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OMG, just removed my speaker grills and the sound just opened up to a new level!

My recently purchased Focal Maestro Utopia speakers look so good with their black front baffle and side and back Camara white, I couldn’t even think about removing the grills to hear what they sound like with them off. With nobody around to voice their displeasure to seeing those drivers I boldly went were no man, or in this case myself, said he would never go and removed the grills. Hello, said the speakers
this is what I really sound like. I might not be as pretty, but love me for what really counts, how I sound,
not how I look. I have to say I love them even more and they’re not looking too bad either! 
hiendmmoe
sdmc66
12 posts
 
In the Revel Salon 2 manual it says to remove the grills when doing "critical listening". They do sound different on vs. off, but i leave them on usually, since my room is bright, and my cat is crazy....
noromance's avatar
noromance
10,475 posts
 
@geoffkait Quad 57s. Took my perfect metal grills off. You haven't lived until you pull 80 staples embedded in wood from a creaky frame. I was expecting a massive difference what with all that metal. Not that big a change but I rest easier knowing it's not in the way even though they are ugly now.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
At least you tried. Next step, remove the plastic dust cover. 
jacksky
103 posts
 
Gave it a try and listened in the nude. At first deep bass passages made my chest hairs oscillate and it felt strange. Then I wondered is the the deep soundstage I’ve been missing all this time?
hiendmmoe OP
254 posts
 
Lowtubes, i’ve Been in the hobby for many years and yes removing the grills is quite elementary for any audiophile. My point was to the impact this made to the overall sonic improvements. I’ve owned over 50 hi-end speakers and have probably removed more grills from speakers than I care to mention; so removing the grills isn’t new to me. As for the comment about Focal from Jon-5912: I can only say never comment on something that makes one look so foolish when they don’t have a clue to what they’re talking about!!
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