All replies (25)
Hey Johnny!
You are certainly not the first to mention this. I think there is definitely a need for it from an interior design point of view. The problem we have had with this is that either the fabric is too dense, in that it actually severely negatively impacts the sound performance, or that is too thin and you see the blackness of the drivers through the grille itself – which does not look nice at all.
It doesn’t mean we have given up on the idea, but we are not willing to compromise on sound.
Hi, I have looked at a couple of subs with white grills. It does not look great when the black shows thru so very much. Maybe a white driver solves it, hahaha it would be awesome.
Best
Johan
Another problem is that the drivers attract dust pretty quickly.
After a short while, you will have a black dust ring on the white fabric, so you will have to clean the fabric from time to time.
I have seen this with some manufacturers in the past. Most of them switched to grey.
Great point, never thought of that. I’m sure a lighter grey would be a nice option with the white cabinets, but would need to switch to similar color drivers as well it seems.
I think that would look pretty slick. What would even be better is to get rid of the cloth portion.
Agree with this idea!
Optional colours for the grilles would be brilliant!!
I am sorry Arendal team, but this just sound like bad excuses to me.
“It doesn’t mean we have given up on the idea” – but you have not achieved or offered anything regarding this topic in the last couple of years.
I am still owning a German manufacturer, who also claims to have high audiophile standards, but does offer white solutions for a quite some time now. You are right, some of the drivers shines through and not everybody does like that, but still it is way better than just having total black covers on the surrounds in your living room. I never had trouble with “dust” or anything on the grills. One solution with fabric:
One just with metal grill:
Now your “solution” is to leave the customer alone in finding an option, even though the expertise is with you. I will actually try to build a white cover on my own or have one custom built for the 1961 monitors. If that is not possible or too expensive it will be the reason for returning them and sticking with the other brand. You could produce a cover way nicer, more professional and cheaper than a single customer ever could, but hey, why should you bother… This is very disappointing for me, especially because – as you said yourself – this topic is already couple of years old.
Hi Sebastian,
I understand that for you this will be a solution, but for us, this does not meet our aesthetic criteria.
I have seen the Nuberts in real life I personally do not like the white grills they offer. I would rather have black ones.
But yes this is a personal and very individual decision.
As someone who worked in a Hifi store all his life, I can tell you that the dust on the white fabric grills was a big problem.
I will not name the brand, but we had a lot of customers complaining about it, and the manufacturer later switched to grey fabric instead. We also had one manufacturer where the white grills became yellow after a short period of time. Just some of the reasons you basically never see white grills.
I also have seen customers having companies wrap white fabric on grilles and it never looked right. But yes this also is very personal.
Designing and producing a new grill is actually super expensive. The tooling costs are absolutely ridiculous.
Hi,
thanks for your reply.
I understand that for you this will be a solution, but for us, this does not meet our aesthetic criteria.
I am sorry to be this blunt, but: Are you living in my living room? Your speakers have to meet my and other customers aesthetic criteria and not only yours. Since I am not the only one wishing for this, I do not see your point in this. I own Nubert speakers for several years now and have white grills. I would prefer the white metal with some see through for the surrounds on a white wall in my living room over your black grills any time. And no turning yellow or dust problems at all with this (and maybe your hifi store customers should get a vacuum robot?).
Also, you do not even have to redesign your grills (that much). The plastic would have to be white or the 1721 metal painted white. If you would not use such a “big hole” grill one could use the white painted metal grill without fabric like the ones with the Nuberts. At least give your customers their own choice of what aesthetics they could like…
Hi Sebastian,
Of course, we sell speakers to our customers, but it also has to meet our criteria.
We will have a solution in the future and it will not just be a quick fix.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.