Thank you all for your responses!
It would appear that the spikes are necessary. Once I have had time to really listen to my system and learn its sound, I may experiment with the speakers flat footed vs on some sort of footer to see if my ears can actually tell the difference.
I have decided that I should just put the original spikes back on - I may file the bent tips off first - and wait until I can do the above experiment. This will also give me some time to save my pennies so I can buy a better solution in the future if I decide to do so.
I am rather intrigued by the Herbie's Audio Threaded Stud Glider that they sell for speaker isolation feet. Supposedly nicely isolates the speakers from the floor and makes it very easy to move the speaker to get that 'perfect' spot without fighting with spikes dragging on the floor. Has anyone tried these out? If so, are they a good alternative to spikes? Here is a link:
http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm#stud The threaded stud glider feet are about halfway down that page.
@Mofimadness: My rack was actually made by Andy Misco in Utah, not by HRS. At the time he was calling his business HGH Stands - Handmade Granite and Hardwood is what "HGH" stood for. I don't think he is in business any more, at least his website no longer exists. Too bad; he was a very good craftsman, IMHO, and I really like my equipment rack - bird's eye maple, curly bubinga and emerald pearl granite for the shelves - yummy! lol
Back on topic: I did get the broken footer on my rack replaced; a bit of a struggle to remove the equipment (that Teres turntable is HEAVY, and so is the Carissa Signature amp!!) and then the heavy granite slabs so I could tip the rack over to work on it, but relatively easy to get the broken stud out and screw in a new footer spike. I still couldn't get the rack perfectly level - my house's floors are just too crooked! - but it is much, much better. It took me two days but I finally got the top shelf level, too, and the turntable as well.
I tried Sistrum speaker stands shortly after I got the Abbys, actually got a whole Sistrum system with the rack and the stands. This was back in 2005 or 2006 so probably some of their original offerings. My HHG stand replaced the equipment rack and the first time one of the speakers tipped over and hit the screen of my flatscreen TV, the speaker stands went away, too. The Abbys just weren't 'happy' balancing on three points I guess, or my wood floors are too unstable - someone walked across the floor and the vibration caused the speaker to tip over. I bet you could imagine the horrified expression on my face when the speaker began to tilt. I envisioned it wiping out my whole audio system and destroying itself as well, but it only scratched the screen and no harm was done to the speaker itself.
Sorry about the babbling post. Maybe I have had too much coffee today!
Holly
