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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 1 response by mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,222 posts
 

A lot of lay intuition going on here.

Rubber has a lower internal impedance than say wood which is lower than concrete. The highest internal impedance I think is Diamond. 

Spikes do nothing but fix the speaker to the floor. This is only useful for subwoofers which can creep. If you use three spikes the speaker can not shake.

The issue is bass particularly with flexy floors and walls. If the floor's resonance frequency is within the range of the speaker it is going to vibrate every time that frequency is produced regardless of what you put the speaker on, even if you suspended the speaker in air. Put a test record on and play a 20 Hz tone at high volume and walk around the house. Everything that can vibrate at that frequency will sing. You will hear a symphony of rattles. Walk around the outside of the house and you will even hear the siding rattling. 

Anything that changes the speakers location in space can effect bass at the listening position and can change the speaker's sonic character. A little less mid bass can make a speaker sound more detailed as an example. Changes in location will also affect where all the early reflection points are within the room which again might change the speaker's character at the listening position. 

@ellajeanelle 

1+  You isolated your turntable from the resonance frequency of the surface you have the turntable on and also everything above the resonance frequency of your suspension. All turntables should be isolated this way. Ideally the resonance frequency of such a suspension should be 2-3 Hz which depends on the spring rate and the mass of the suspended Turntable. If a suspension device is not tuned to the weight of your turntable it may be worthless. 

Most of the stuff people put under audio equipment is purely for visual effect. If it looks cool it will sound better. Your ears and eyes are connected.  You certainly do not want to put a hot amp on carpet. 

Porcupine Tree (Steven Wilson's Band) has released a video of their performance of Closure/Continuation. There is also a CD of that performance. WOW!!! Gavin Harrison is a machine and IMHO the finest R+R drummer that ever lived. 

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