Supporting of speakers

[ursus262]

I have a pair of floorstanding Monitor Audio RS6s which are good, although I'm looking to upgrade in the near future.

These speakers stand on the soft rubber feet that were supplied with the speakers (as were spikes), on a suspended floor damped with thermal insulation underneath, with laminate flooring and no carpet.

I am not sure if I can improve in this arrangement or not as I have considered moving over to spikes on spike cups on the floor, either with or without some kind of stone slab or granite block.

What I seek is others' experiences of their changes in speaker siting on the floor, and how these changes let to improvements for the better or worse, and some advice as to how I should proceed.

Dave

[ursus262]

Anybody got any ideas?

[icehockeyboy]

All I can tell you is that my situation is similar to yours, and I have my speakers spiked, into spike shoes, onto granite plinths........in all honesty I am not sure if there is an improvement...........:scratch:


My selective reading powers amaze even me! I totally skipped the suspended floor bit.....cancel my reply!

[Macca]

Suspended floors can be a nightmare - I was very careful to buy a house with a concrete floor because I have had so many pain in the arse issues with floorboards in the past. I would definately try the concrete or granite slabs under the speakers and swap between the spikes and the rubber feet, it's all going to sound different it's just a case of finding which difference you prefer.

Last time I had suspended floors I used 2 inch thick concrete slabs under the speakers which solved the problem of vibrations through the floor but did 'harden up' the sound somewhat.

Just give thanks that you are not using a turntable :lol:

[YNWaN]

I wouldn't use slabs - I would just use the spikes, directly onto the floor (footers if you must, but better without) - make sure they are carefully adjusted so they all make equal contact and the speaker is as rigid as possible. You actually want the speaker vibration to pass into the floor, you certainly don't want it to hang around the speaker cabinet. Laminate floors are far from ideal though.

I have a granite slab underneath my sub-woofer; but it doesn't rest on the carpet, it sits onto the heads of three screws driven into the floorboards - the sub is spiked to the slab. It's there to increase clearance between the drive and the floor, and to give a hard surface for the driver to reflect from - neither of these are issues with normal speakers.

[ursus262]

Suspended floors can be a nightmare - I was very careful to buy a house with a concrete floor because I have had so many pain in the arse issues with floorboards in the past. I would definately try the concrete or granite slabs under the speakers and swap between the spikes and the rubber feet, it's all going to sound different it's just a case of finding which difference you prefer.

Last time I had suspended floors I used 2 inch thick concrete slabs under the speakers which solved the problem of vibrations through the floor but did 'harden up' the sound somewhat.

Just give thanks that you are not using a turntable :lol:

Thing is, I do use a turntable, a Thorens TD165 :)

Suspended floors can be a nightmare, but we live in an eco-house, and our gas bills are almost non-existent :eyebrows:

I quite fancy getting some chopping boards from Ikea. Any excuse for a plate of meatballs :lol:

[jostber]

Anyone tried something like these neoprene blocks?

http://dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/2570

[Wakefield Turntables]

Thing is, I do use a turntable, a Thorens TD165 :)

Suspended floors can be a nightmare, but we live in an eco-house, and our gas bills are almost non-existent :eyebrows:

I quite fancy getting some chopping boards from Ikea. Any excuse for a plate of meatballs :lol:

Have you considered what type of "sound" you want? Trying spikes, granite, concrete etc will have a profund effect on the resonance of the speaker cabinet (hopefully to eliminate this), but it will also influence what you hear. Just my 2pence worth. ;)

[jostber]

And these?

http://www.rsacoustics.co.uk/speaker.html

Getting my new floorstanding speakers next week, and with my wooden floor I am looking at some way to prevent much sound going down in the floor.

[Thing Fish]

Thing is, I do use a turntable, a Thorens TD165 :)

Suspended floors can be a nightmare, but we live in an eco-house, and our gas bills are almost non-existent :eyebrows:

You could always use a wall shelf for your turntable.

[jostber]

And these?

http://www.rsacoustics.co.uk/speaker.html

Getting my new floorstanding speakers next week, and with my wooden floor I am looking at some way to prevent much sound going down in the floor.

A friend might help me out here with some quality stone from his father-in-law's biz that can be fitted for the purpose. Would be great if it works out.

