Footers under new speakers
Hi , I’m seeking advice regarding footers and/or platforms under my speakers. I purchased Tekton Double Impact’s and have heavy shag carpet and padding over a cement slab floor. House is 35 years old, cement is thick and well cured. I’m from that old mindset of spikes into cement and I am looking for an improvement. I’ve looked online at Gaia footers and Herbie's Studded Giant Gliders. I emailed Herbie’s and specifically inquired about the studded gliders alone on the DI’s over carpet. I asked about stability and was told the speakers were “ heavy enough “. Unfortunately I just set up the DI’s temporarily to get a little break in time. They are without any footers upright on my carpet. At 115 lbs the speaker does about zero to compress the carpet. I understand weight Vs footprint is abysmal but they won’t even stand straight. I’ll probably put the spikes on for a bit until I formulate a plan. But my first concern is that Herbie’s gliders alone are not enough and due to the minimum cost of the speakers I am struggling with purchasing Gaia’s footers and footer spikes. The seismic stands look exceptional, but I’m trying to be frugal. So I’m looking for suggestions like, gliders or dots with or without spikes on wood / stone plinths spiked to the floor. My goal is to try some sort decoupling (Gliders / Springs / Dots) AND eliminate the need of having to rely on the carpet being compressed. And yes I have cheap speakers and seek a cheap solution, so I get that limitation. Unfortunately I can’t afford Tannoy’s or Fynes to compliment my 180 watt tube mono blocs for at least a year. Cheers , Mike B.
@buellrider97 DELIGHTED to hear this. I'm really impressed by your meticulous testing and by the customer service. Well done! I have tried the platforms with every speaker I've owned. When the weight was right, I even put bookshelves-on-stands on them (in addition to towers). It makes a difference every time. |
I saw you mentioned looking at room acoustics. I just completed a two week re-do of my treatments in my TN 2023 room trying to attack my response curve and flatten it. I made some interesting observations and am now making some further adjustments that go against the common recommendations. It is a balancing act between performance and trying to avoid a complete studio look, aesthetics-wise, and sound. Most folks would probably listen to my room and say it sounds great, and it does, but I want the response to be flatter because as an engineer I can't seem to put my pencil down. Room modes are very cumbersome to say the least. Safe biking! |
@buellrider97, congratulations on the Townshends. Something that may interest you are the very affordable Vibrapods at about $30 a set/4 I first tried some under my Oppo and the results surprised me which lead me to buying a Townshend Platform to replace the pods which improved the sound further. These are available in sizes from 1 - 5 to match the weight of the component. I now have No. 1s under my line stage and No. 2s under my Wadia, actually preferring them to Isoacoustics Oreas. |
