Giya Grilles

[Vivid Audio]

Just so long as everyone is happy, we are happy!

We encourage keeping the grilles in place, only for driver protection and also because the grille is so integrated into the design aesthetic. Also the lack of "edging" on the grilles means that taking them off and replacing them must be done carefully... (I am still working on getting an edge onto the grilles, with no luck).

What I will do (when I have time), is post a "with and without" frequency response trace - not to tread on anyone's toes, but just for interest.

[BillK]

Thanks, I'd love to see that.

It seems to be more air in the high frequencies, but I don't think it's purely a HF boost without the grilles.

[Portugal]

Originally Posted by Vivid Audio

(...)
I am still working on getting an edge onto the grilles, with no luck
(...)

Regarding grilles development, I believe the priority should be the B1(K1) series.

As I used to own a pair of B1 before upgrading to G3 here go my suggestions regarding improving the B1 grilles:

1. The protecting grids connect with the speakers right above the tweeters — when in place there is a "iron spike" right above the magnetised tweeters. As the grids do not lock to the speakers (they stay in place just by friction) it's possible that they detach and fall and then the "iron spike" is immediately pulled by the magnets destroying the tweeters. Happened to me and both tweeters were severally damaged. Solution would be to introduce a locking system (or at least magnets) or to connect the grids to the side of the tweeters instead of above — so that gravity doesn't help the magnet to pull the spike into the tweeter.

2. It would be interesting to have the grids with a metal net instead of cloth. Not only it would contribute to a Vivid look and feel matching the G series but would also be safer. Kids can put the finger and push the flexible cloth into the tweeters.

The rest is (to me) perfect.

[ChrisG]

Originally Posted by Portugal

Regarding grilles development, I believe the priority should be the B1(K1) series.

As I used to own a pair of B1 before upgrading to G3 here go my suggestions regarding improving the B1 grilles:

1. The protecting grids connect with the speakers right above the tweeters — when in place there is a "iron spike" right above the magnetised tweeters. As the grids do not lock to the speakers (they stay in place just by friction) it's possible that they detach and fall and then the "iron spike" is immediately pulled by the magnets destroying the tweeters. Happened to me and both tweeters were severally damaged. Solution would be to introduce a locking system (or at least magnets) or to connect the grids to the side of the tweeters instead of above — so that gravity doesn't help the magnet to pull the spike into the tweeter.

2. It would be interesting to have the grids with a metal net instead of cloth. Not only it would contribute to a Vivid look and feel matching the G series but would also be safer. Kids can put the finger and push the flexible cloth into the tweeters.

The rest is (to me) perfect.

I agree regarding the B1 grilles...they get grabbed by the driver magnets way too easily. I have a dented tweeter and midrange driver on the same speaker and, while I know how one happened (curious 90 pound dog nosed the grill causing the top pin to work lose and BAM! it went right into the tweeter) I have no idea how the other one happened. but if the grilles connected more securely, it would prevent a lot of accidents. IMHO anyway!

[Vivid Audio]

So here is a quick frequency response measurement I took of a GIYA G3 with and without grilles. The graph not at all optimised, it is also not smoothed at all and uses a very short time window - the G3's response is much smoother and flatter than this (so don't worry)! The graph is also stretched to maximise the visible difference, I could easily have decreased the resolution to make the difference look like less but we're into reality (not marketing) here at Vivid Audio!

Anyway, it can be seen that there is less than half a decibel difference, limited to a band from 7.4 kHz to just over 10 kHz. This is acoustically inaudible to the human ear, (as I recall, the maximum resolving sensitivity of our ears is about 2dB).

For reference, a well designed cloth grille makes 3 to 5 dB difference, while the frame that supports a typical grille cloth makes even bigger difference. A badly designed grille frame can whack 10dB pits into the response curve!

Looking forward to your comments!

[BillK]

Damned if I do…

Last night I was listening to my G2s and somehow the grille somehow just fell off the left hand speaker. (I did notice the grille on the front of the right speaker almost "snaps" into place with the magnets inside, but the on the left feels more or less lightly held in place by the magnets on that side.)

I stared at it incredulous, went to pick it up off the floor and noticed on the way down it put a nice dent into the woofer's dust cap.

Ironic that the device meant to protect the cones is responsible for damaging them (or, a warning to go with the B-1 warning, above.)

BTW any idea why there's about a .25 dB increase in output at 500 Hz with the grilles on?

[Lee3]

Sorry to hear about that Bill; I have a similar phenomenon to yours in that one of my grilles snaps on tight and the other is not nearly as stable. I bought a very strong magnet that's about the size of a dime and sprayed it gloss black and attached it to the very top of grille where it rests at the top of the baffle maybe 4 inches above the tweeter and it has served me well.

I listen without the grilles too (save for the pair of bass drivers which are always covered) but with boys running around, I make sure to reattach them carefully every time. It's one of those things as I see the chart above suggesting I can't discern any difference but my ears and bias suggest otherwise.

[BillK]

Watch those grilles, folks:

[mgakathereaper]

To the topic of the grilles not fitting "snug". These grilles are very easy to "form". In my case I had the grilles off and placed them on the couch. I had a visitor not see one of them and sat on it... This obviously deformed the grille but I was easily able to reform it using the other one as a template. I had to do some minor adjustments to ensure the fit was "snug" but don't be afraid to shape the grilles if necessary for a tight fit. No tools required, just used my hands.

To Vivids response above, you need to be careful that the edges of the grilles are not at a severe angle and dig into the cabinet from repeated on/off. Again, some minor shaping and problem solved.

[BillK]

I swapped the two grilles and they fit exactly the same - really loose on the left speaker, snapped tight to the point you need two hands to remove it on the right.

Or, if I take one finger and place it on the grille above the tweeter, I can easily move the grille around on the left; on the right it doesn't budge even if I use two or three fingers.