Should I use Audiopoints under Aerial 10T spikes on hardwood floor?

Thanks, all, for having brought your skills and experience to my question. This is my first time engaging with sophisticated audiophiles, and to this layman, at least, your breadth of knowledge is extraordinary.  :)

My speakers sit on carpet over concrete.  I'm using the spikes provided by Von Schweikert and I bought some two-piece "discs" that are machined to have small carbon ball bearings between the discs (reducing the contact area).  The spikes sit on these. It's very stable.  I've found that a relatively heavy speaker will poke through the carpet and even the concrete.  The spikes are adjustable so the speakers can be leveled. 

One of resellers of my speakers was really pushing some expensive footers that were $5k for the set.  No way am I spending that kind of money on footers.  Supposedly, they affect the resonance of the speaker cabinet, or some such thing.  I don't think my speaker cabinets are prone to resonating, so it sounds like bs to me.  Maybe not....

I've had speakers on wood floors and they definitely needed to be decoupled from the floor.  I don't see the need when sitting on a slab on grade. My listening room is in a basement.

Not sure how the whole spike thing got started and why people like them. When using four, no matter what I did to create even support would eventually end up with a rocking motion where one spike would no longer be in contact with the floor to the same degree as the others. Using three is a solution but IMO does not result in as stable a platform, if there is any risk the speaker may be bumped. I believe McCormack was an early proponent with his tiptoes and then of course Audiopoints became hugely popular, and Mapleshade or edenSound brass footers, followed by a whole bevy of spikes and cones. However, none of those serve to isolate vibrations, even on concrete slab floors.

Vibrations are most typically isolated by some sort of spring and damping mechanism tuned to a specific weight range. Think about the springs and shock absorbers in your car’s suspension, or similar types of isolators used for machines, or even buildings.

Vibration isolation can often be modeled as springs and dashpots sort of like the closers on old-time screen door. The company I worked for once designed vibration isolation for an elevated seating section of an historic theatre that had begun hosting rock and gospel concerts where people would jump and stomp in unison causing potential structural damage. The solution used springs and dashpots.

Air bladders can also work well but have generally been problematic in operation - they always seem to leak. You could also look at EVPs by A/V RoomService Ltd. which seem to have a strong following. The primary isolation appears to come from an "air spring" resulting from Owens Corning 703 or 705 one-inch thick rigid fiberglass board, which is then faced with #4 brushed Stainless Steel sheet and either felt or rubber.

I certainly understand how Townshend’s spring solutions gain so many positive reviews. You can do basically the same thing using individual springs with damping, and particularly in my case where I already have Sound Anchors stands that provide a solid base extending beyond the dimensions of my speakers. Another lower cost alternative that many like is the Nobsound spring footers, or similar, which adjust to the weight of the speaker, although those do not appear to provide damping.

I believe Gaia uses an elastomeric material to dampen vibrations inside of their footers and a mechanical orientation to limit movement in certain directions. They have some interesting information posted on their website. Elastomers are sort of like damped springs in that they are inherently damped by the material itself and the spring constant is related to the durometer value, or hardness. Not all elastomers seem to work as effectively for things like speaker isolation. For example, most do not support the use of rubber, but platinum silicone and sorbothane both seem to be commonly accepted. Herbie’s Audio Lab offers a couple of different proprietary materials for their footer solutions. I switched from spikes, to Audiopoints, to Herbie’s products, to springs, and then to platinum silicone hemispheres (linked in my earlier post), which are able to economically achieve a damped spring type support that is suitable for a wide range of speaker weights.

Use what works for you and your budget, but the measurements seem to show the appropriate lossy solutions (i.e., springs and/or elastomers) being superior to spikes/cones, like these from Credo Audio.

Gaia or Townshend will surpass the performance of spikes alone and negate need for disc protectors.  I started with Gaia, ended with Townshend.  Gaia very good, Townshend gooder.  ATC 50 active.

Have fun!

In my opinion, the main reason for using spikes on any floor is to stop the speaker cabinet moving back when a dynamic driver moves forward, and vice versa.  It is Isaac Newton's law of action and reaction.  For this reason, IsoAcoustics makes isolation devices specifically for speakers.  These are more rigid in the fore-and-aft direction than sideways, when compared with the pucks they make for other components.  I mention this as a design philosophy, not a specific recommendation.

With big speakers like yours, any solid metal disk under a spike will be very effectively clamped by gravity!  Another of Newton's Laws ....

Nice speakers! I users to own them years ago & the they like & need lots of power especially in a big room if you play them loudly which they are very capable of doing. 
 

I don’t see many folks here mentioning this & I'm sure many won’t agree but whether you want to try to couple to or decouple your speakers from the floor really depends on the construction of the floor..If you have a very solid floor system like concrete slab on grade w/ ceramic tile or a very well made, very solid floor joist system ( unusual) , then coupling the speakers firmly w/ good quality spikes makes sense. If you have a more typical suspended floor w/ joists, plywood subfloor & wood or vinyl flooring on top ( over a basement or in the 2nd floor), then decoupling probably makes more sense to keep the floor from becoming one big resonating system which will likely muddy the bass & cause loss of detail, dynamics etc. 

I owned the 10T's a few years back. Great speaker! I had the Sound Anchors stands specifically made for Aerial 10T, with their spikes and Cone Coasters. Highly recommended.

• Townshend platforms (if you want to spend the money)
• Individual springs sized for the weight and damped with foam inside or thin heat shrink loosely applied outside
• Platinum Silicone footers by Hudson HiFi or Sound Addicted
• Sound Anchors stands specifically made for Aerial 10T, with their spikes and Cone Coasters

Most speakers come with factory spikes and metal disks to put under them if you have wood floors. I have never actually used the disks, but I would not think there will be a really small difference. If you want the most performance consider Townshend seismic platforms… these will have a major impact… far beyond spikes and protect your floor.