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Naim Orator s400-speaker grille or not?

Harbeths are very much designed, frequency response, with the grilles in place. I very much preferred my C7s without grilles, confirmed last month to make sure. The grilles blurred the sound slightly. Mind you I preferred ESL57s with the stuffing removed.
 
I removed the grilles once. Judging by how difficult it was and the sightly unfinished edges, I'm pretty sure they are not designed to be left off.
 
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My sources and amplification are Naim, but my speakers are definitely not Naim. I've had two different speakers in my HiFi system - KEF and PMC - and found in both cases, grills off are best. The grills definitely have an effect. Something drops off, and the sound isn't as clear as with the grills removed. I played the same track, took the grills off and on repeatedly, and found I could hear a difference.

So I reckon as a general rule for the best quality sound, it's best to leave the grills off.
 
With all due respect to your above comment, when Naim develope(d) the speaker it was not with the view to "right we have made this speaker with all its special suspension, isolation, pistonic suspension for BMR, now what do we cover the drive units with." It was devloped as as a whole unit, ill bet the drive unit covers were not an afterthought, and are part of the design, the way it sounds works etc.
Many people wont know that there are two tiny ports in the base of the speaker which " vent" and the foam under the bass grills will all affect complance and speed and return of the bass drivers.
Ive always been of the opinion more clarity does not mean more music.

David.
 
Those Orators look quite respectable.

Try living with these ugly b*ggers naked.

 
Grilles off is best and even better if you fill the gap left around the BMR driver surround with something to reduce the diffraction from this point.
 
That's made my day Tim.

One like for my Cantor ll's in their birthday suit.

On looks alone, I would have moved them on weeks ago.

But they are the best sounding 8" woofered closed boxes I've tried.

And I have tried quite a few.
 


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