Spikes are promoted to drain energy by various manufacturers and vendors. If your speakers were utilized with the supplied spikes they were designed for, that is likely the best support for them. Any change of support will alter the sound for better or worse. BTW quit searching for the truth in audio, concentrate on the beauty.
I once tried a set of Audio Points in place of the stock spikes on my ESP's and found that the stock spikes were well chosen. Your results may turn out the same. |
I use, first, a two inch thick cutting board from Home Depot, which is spiked with carpet piercing spikes,
to a concrete floor, then, my speakers rest on a combination
of DH Labs ceramic cones, one large one in the front, and
one small one at each corner in the rear. I like the sound of ceramic. |
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Thanks Gentlemen,
I should have noted that my Rega R7’s are on a hardwood floor.
Rhljazz – You raise a point that I have pondered: wouldn’t the manufacturer provide a pretty good solution to begin with? They show their stuff without swapping out various parts at a most important time; the time when their trying to make a sale. However, I’ve seen so much put forth about “improvement to be had” by tweak manufacturers that I’m left exhausted but curious…
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I have used a variety of footers under speakers. The ones I got the best results from were Outriggers and the various Black Diamond Racing cones/pits.
Unfortunately, there is only so much that can be learned from reading about these kinds of products, since their effects on the sound are very system/room dependent. So, experimentation is the only real way to know. Good luck. |
I had cut 1" granite slabs for my floor standers over a hardwood floor..much better results than the mapleshade platforms which I then sold,much cheaper as well. |
Missioncoonery - Interesting...what did you have between the granite and speakers? Granite and floor?
Thanks,
Randy |
definitely very interesting Missioncoonery...anything other than what Mapleshade recommends is blashemy! And what if their name wasn't Mapleshade? Would they then be touting some other wood besides maple as the superior choice for racks, stands, etc?
I used to own some Mod Squad Tip Toes back in the day, pretty much the original pyramidal shaped spikes under speakers and gear...they were awesome. Then people said brass was the answer...now its other things...
I think the bottom line is not to get too crazy with this stuff, just enjoy the music. That's all that counts :) |
used Soler Points from member esoler on many speakers and speaker stands with terrific results. They "drain" energy very effectively. Expect to feel like the bass goes missing at first only to realize later that only "bloat" is missing while bass is now more tuneful. This helps the rest of the frequencies as well such as making the mid's more "there"...
Very affordable, excellent quality...
Cheers |
Om my hardwood floor, I use Herbie's Big Fat Dots under my speakers. |
A second for Herbie's products in general, and specifically his recommendations for speakers. I bought his Grounding Bases for my Meadowlarks before his current and improved series of speaker footers came out. I have a hardwood floor too, an old and very ripply one. The Grounding Bases do an audibly fine job and the new devices might even work better. Steve Herbelin offers a 90-day warranty on everything he sells. Just send the stuff back if it doesn't work. Herbie's speaker feet |
I use Home depot Back yard patio blocks 2" thick and 10" wide by 18" deep and the Spikes that came with my Revel F52's over a hard wood floor. I also tilted the block and I have the best sound I ever had with these speakers with this combination |
To spike or not to spike… that answer is going to be all your own.
A multitude of threads here have so many varied themes and practices there’s legitimately no one particular solution. No ‘one size fits all’ remedy.
The only general aspects to speaker integration I’ve found that continues to materialize regardless the brand or model is….
Spikes are better than no spikes.
Bigger spikes are better than little spikes.
With really thick carpeting, a platform between the carpet and the spikes works better than trying to get thru the thick carpeting…. Looks better too.
The type of platform (if one is used) does matter/alter the sound…. Somewhat.
Different woods have different audible characteristics…. Rosewood, zebrawood, Teak, Ebony, Mahogany, etc.
Once any of these are set beneath the spikes the tone can be changed or altered.
Hard = hard sounding
Sofft = softer sounding
Placing speakers on hollow wooden floors (upstairs etc) is tuffer a thing to do right, than those placed onto immediately and better supported likewise floors usually a plinth or platform will work best then.
What you need to do is just try different things. I tried as many inexpensive things as I possibly could. I’m satisfied for the moment with the sound I’m receiving.
Is there a better way still? Probably. It comes down to you though. Another thing to bare in mind is this… after trying out a good many methods and you still aren’t happy it might well be the speakers…. or you instead of how you are integrating them into the system… or a simple lack of synergy between the speakers and the balance of the audio outfit…. And/or their integration into the room itself.
Don’t go crazy here… but ya gotta see for yourself nearly explicitly here.
Good luck. |
I have used Herbies big fat dots between speaker and stand and Symposium Rollerblock juniors. Thev latter were slightly better but clearly more expensive.
If you are looking for heavy brass footers, I would look at EdenSound Bearpaws, much cheaper than Mapleshade and they can be made of different heights. I used them to rake back my Daedalus Da-R Ma speakers slightly, very succesful |
As stated, I had the Mapleshade platforms and brass with my Dynaudios.Didnt really care for it,sound was smeared and the added height threw everything off.I went to a company that cuts markers for grave yards and they cut me from scrap 2 24" square /1" thick pieces of granite(cost me under $75)..I use the spike that came with the speakers and small felt pads 1" squares under the granite to pretect the floors.The sounded stage improved,the bass became more defined.Plus I sold the maple which paid for a power cable. |
I recently installed Auralex SubDudes under my KEF Reference 104.2s to replace spiked hardwood planks, the spikes of which penetrated fairly thick carpet covering a second story floor. The bass seems tighter and extended a bit, and for some reason, the depth of sound stage is increased. The SubDude under the Velodyne HGS-15 is very effective in eliminating the boom and extending the bass, so I thought I'd give a pair a try under the mains even though they had no boom. I'm pleased with the result.
The SubDude under my sub is larger and industrial looking whereas the units under the mains are 15" square and covered with a black material so they look attractive.
db |
I recently went from four cones to three under my speaker bases. The bases have three threaded inserts in the back for this reason. I use rounded cones instead of spikes, both of which came with the speakers, because I have soft pine floors and the sharp spike would go right through the wood.
The three cones couple the base to the floor much more effectively by increasing the load on each point, but also because three support points are always self-leveling whereas four points could rock slightly. It is less stable with three than with four because the overall footprint or contact area is smaller, but that does not worry me because the speakers are very heavy. The result is that the bass became more focused and articulate. Extension also increased slightly. I found it to be a very worthwhile improvement which did not cost me anything. |
Feets alone might do a change, but did i understand this correct - i read draining also?
I use feets that are simply sounding like mixture of spikes and smooth damping.
Same company sell drain devices. They refer to these as "Vibb eaters".
When you use their feets + drain devices it simply drain chassis extremely much. No one doubts the audible benefit or that it works once they've heard it.
Simply lay the hand at the drain device, and you feel how aggressive it is activated.
If you buy and try Vibb eaters, please notice they are in different weights and for the optical option, they are in two versions.
Mice or Cone (works the same).
I think you can check this for your self.
Why not mail them.
Vibb eaters:
http://www.entreq.com/default.asp?PageId=1924
Feets (Cat feets):
http://www.entreq.com/default.asp?PageId=1923
I use jumbo sized cones (1 per speaker) and 4 Cat feets under one speaker. |
