I understand what you’re saying. I’ve done a fair amount of research and have viewed a number of Danny’s videos on open baffles, dipoles, baffle width, baffle diffraction..etc.
As for one owner claiming something...good to be aware of, but lots of folks claim lots of things. If they all claimed the same thing then there’s a better chance of it actually existing. With the speaker model being around for 20(?) years, I’d think any tweaks would be pretty well documented by this time. The top trim piece itself is 1/4 of and inch thick. The grill tops are slightly (1/16-1/8th inch) higher than the trim piece. The grills are 7/8 of an inch thick. I’d be pretty surprised if there was any discernible impact of having the trim piece on or off. If the top trim piece has that much impact, I’d think the grills would have far more as they’re square and hanging off the front of the panel quite a ways. It’s very easy to remove the top trim..two screws into the side trim pieces. The side trim pieces(1 inch deep..same as the metal panel and 3/4 inch wide) can be removed by just a few screws. It would take a phillips screw driver and a couple minutes to remove them. This would be a very easy experiment, if folks were so inclined.
At some point I’ll be stripping off all the trim when the replacements are ready. Making the replacements would take about two days if I start with rough lumber and include finishing time. I’ll check how things sound with all the trim off at that time.
I asked Bruce if adding 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch width to the side rails(such that a little wood trim shows when the grills are on) would have any sonic impacts. He said no impact as long as the outside edges were rounded over with a 1/2 round over bit...which I was planning anyway (same as the appreciable round overs used in the Super V build, or any speaker cab/baffle build). I also asked him if I could mount new grills with rare earth magnets imbedded in the trim and grill frame. He said that would be ok also.
The top piece as shown above..I realize that may be a stretch with respect to no impact. I’ll mock up a similar piece and try it out before making something more permanent. I may well reduce it’s size when I start building it, depending on how it looks. I’d like to keep the overall streamline appearance. If I notice any impact, then I’ll reduce it to something similar to what’s on the speaker now.
At some point I’ll be picking up a microphone and doing some testing, but that’ll be after the dust settles with the SV build and new amps are installed.
