Speakers for my computer

It's okay to leave them on, but it's nice to turn them off if you remember. Less for the speakers than because it's nice to conserve power, even if it doesn't use much while dormant.
 
Grills off is almost always preferable, but some speaker designers take grills into consideration (and design good grills), so there's rarely a clear cut answer.

As always, it's "whatever sounds best to you".
 
I've never bought into the notion that grilles on/off really affects the speaker's performance in any appreciable manner. I think it has a lot more to do with aesthetics. If you've got little kids who like to poke their fingers into things, grilles come in rather handy.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
I've never bought into the notion that grilles on/off really affects the speaker's performance in any appreciable manner.
Click to expand...

I tend to be all over some of the more "mystical" aspects of audio...but this isn't one of those cases. The physics here are pretty simple - you put something in front of a sound wave that's not air, it's going to affect it. Grilles have to be designed explicitly to avoid invoking this effect any more than necessary, thus the use of foam (which is air to a high percent, thus minimizes it) or a metal plane with many moderately-large holes. The other problem is diffraction...but even a 20kHz signal is only down to a 1.72cm wavelength, so it's minimized provided the grille aperture remains small enough (you can escape diffraction by either having an aperture large enough to be equivalent to open space, or small enough that the waves can't distinguish individual apertures, with "enough" being relative to the wavelength).

Grilles do change the sound. Proven fact. However, they are designed to do it as little as possible, and whether the change is positive or negative is a matter of taste.
 
Nice dissertation. I'll bet 9 out of 10 couldn't tell the difference between grilles on/off to save their lives.
 
Usually they just pop off, with a snap-like attachment near each corner. I don't know for certain that yours are built that way, though, so be careful.

Mr. Wolf said:
Nice dissertation. I'll bet 9 out of 10 couldn't tell the difference between grilles on/off to save their lives.
Click to expand...

Did you miss the part where I said they're designed to deliberately minimize the effect of having them on? Or were you just asking me to give a more detailed explanation? I know that was a little short if you're not familiar with basic physics...
 
ashmedai said:
Did you miss the part where I said they're designed to deliberately minimize the effect of having them on? Or were you just asking me to give a more detailed explanation? I know that was a little short if you're not familiar with basic physics...
Click to expand...
Actually, YOU missed the part where I wrote there's not an appreciable difference between on/off. We basically agree. I just didn't break out the physics textbook for my comments.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
Actually, YOU missed the part where I wrote there's not an appreciable difference between on/off. We basically agree. I just didn't break out the physics textbook for my comments.
Click to expand...

Easy!

He is still in school and thinking lol.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
Actually, YOU missed the part where I wrote there's not an appreciable difference between on/off. We basically agree. I just didn't break out the physics textbook for my comments.
Click to expand...

Nah, I just disagree on that aspect. :D

Then again maybe I'm the unlucky 1/10. :(


Well, at the least I think it's significant enough that people should try both ways and make sure there isn't a difference to them. A 10% chance of a free upgrade is hard to pass up when you're spending $$ on an audio system already.
 
img3227mt3.jpg

img3229ig1.jpg


hehe :D
 
Sweet.

More people leave it off for looks...it's like the people with case windows on their computer, except less tacky. :D
 
I've got the D1080MkII Swans paired with an HT Omega Claro on a second computer in the family room; and they sound as good (for music) as my E-MU 0404USB paired with a more expensive amp/bookshelf speaker set-up.
 
rblews said:
I've got the D1080MkII Swans paired with an HT Omega Claro on a second computer in the family room; and they sound as good (for music) as my E-MU 0404USB paired with a more expensive amp/bookshelf speaker set-up.
Click to expand...

im thinking about a Zero DAC for my next upgrade, do you think that the HT Omega Claro might be better?
 
The 0404 would be more of an alternative to look at; the Claro is nice but it's still an internal card.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top