I recently acquired a nice older hifi system with Aerial Acoustics 7B tower speakers.I am not an audiophile. The speakers have heavy iron bases on them but there are no feet of any sort on these bases. I emailed the owner/designer at Aerial and he sent me a schematic of the bases which show that they originally had spike feet. He said he could provide the spikes at minimal cost. I was afraid to ask what minimal meant since I seem to remember that these bases cost $400 when new. (I'm still getting accustomed to what things cost in the audiophile world.)
I am wondering if I really need the spikes. These speakers sit on a carpeted floor with hardwood on typical joist construction floor. They sound quite good to me but if spikes would help in any way and I can get them cheap then I will do so.
I'll ask Aerial how much theirs cost but I'm pretty sure that stainless steel tripod (for photography) spikes will fit the 3/8-16 threads in these bases. The cost would be about $40 for those. Maybe the actual Aerial ones wouldn't cost any more but they are longer and look very sharp which makes me wonder about floor/carpet damage since these speakers weigh around 110 pounds each.
It all came to me by chance. Was not an audiophile before now. Still have a long way to go but fortunately have no desire whatsoever to pursue any sort of serious upgrades. No need for me to get on that treadmill.
I made the spikes because 1) I could and 2) it was cheap and 3) the speakers had them originally (lost in a move at some point presumably).
I might sharpen them up a bit though. One of them is quite firmly planted but the other slightly less so. Again, I'm not expecting to hear a difference. Just seeking to maximize whatever easy things I can.
geoffkait, I wasn't sure for a fact that they are rubber but they look and feel like firm black rubber. So I looked back at the schematic Micheal Kelly sent me and it does say rubber there.
jeff, I honestly can't say I noticed a big difference.
Right now, making this sort of subjective assessment is very hard. I'm one who agrees that a lot of things affect my ability to judge music quality from what mood I happen to be in to which model of leaf blower my neighbor is running outside my window. I also think it is very easy to internalize what I hear from others ("it will sound better with spikes") and to yield to my expectation of improved quality based on having taken the time to make these i.e. I've gone to the trouble to make them, surely it must sound better. And then I fight these expectations trying to be objective....and the end result is that I don't know.
I'm listening right now and they sound marvelous. Better than before? Probably. A revelation? No.
As for the OEM bases, they are rectangular channel steel, 4 pieces welded together and there is clearly something in them because they are heavy. I know they are OEM because Aerial sent me a schematic.
I am no machinist. You can tell that by looking closely at the picture I posted of them. I have a grinding wheel, a drill press and an angle grinder. All of them old. And no training. Any pretense at craftsmanship in my posts above was purely for humor.
Obviously, if you look hard enough you can find somebody somewhere who doesn’t follow the pattern. Somebody who like rubber, somebody who likes Sorbothane, somebody who likes lead. These things happen. He’s an outlier. Isolation is important and effective even for cement slabs since the entire building is moving.
"Isolating the speakers with springs, making them less rigid, sounds better"
In my experience, that depends on the specific conditions. That approach worked well for me when I had the speakers on a suspending hardwood flooring, e.g., second floor, above basement, etc. Direct/solid coupling worked better when I had the same speakers on hardwood floor on concrete slab or on tiles on concrete. I also think the results could vary depending on the speaker design and the location of the woofer and its relative proximity to the floor, assuming a floor standing speaker.
Throbbing Gristle (TG) Audio pretty much nailed down, to use an expression, the tempered steel spikes territory with Pointy Things 25 years ago. IMHO the best solution to the whole vibration issue is a combo of mass on spring isolation and spikes or cones and damping of the top plate. Everything is relative and it’s difficult to determine if you have achieved a maximum or only a local maximum. 😛
Sweet spikes & handy work!!! Grade 8....You could support a dump truck with them
One comment;
You need a narrower spike profile to pierce carpet.( mine were 1/2-13 with a machined profile that was 3/16 dia with a long and thin spike ) I had to rock the speakers around to get them “ mated” to the wood( pierce carpet) They felt like they still floated on carpet
This stand has rubber(?) cones that compress between the stand and the speaker. These were OEM from Aerial Acoustics.
The stainless I used is from a grade 8 bolt which in the world of steel is fairly soft but still way harder than aluminum, etc. And probably harder than the bargain spikes you can buy online. Plus these were heated and quenched a number of times.
The shape of these was derived at by how easy I could shape them on a grinder and to some extent how well they would penetrate the short pile of my carpet but not too much into the wood below.
They sound phenomenal. You should hear them. Everyone should make their own.
I certainly don’t wish to muddy the waters but I have addressed the issue of materials for audio cones and feet elsewhere but it might be worth repeating. For audio cones, the way the rating of materials vs sound quality works is the HARDER the material the faster energy exits the system. Thus, NASA grade ceramic that’s almost as hard as diamond heads the list. Heat tempered and cryod high carbon steel next. Ordinary steel next. Then come aluminum, brass and carbon fiber which are way on down the Moh scale of hardness. The differences in the sound of these materials should be easy to hear on any reasonably good system. The shape of the cone is also important but not as much as the material. Iso stands are also subject to the differences in cone material, and cones should be placed under the component and under the stand, to avoid storing energy in the system.
