Speaker Spikes - Working Principle


Vibration damping obvious makes sense (in speakers just as well as in cars). 

That involves 'killing' (converting into heat, through typically internal friction) kinetic energy. So any sort of elastic material (rubber has lots of internal friction) makes sense. 

And then there are spikes. Using a pointy hard object and pair it with a softer, elastic material (to deform, and kill kinetic energy) can work; think metal sharp spike into carpet or wood floor. 

But what is the idea behind pairing fairly unelastic metal (brass for example) with similarly unelastic (brass, stone, etc) material (example photo provided)? Only thing I can come up with: LOOKS good and makes owner feel good  thinking its an improvement (works only for Audiophiles though),

Even more curious: are they ENGINEERED "spikes" (vibration dampers or shock absorbers) for speakers that are TUNED for the frequency (and mass)  that needs to be dampened? Can piston style fluid dampers be designed for the high frequencies (100, 1000, 10000 Hz) using geometry, nozzles size and viscosity of the fluid?

 

kraftwerkturbo

Showing 3 responses by curiousjim

And don’t forget how cheap spikes are to make. I replaced mine with the Isoacoustics Gaia 1’s and there was a large and immediate change. The current price is $500 for a set, a heck of a lot more than a set of spikes!

@whipsaw 

I totally removed the spikes and only use the Gaia’s. To me, not only were the speakers not raised as high, but the soundstage really came together noticeably more. Oh and I purchased some 1 1/2” granite pieces to sit under both speakers.

All the best.

@whipsaw 

Isoacoustics includes the threaded rods for a lot of speakers (not KEF, but they were quick to send me the correct ones). And you would be correct.  I have hardwood floors with wall to wall carpet on top, so if I uses the Gaia’s, I’d need to use their spiky things underneath and they would poke through the carpet and muck up the hardwood floor.  So the granite pieces took care of everything.