A little background...
When we first began building speakers, we did not offer grills. We were interested in the best sound possible and grills did not seem to fit that scenario. So, when asked, the answer was simple: "We do not do grills."
But as time went on, we would receive requests from individuals who were insistent. Wanting to satisfy their needs, we embedded magnets in the baffles and created grills. But we did this only when "optional" grills were ordered.
This wasn't an ideal situation either in that we would occasionally receive a request for grills after speakers were delivered. In those cases, we did not embed magnets in the baffles so velcro or plastic grill stand-offs were the only option (and not a very attractive one).
So we decided whether or not customers ordered "optional" grills, we would embed magnets in all speakers...just in case.
When we introduced the SongTowers, however, almost every customer wanted grills. This was a departure from what we had experienced with our higher-priced models.
So we bit the bullet and decided that grills would be standard on all speakers from that point forward. But we also advised customers not to use them for critical listening and that is still our position today.
Personally, I don't use grills and never make them for my own personal speakers (although I do embed magnets for that purpose). On the other hand, I fully understand and appreciate WAF/SAF issues and feel it is important to pay attention to them.
About a year ago I received an email from a customer who had received his Veracity HT3's almost a year earlier. I could tell from the tone of the email he was quite excited. He loved his HT3's from the very start. But after a year of listening, he removed the grills and reported that the imaging was vastly superior without them. Removal of the grills took the his HT3's to the next level. It was like discovering his HT3's all over again. Talk about a cheap upgrade!
The bottom line is that use of the grills is optional. If you like the sound with them installed, no problem. If you prefer the sound without them, magnets make it easy to remove them for critical listening. So you really have the best of both worlds.
- Jim