[bobbasrah]

Laminated flooring in HDF is a highly reflective surface acoustically, and low frequencies will pass right through most materials, HDF is no different.

If your objective is to get the speakers to perform at optimum -
Speaker drives are horizontally driven, and the resistance of the locked laminate matrix to horizontal movement is excellent if it has mass restraining it. Your equipment and furniture are that mass, and your speakers also have local mass, you just need to lock the speakers to the deck once you are decided on best position sonically.
Slabs are high mass with density - You can spike the speakers to slabs and blutak the slab to the laminate, but you now have an intermediate mass resistance mechanism in the slab etc. to rely on. Spikes are direct.

Damage caused by spikes are more often the underlying concern, as your room itself will transit more sound into the structure than spikes ever will.
I use spikes onto laminate (albeit over a concrete floor) and have no misgivings (30kg speakers on a 3kg sand damped plinth on spikes in my own case). Why put up with lesser sound for the sake of 8 small punch holes?
In terms of damage, long term, will the laminate be replaced or patch repaired by a new owner or you? Is it worth a spare pack of laminate now to possibly repair later?
That is a future problem - Fit the spikes.

If you are in a eco-house with suspended floors and insulation in the structure, you should get some dampening effect to sound inside your room.
Sonic transmission via speaker spikes IMHO most often turn out to be due to the resultant speaker's extended response within the room itself.

Next up you can look at killing reflections and reducing bass boom trying sleeping bags, spare duvets, rugs, wall rugs, etc. as absorbers in various positions, to see how altering the room acoustics can really let those speakers perform. You may find this to be a more stunning upgrade than new speakers for a pittance of the cost.

If spikes are a visual damage issue or WAF, wait until you start on that journey.....

[The Grand Wazoo]

May I refer the honourable gentleman to the reply I gave earlier?
Over 'ere son (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showpost.php?p=257444&postcount=3)

[jostber]

May I refer the honourable gentleman to the reply I gave earlier?
Over 'ere son (http://theartofsound.net/forum/showpost.php?p=257444&postcount=3)

These look interesting, thanks. :thumbsup:

[YNWaN]

I would rather the spikes coupled directly to the floor - but if you must have a footer, the above seems like a good solution.

[jostber]

Discussing spikes and cones:

http://www.audioholics.com/education/loudspeaker-basics/speaker-spikes-and-cones-2013-what2019s-the-point

[YNWaN]

Hmm...except the purpose of spikes isn't to isolate the speaker from the stand (or the stand from the floor), it's exactly the opposite.

[MCRU]

This will work I think, based on all the ones I have done for customers so far, slab of granite from sainsburys or whoever else has them on offer, it's a bread chopping board or worktop saver in essence, then depending on how big your speakers are 4 oak cone feet under the slabs and 4 under your speakers, the last one I did was for Kef reference floor standers on a suspended laminate floor, works a treat and does not cost the earth.

[YNWaN]

I would just use the spikes the speakers came supplied with - adjust them for equal contact.

[bobbasrah]

Almost any method of restraining the speaker cabinets from 2D horizontal movement will let the drivers work accurately.
Spikes or anything similar to provide a stable platform when adjusted and locked, creating a gap between cabinet and deck, will give some decoupling to allow the cabinets to behave(resonate) as designed. Cabinet resonance will inevitably pass through spikes or any other support, but consider the contact area, shaft diameter and the frequencies involved.... A sharpened bolt is not a great widewand transducer, and sonic effects to the structure are miniscule compared to room response.
I have blutak'd cabinets to laminated deck previously to try avoiding "damage", but with minimal decoupling the cabinet design response and room interaction was adversely affected. Re-installing spikes and adjusting to get the speakers vertical and at the correct angle with even spike contact resolved it. Nobody noticed the dents in the laminate afterward.
A slab under the spikes would work so long as the spikes are adjusted accordingly and the slab is stable. How the spikes behave on the slab surface is a question, but your slab is now an intermediate mechanism between cabinet and floor reliant purely on it's mass, sitting on laminate, a minor gap, then the floor itself.
Decoupling with a gap and stabiliising the cabinet is the goal. I can live with the spike indentations.

[jostber]

Anyone tried something like these?

http://aurios.net/products/pro-max-bearing