Usually found in front of many consumer and industrial loudspeakers, and consists of either a hard or soft screen/grille mounted directly over the face of the speaker driver. Its main purpose is to protect the driver element and speaker internals (and possibly other audio components) from foreign objects while still allowing the sound to clearly pass. However, because it sits in the direct path of the driver, the grille interacts with the sound produced. A suitable compromise between protection and sound quality must be made based on the speaker's application.