At 50 years of age and my hearing compromised approximately 350 live shows under my belt(and countless hours in a loud John Deere tractor cab) I am certainly unable to detect any difference. I like the looks of the speakers with the grills off, but with 3 kids- grills are on for the foreseeable future.

M22's, VP150, QS4's, HK 630, HSU VTF3-MKII