Don't make your wife unhappy! I have high quality wood floors and I use hockey pucks. Helps with a little bit of isolation from vibes traveling in either direction and are stable and cheap. Caveat, I don't think spikes really add much to sonic's except to stabilize the speaker on carpet covered floors. I don't subscribe to the theories about the cones either providing isolation or benefits by allowing vibrations to drain thru them to be dissipated by a wood floor underneath them. FWIW. |
There are many discs designed to go under the spikes. I would consider a wool area rug under the equipment stand and speakers. When I took my carpet out I got one from Costco to put under them. Also one from RUGMAN that I put in the center of the room, it is quite good looking and helps the acoustics. |
You can get various types of disks to put them on. I have some Clearaudio ones under mine, and Atlantis makes some nice ones as well. |
Either take out the spike, or use one of those cones. It's the same thing, in my opinion. You end up with the same surface area contact with the floor. Spikes don't isolate the speaker stand, they couple it to the floor, so that speaker vibrations run out into the room, or let room vibrations go up into the speaker stands, technically. I don't know if that makes it sound better or worse!
There's no such thing as a one-way out for vibrations, because if you remember, for every action, there's a reaction.
I like Stanwal's carpet suggestion |
Yes, lots of options...I went with Herbie's under my floorspikes, sounds fine, and they're cheap.
Some people also go to the rounded- nut type of stand spike, sorry, forgot what they're called.
You shouldn't have any problem coming up with something. |
Replace the spikes with a carrage bolt, then add some felt pads to the bolt head. That is what I did with my vandersteen stands on a hardwood floor.
An area rug can help with any unwanted reflections.
Paul |
Follow this link to what could work for you:
http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/spkrfeet.htm#cone |
Yes, carriage bolts, that's it.
Also, if you like one of the Herbie solutions, there is one that allows you to slide your speakers if need be. I bought the wafers that go under my brass pucks and they stick like glue to the floor once the stands/speakers are on them, they do not budge...if you go that route make sure you know where you want your speakers. |
When I removed the carpet from my listening room a few years ago I used the carriage bolts with pads as P_Nelson suggests. Inexpensive and effective. |
http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/ma10.htm
Try these, I too have wooden floors and these great.
Jonathan. |
I use pennies under the spikes to protect my wood floor, as suggested by George Short of North Creek, the designer/manufacturer of my speakers. 8 cents, out the door. John |
I got a chuckle out of this one! |
I use brass discs intended for use with spikes. They have an indentation in the center that the spike sits in, and allows you to slide it a little if you need to toe the speakers in or out. The discs are about the diameter of a quarter. They haven't scratched my flooring (hardwoods). |
Audio Advisor sells 4 brass discs for $30.00/set. You will need 2 sets. |
On my speaker stands with spikes I use 1/8" thick felt disks under the spikes. Works well and my hardwoods love me for it. I have oak floors so they are pretty soft. |
I used pennies, then quaters.
When you move around your speakers to repostion, pennies or even quaters may not stick with the spikes, may end up scratching the hardwood floor.
Now I use speaker isolation cones. They are more expensive ($10~20), but they worth every quaters.
I am more interested in how people treat their hardwood floor surround the audio systems. Many times I see rugs (or some sort of office carpets) underneath the whole audio systems or inbetween the listening position and the speakers.
Would it be a good practice to put such rugs to dampen (or prevent reflection?) the sound from the speakers? |
I purchased Sonus Faber stones for use under my speakers ... a large, thick and heavy faux stone block. speakers rest atop the stones on their spikes and it works GREAT
the stones are $$$ at $500/pr but do occassionally show up used |
I use a 8x11 Persian rug on a pad and placed in the listening 'triangle'. The speakers are on the hardwood floor just off the carpet. It does damp floor reflections. Now if I could just put one of the ceiling. :-)
BTW folks, re using coins - this metal is soft and if you use pointed cones they can penetrate/dent the coins and you can still damage a floor if your speaker is heavy. Be careful! |
Use Herbies Decoupler disks under the spikes. Read the reviews. |
I used to use spikes. I think cups under them have little impact. I think now, however, that StillPoints component stands greatly outperform them, but they are expensive. You might get by with just 3 individual StillPoints per speaker, but I have not tried that. |
To couple, or not to couple. If of the 'not to couple' school purchase some half inch granite to put the spikes on. Of course they will need WAF. Granite goes for about $40 per sq. foot these days. |
You will usually suffer less damage if you stick spikes in the floor, not the wife. |
http://www.taylorsales.com/SuperSpikes.htm
I've used these previously, and they worked great. |
I use Lovan footers. They are thinner than many, but are made of hardened steel so seem to hold up fine. I put thin felt under them so I can move the speakers easily. Unfortuntely, they come in a pack of 6 (there stands are often 3 legged), but some places sell them individually.
http://www.lovanusa.com/product_info.php?cPath=26_28&products_id=29&osCsid=a533920c4c854e51cdc5abd861342f0e |
