Is Spiking Necesarry?

I've been advised bass *always* sounds tighter and better defined when the speaker is on spikes, and there are two reasons for this.

1) Allowing some airflow under the bass of the speaker reduces floor coupling significantly, floor coupling adds bass (boundary effect) muddying the sound;

2) The pounds-per-square-inch for floor contact is like 1000 times higher with the spikes, giving much better coupling to the floor and preventing micro-motions of the entire speaker with bass energy, which causes IM distortion from the rest of the speaker;

All subtle, but, supposedly, instantly audible.

Also, speakers tend to look "kewler" with the spikes on :)

@hifiman5

In answer to your question, and to be honest, I never heard/read of Herbie’s gliders. So I cannot say for certain that in my own experience spiking directly to the floor would be favorable to the gliders. At face value, the gliders do seem like a viable option/improvement over directly spiking to the floor. That said, I still believe and can say with personal experience that spikes through carpet onto wooden floor are preferable to rubberized feet and the majority of the speaker base being in contact directly with and only with the carpet.

I did not read on their website http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm whether or not "gliders" is indicative of the fact that one can freely and easily move the speaker. Question to you... in your experience can spiked speakers on gliders be easily moved? (i.e. the gliders easily move along carpet with the speaker spiked to them)

@hifiman5 

Thanks. I'll give the gliders some consideration after I get my speakers set up in a week or so. I'm getting the Triton Reference and I will be spiking them to the floor (through carpet onto wood). Another concern I have with the gliders is that I imagine they raise the height of the speaker at least a half inch, maybe more. Not that a half inch is ultra critical, but many speaker manufacturers situate the tweeter at 41 inches (or thereabouts) because that is the typical ear level height in the seated PLP. Also, in my case I have some acoustic panels that were also placed with the height of the tweeter in mind. Still, the gliders do seem worthwhile and are not expensive (as audio gear goes) either.  

@prof 

That is good to read, thank you. I am considering the Herbie's.

Playing devils advocate for a moment, to your point "they make moving the speakers a breeze", I can imagine a potential down side of that. Specifically, when playing "loud", the vibration of the speaker itself could cause it to move, albeit very slightly. This is one point about using spikes. Namely, through carpet and onto hard wood they secure the speaker in place.

@hifiman5 

Thanks for the follow up. Both placement and my overall assessment have worked out extremely well.

http://halr.x10.mx/TritonReference.htm

As it turns out I'm not in any immediate need for the Herbie's Gliders. However, this is still on the radar and I have made more than one (positive/recommendation) reference to it on the Golden Ear forum to some other members that are in need of this type of footing.

@hifiman5 

Thank you.

I stopped using speaker spikes years ago when I found that simple and inexpensive Vibrapods.....

I would consider Vibrapods "spikes", albeit loosely defined. They appear similar to the Herbies Gliders.

Put your hand on the floor (suspended, not slab) next to spiked speakers paying dynamic music with plenty of bass content and you can feel the vibration on the floor…do the same with Vibrapods (or other things that turn vibes into heat…like my cousin Shirley) and you should ( or will) feel zero vibration from the speakers. That’s the difference.

Right. I get it. And true in your case if this is your experience. However, I'm not convinced (granted I haven't tried) that would necessarily be the case with my speakers on carpeted wood flooring, and more importantly whether or not it *should* be the case. I think what you're referring to would be a complete "decoupling" from the room, and I'm not sure speakers that are producing low bass should necessarily be completely decoupled. But I'll conceded that "pointed spikes" in the traditional sense (like still points) may be less desirable than the Vibrapods in certain applications.

My problem with spikes and footers is that every time I've ever raised my speakers using them - and that includes several different speakers - I've found a change for the worse.

And this is why the most appropriate answer to the thread title, with the assumption "necessary" implies improved sound quality, is "it depends".