with the grilles on, but I'm over 60!!

Sometimes I take the grilles off, but that's only when they get popped off by cranking up the volume too much.

Why? Because they aren't removeable and my Maggies look better with the grills on.

I can't detect an audible difference whether they're on or off, but I sure do love watching the woofers move.

Makes littel difference with my B&W 801 S3's

I put them on as protection at parties, to keep drunken fingers off.

My speaker grilles are always kept on the speakers. They are only removed for a light dusting of the drivers.

Jim Thiel design: no bi-wiring, leave the grilles on. Seems to work!

I have always listened without grilles. Fortunately my Totems don't have grilles at all (and my wife doesn't care!).

Always on. For protection (I have sons) and appearance (WAF). Besides, there is very little difference in sound, and the speaker makers claim there is no difference at all.

I really can't hear the difference and besides they look better

Keeps debris and damage away from speakers. Sounds slightly better without grills, but...

Keeps the dust off of 'em. That's the only reason. Not all of us live in big, fancy houses with filtered central air and maids to keep the place clean—which is all I see in your magazine, ever.

I have B&W Nautilus 802s for mains, HTM1 for center, and four KEFs for surrounds. I keep the grilles on for appearance and protection, and keep them on for home theater and casual listening. I remove them from the 802s only for "critical" stereo listening because the sound is a bit more open. Only the mids and woofers have grilles; the tweeters are always exposed.

I don't want my kids playing with the drivers.

Martin-Logan electrostatics - the grill the speaker, so-to-speak :-)

Speakers don't have grilles

Remove them when critically listening. Otherwise leave them on .

I like to see what I paid for, and also if the volume is high enough... :-)

I hear the difference. The sound is more transparent without grilles. And Dynaudio, maker of my Contour S3.4 speakers, also advises to take the grilles off during serious listening.

It really depends on the whether the speakers were designed to be listened to, with or without the grilles on (eg Avalon Eidolon, with grilles; JM Utopia,without).

My speakers don't have grill covers - never had them.

The dome tweeters on my speakers are vulnerable, so I usually think twice, but the grille cloths frequently come off when I am doing some earnest listening. It is a nice treat to remove them and hear more open highs and an extra layer of detail.

Please give us some new advice on speaker placement and indepth information regarding room acoustics.

I have Thiel CS5i and I think they look so much better with the grilles off.

Depends on the mood. When I had a 5.1 system I would take the grills of now and again because I thought they sound brighter...but I'm beginning to realize how psychoacoustic sound really is. Lately i've been leaving them on (plus it's a pain taking off the grills in a 9.2 system)

The only time I put the grilles on to my Sonus Faber Concertos is for protection when I'm vacuuming the carpet around them or if children are around etc. As per Stereophile's review of them a few years ago, the 6dB midband suckout the grilles cause robs music of a little air and detail, and accentuates the treble harshness that digital sources foist onto our ears. Having the grilles off gives the sound a better balance.

Grilles? Where did they go? I have not seen my speaker grilles since they day I bought my speakers. I think the grilles went out with the boxes and packaging.

What! Are you nuts? I always listen to the grilles with the speakers off.

Some years ago I owned a pair of Acoustic Research AR-3As. While the speaker's were audibly excellent the grilles were rather nondescript. Searching for audio neutral replacements turned out to be quite an undertaking but, in the end, well worth the time invested. The new grilles were audibly transparent and asthetically pleasing.