Sometimes more weight on the top is the right answer. Reduces back and forth rocking caused as a response to the woofer motion. 5-10 lbs on satellites can really tighten things up.
Effects of concrete as base for subs, speakers and potentially equipment
Hello,
I am looking for any advice and experience from those that have used concrete as stands, racks, isolation. I have a friend who makes functional art pieces from concrete, coloured and designed to your liking and I was thinking of having some pieces made up for my equipment. I currently have everything on wood, but would like something more pleasing on the eye. My room is well dampened with wood floors. I am after any experience that you might have experimenting with concrete.
subwoofer on concrete slab. Currently have a T9x with a downward throwing passive radiator on a suspended wooden floor. It needs removing from the floor and I was looking at concrete slabs.
speakers on concrete slabs. Zu union 6 supreme again on suspension floor. They have isolation feet but they could do with lifting higher. I am considering using concrete for this.
finally the equipment. Amp, dac, streamer. Currently on a cheap wooden cupboard with chopping boards underneath. Any experience of electronics on concrete.
Thanks @erik_squires i have loaded weight on top, but the hollow under the floor is pretty significant. I have it on a wooden platform now and that helped a lot. This is as much as playing with form as it is function. I won’t keep anything that makes it worse- I would however like to avoid any pitfalls. I don’t want to get anything made up for me that is immediately wasted. If it works I am considering some much larger blocks for the electronics. |
If your friend is good with shapes, insets, etc. you have a few interesting options:
Good luck - post some pictures. |
Concrete or any other material that resonates very little is a good choice. If you can tap on it and hear little in return, it's probably a good choice. Concrete is a great option, but as with anything, there are different grades/ mixtures. Higherfi Audio once has a pair of speakers that used the same sound dampening materials and technology used in nuclear submarines. I can't remember the brand, but it was a one of a kind that sold for upwards of 1 million dollars! Serious stuff there! |
@mpoll1 Wrote:
I chose concrete blocks and lead to raise and decouple the speakers from the wood floor. Concrete is a great energy sink and lead adds damping. I am very pleased with the results. Each speaker has four 35 pound solid concrete blocks and 30 pounds of lead. The speaker sits on a 170 pound energy sink. See my systems page left speaker. Wanted to hear how it sounds, before I did both. 😎 Mike See below JBL Project K2-S9500 speaker introduced in 1989 was design with a concrete energy sink for it's base. |
@OP If you have wooden floorboards, one problem with putting concrete slabs under speakers is that it can be difficult to get the slab to be stable. Personally, I favour making platforms of thick ply and screwing those into the floor. That provides a stable bass and stiffens the floor. Heavy masses under electronics can be hit and miss. Resonance control requires the mass to be damped. Mass by itself will resonate by at low frequency and will continue to ring if it is not damped. |
This is why i use some tuned mass damping with two sets of springs under and above differently compressed ...
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@mpoll1 Wrote:
The first block, on which I glued cork and felt to the bottom, sits on the oak hard wood floor. On top of that block sits 15 pounds of lead, then the second block sits on top of the lead. I then put Equipment Vibration Protectors in between the speaker and the top block to decouple the speaker from the blocks and floor. I used construction roll lead flashing 8’’ wide and weighs 60 pounds. The speakers rest on top of the Equipment Vibration Protectors with no fastener and are very stable (the speakers weigh 250 pounds). The blocks and lead were purchased at Lowe’s, see below: The Equipment Vibration Protectors were purchased from AV RoomService, LTD. See below: Mike
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Thanks Mike. @ditusa |
I limited my earlier response to your question about using custom concrete slabs and did not address the floor. The wider the slabs, the greater the improvement by spreading the load over a larger area, but @o_holter is correct that gains can be made by reinforcing a suspended wood floor from below. The easiest way to improve that situation would be to stiffen the floor by attaching a simple, adjustable jack-post column beneath the floor joist nearest to the two speaker locations and possibly also near your equipment rack, as @o_holter did near his turntable. However, not everybody has the ability to feasibly add support columns in their lower level, depending on the usage of the room below where your system is located. Some folks have reported an improvement by adding cross bracing between the floor joists in the vicinity of the speaker positions, with or without the support columns. If you do add cross bracing, be careful not to affect the integrity of the floor joists by cutting or drilling into them (consult a builder if you need advice). In general, structural members are stiffer near the ends where they are supported so the closer your speakers and electronics are positioned to a bearing wall, the less of an issue you should have. |
I am going to base this on our vibration control at my workplace. We measured vibration in all frequencies. You buy a speaker and put it on the floor. Doesn't matter if it's wood or concrete although wood can flex more. As the speaker plays it essentially bounces around throwing its sound waves out of phase. I think concrete is fine because of the mass ratio vs the speaker, but spikes into the concrete still allow the speaker to vibrate and move. Another piece of concrete on top of the floor then bounces. A floor that isn't level also causes phasing issues. Try a set of $30 springs first. Audiocrast and Nobsound make them, 4 per speaker. Herbies makes some special silicone also. Either of these examples dampen the items and greatly reduces movement. Springs are self leveling. My floor was not level. You can go on up the price scale real soon. If you try these low cost solutions first and decide if you want to buy something more pricy, or stick with them. |