Grills ON or Grills OFF?

Never heard speakers that sound better with grills on.

I once owned a pair of Krell Resolution 3s, that had stretchy "string" grills. I discovered, with the help of a spectrum analyzer, that the speakers response was flatter in my listening room with the grills on. Go figure.

When the listening session begins, the grill covers come off. When the listening session ends, the grill covers go back on. It's a habit that I've gotten myself into, just like turning equipment on and off.

Grills are one of the greatest banes of the audio industry. Case in point, I heard the Goldenear Triton speaker recently, what a disapppointment; the plastic grill and grill cloth are major impediments to performance. Just terrible decision in terms of sonics. It was one of the reasons I chose to not review it. I can hardly imagine a worse decision in terms of sound than to put plastic framework and fabric over drivers.

I have never heard a speaker sound superior with a grill on. If it does, then you have a problem elsewhere in your rig that you are masking with the grill, imo.

It's gotten to the point where speakers like Vandersteen I now consider significantly compromised due to the grill material messing with the wave coming off the drivers. :(