How come most Near Field Monitors don't have (or even give you the option of adding) speaker grills?

Could the reason 'really be' that a grill would significantly compromise the quality of the speaker's sound, or are the manufacters just to cheap to add a protective grill?

I recently purchased a pair of KRK V4's
http://www.krksys.com/v3/vseries_v4.asp

and really pleased with the sound, but feel its exposed speakers (both tweeter & woofer) are an open invitation for potential damage, either by dust/dirt collecting on the sticky surface of the rubbery(?) material on the tweeter cone, or a stray object (or finger) accidently hitting & damaging either of the speakers.

Interested in hearing other people's thoughts and opinions on this. Thanks. - Scott

Hmmmm, I answered this, but my post hasn't shown up yet. Puzzling.

Send those puppies back and get a pair of Yamaha MSP5's for the same price (less if you haggle). The MSP5's have more wattage both at the high end and the low end. They have adjustable Bass and Treble switches for fine tuning your Audio signal feed. They have XLR and 1/4 inch connectors. They have a massive heat sink to keep 'em cool. They are highly rated by some of the most prestigious Professional Sound and Keyboard magazines there are. They have a great flat frequency response and because of it are able to be used in the Mixing and Mastering process of your Recordings and Songs. But don't let their small size fool you. They put out more dB's and SPL's than ANY other comparable speaker in it's class. And you won't necessarily need a Subwoofer to hear deep rich bass either. The Bass on the MSP5's is astounding. And the kicker? They have those grills your talking about Scott. No more possible finger poked holes in those KRK woofers or tweaked and dented tweeters. The dog won't be able to paw or bite 'em to shreds either. The one minor drawback in your case is they weigh roughly 5 lbs. more apiece than the KRK's. But the advantages far outweigh the itsy bitsy teenie weenie little bit of extra weight you have to, *cough *cough, Ahem~ - lift.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-20-2003).]

Scott,
That is the concept....a compromise of sound quality as well as an rattle or vibration of grilles, but mostly blocking of the sound wavs.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

Also in a studio setup...monitors at their ideal height and positioning would be out of reach of the poking finger or dog bite,... hence no grills needed to disrupt your sound.

I have spent most of my working life being involved in the British Loudspeaker Industry.
A grill covers effect on sound quality depends mostly upon the design of the grill frame, this frame can alter the sound wave depersion. Grill cloths made from todays modern fine weave can have a small effect, but most manufactures will tailor the design of the loadspeakers frequency response with the grill fitted as this is the way it would normally be used.
As already mentioned having a grill cover is the best of answer to stop poking fingers and help to eliminate dust.
The best way to keep a grill cloth clean is a new paint brush.

Graham UK

Phew. I thought you accidentally poked one of the speaker cones and looking for some repair help

I did that a looong time ago (I was only six at that time). I poked my finger into one of the cones in my dad's studio (oh..now that he's reading this message board I'm not sure if I should keep writing lol).

It was beatifully repaired using a celophane tape though so all is good

Hi Mike, After reading your response, I decided I had to go back to GC and put the KRK V4's and Yamaha MSP5's thru yet another 'side by side' comparison test. I also had the opportunity to A/B these with the other powered monitors (including: M Audio Studiophile BX5's, Event Powered 2020's, and Behringer 2031 Truth's) which were set up in the same listening room. Before I go on, I need to preface my comments with the fact that taste & choice of monitors is a highly personal thing, and that views may widely differ depending on one's personal taste, music genre preference, or monitoring requirements.

For general listening purposes, I was impressed by the MSP5's (it has a rich full sound), but for mixing work, it (imo) misses the mark. My #1 criteria is that the monitors sound as neutral as possible (uncolored), don't accentuate any specific part of the listening spectrum, and aren't fatiguing, especially important during those long mixing sessions.

I performed my comparison playing a couple of acoustic cuts from 2 CDs that I'm really familiar with: Elton John: Yellow Brick Road (new SACD/CD remaster), and Norah Jones: Come Away With Me (SACD/CD).

I immediately noticed that the KRK V4's sounded the most natural (unhyped) of all the other speakers. The Yamaha MSP5's had good bass omph, but this also seemed to cover (muddied) the midrange frequencies. The V4's,though lacking in the lowest bass frequencies, best captured the detail of the midrange & highs, yet without added hype or exagerration. Adding the matched KRK S8 subwoofer provided the low bass frequencies absent in the V4's, yet without covering the clarity & detail of the midrange like I believe the MSP5's do. I'm now convinced that the KRK V4's alone, or adding the S8 sub (sounding even better) are the best near field mixing monitor speaker choice for me, especially for the type of projects I plan to use them for: primarily vocals & acoustic instrument tracks. I only wished they came with protective grills. As long as I can keep my pets and housekeeper away from them, I think I'll be fine.

GrahamUK: I think British produced hi-fi speakers and audio gear are the BEST, as I own a pair of vintage KEF 103.2's and KEF 105's that (imho) haven't been matched by any other speakers since. Running these thru a Musical Fidelity model A308 power amp really sounds like pure heaven to me. I have to personally thank our SZ buddy Frank Bez (Technics forum) for turning me on to the awesome Musical Fidelity Amps. I heard his and instantly fell in love with it's clear 'smooth' natural (unhyped) sound.



Thank God no, but because I'm totally sold on the KRK V4's (with the exposed cones), I realize that I'm going to have to pay extra careful attention to insure they stay clear of pets, fingers & objects.

Only 3 days left of work now and I can finally kick back to spend a relaxing Christmas with my family, and also spend time recordng & mixing new song material with the new toys. Merry Christmas to all. - Scott

Scottyee. You obviously take more care than the average speaker buyer in make a monitor purchase. The main difficulty is choosing your CD's to take with you for auditioning is that there is no guide as to what monitoring system the CD's were mixed with in the first place. This can drastically alter balance and tonal mix of the CD's in question.
I have had first hand experience of this when substituting our brand of speaker for the BBC's standard reference speaker. The mix was more correct on their reference simple because that is what it was mixed on.

Best wishes with your purchase and long may your KEF's perform.

Graham UK.

[This message has been edited by Graham UK (edited 12-22-2003).]