Sort of. I made them out of grade 8 bolts. It is a triple allow stainless steel and it is very strong.
Each one was hand made and shaped precisely as I wanted it to be.....so I'm sticking with "specifically tuned". It just rings true in the audiophile world. I might even be willing to sell and market them.
"Barron* Spikes. Hand crafted in triple alloy stainless steel by a reclusive audiophile in his basement workshop, carefully tuned to match the weight, shape and model of your speakers as well as the type and pile of your carpet or species and finish of your wood floors. Call for pricing and to get your name on the wait list. Cash only. Please allow 6-12 months for delivery."
Done. Total cost $8.00 plus 1 hour of work in the shop. There is a picture below. I could feel when they ’popped’ through the carpet mat into the hardwood.
Special triple alloy composition. Extremely high tensile strength. Precisely tuned for this specific set of speakers, the carpet they rest on and the hardwood underneath. ;-o
Do the speakers sound better? I don’t know. Certainly nothing major. Maybe a little sharper and tighter at lower volume? I don’t know. But, for $8.00 they're up off the carpet.
deecee is correct. You would definitely notice the difference between ordinary spikes and these brass ones from Starsound, but of bourse, there is a considerable price difference.
WTF HAPPENED. I just spent 30 minutes writting a post and it vanished before I was done. I'll make this fast. Bought a pair of Bryston A2's. Have them in my basement cave and kept the rubber feet on. I just put the spikes that came with them and WOW, a huge improvement. I have an indoor/outdoor carpeting over concrete, what a change in sound. I have learned so much from you all in the last year. My first system was purchased in 1974. Bought a pair of Infinity Kappa 8's 20 years ago. Recently took my 1974 Thorens TD 160 in for a $300.00 facelift. Salvaged about 75 of my 300 albums. Had a Adcom 555 II amp I had to buy to replace my old Pioneer 939 for more power. Since then replaced that along with my preamp, 25 year old Technics CD player. Bought a Isotek to fix the lousy electrical service here in Wisconsin. New $100.00 power cords and don't laugh, when I hooked up the new speakers I realized that I followed the instructions in the Infinity Manuel and used electrical lamp cord. As I'm financially handicapped I believe I have one great system. The new speaker Audioquest wire even has an arrow to indicate the flow of direction. Thank you all again, and please don't look down on me as not being in the same class. My circle of friends say the new system sounds great but what do they know as sound from a sea shell is good enough for them. And I would like to thank the member from Milwaukee that was helping me out months ago but when I took him up on his offer to come listen to his $50,000 system I never heard back. I understand, you don't know me, why invite a stranger into your house and risk a low life ripping you off. Thanks again you all. We all had to start somewhere, my start was in the 60's with a 3" square battery powered A M radio. I believe FM was just a dream. A shout out to WZMF radio here in Milwaukee, they were one of the first FM stations and broadcasted from a house in Menomonie Falls and played so much of the overseas Prog before it was even called that.
I just received some Revel Studio2's and I am in midst of fiddling, and read your question on spikes........
Mine speakers are sitting on carpet( floor above basement) with the polymer footers. I think spiking is a bunch of " hooey", And according to others ( it should)- thin the bass a bit and tightens the base resolution
I just spiked the feet....... Holy cow, bass tightened and the emotive force really went up, it's like adding more bass drivers And the bass was good to start with
I would have never expected
Why? maybe it's like hitting a squishy pillow vs hitting a solid wall
..an interesting observation.....all cones sound different. I have aluminum, steel, hard plastic, hard rubber, copper, wood ......the best were brass, but even different brass ones sounded different.
Thanks guys. I'll wait to hear from the guy at Aerial but if his are pricey you've given me a number of good alternatives. I've probably got enough grade 8 stainless bolts in my parts bin to make a set of these on the grinder....which appeals to the tight wad in me.
The link that was sent to you for the Parts Express speaker toe spikes is your best bet for the money. Be SURE to order what they have listed as 1/2" Toe Spikes, for they are actually 3/8" 16 thread spikes, just like you are looking for. The ones they have listed as 3/8" toe spikes are NOT actually 3/8" in diameter, they are about 1/4". I know this because I just purchased some from them for my speaker stands, which needed 3/8" 16 thread...The 1/2" ones they sell fit perfectly!
addison.....I suppose it would depend on the speaker weight.....It took about 10 seconds for my Vandersteens to pierce the coins.....got brass protectors that work well.
milpai, the $400 was for the whole stand assembly. And I think it was for both stands, not sure. But, I've only been on these forums for a week or two and I'm sure if there are $400 speaker spikes out there they would surely make a system sound way better than $40 spikes.
OP, I know you are looking for cheaper options. But if the original owner is offering you the original spikes for $400, ignore it and go for GAIA feet instead.
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