Speaker shock absorbers


From time to time people have posted different methods for mechanically decoupling their speakers from the floor to reduce vibration. Some of these have involved using a ply system of rubber strips and wood strips, which seems reasonable to me. I have looked for suitable sized sections of rubber or even for large sheets to cut up but have been unsuccessful. To those who have used that method -where did you find the material and what thickness of rubber and wood did you use for each layer - finally how many layers did you end up using?
musicnoise

Showing 6 responses by kijanki

Musicnoise - I use Vibrapods. I placed one under each corner. They cost $5 a piece in weight ranges 1-5. I have 5s at the front (heavier) and 4s under back corners. It was one of the best things I bought. Bass became short well control and very even - proper word would be "musical". The only disadvantage is that speakers are not standing as rigidly as before - wobble a little when I push them. It might be a concern with small children running.
Musicnoise - hockeypucks might be to hard. Vibrapods are constructed of special rubber specially for that purpose. My speakers are also around 90 lbs and very rigid - (a lot of cross boards inside) but floor is not (basement). Originally I had spikes. Idea of the spike is that infinitely small point cannot transfer energy. In practice it does but shifts resonance frequency up. Regular rubber bounces and felt compresses. Rubber and construction of vibrapods create big losses (no energy transfer). Similar rubber is used in pro computers to isolate drive cage from the rest of the computer. The best is to use softer vibrapods and more of them but it costs.
Trondf - Have you tried Vibrapods. It is pretty much the same idea (lossy viscoelstic rubber) and very smart design. I have one of them under each corner of my speakers. Compare to spikes sound is cleaner, bass is faster and more even/musical.
Vibrapods are perhaps not as good as Equarack speaker mounts but my total bill was about $50 while Equaracks would cost me over $1400.
Trondf - It sounds better than spikes by cutting off resonanses of the floor (basement underneath). The question is how much better it could sound with Equaracks. My modest speakers are around 90lbs each and Equarack footers for this range are $160 each + $18 for bag of 10 rubber pellets (from their web page). Total amount for whole set is pretty much what I paid for the speakers. Vibrapods have poor stability - speakers are straight but wobble a little when pushed. If Equarcks are more stable I might invest one day in them, when I get better speakers. What I like about them is ability to adjust load by inserting different amount of pellets - Vibrapods have to be ordered in different load ranges.
Kenk168 - Thank you. I read it as a weight of the speaker and not the load on each footer. $640 sounds much better.

Trondf - how stable are the speakers (how much rubber gives). Vibrapods are designed as pads of special lossy rubber without hard limit. Equaracks seems to have hard limit created by metal parts. Am I right?
Ssglx - I use 5s under front and 4s under rear. I remember from their website that it's better to use few of the low number instead of one of the higher number. I consider putting speakers back on the spikes on oversized granite slab/tile and a lot of #1 vibrapods between tile and the floor. Equaracks might provide better stability and better damping characteristic. I don't mind spending more on non-perishable items like cables or footers.