speaker stands on wood floors


I'm looking for advice on coupling (or would it be isolating) my speaker stands to the floor. I have a hard wood floor and want to avoid spiking the wood directly (but as a last resort, I'll do it anyway). I was thinking I'd use the spikes, but place those round metal disks below them. I read about some disks that were lead in the middle, encased in an outer brass ring, but those were too expensive. I want to do this for about $60. I would need 12 devices since this situation also applies to my component rack. That's about $5 per device. I already have the spikes for the speaker stands and the rack. I'm new to this level of tweakiness, so I'm not familiar with the brand names of the discs or their cost. And any other suggested techniques for the speaker stand coupling would be welcomed.

Thanks
Don
hessong
Hi Don:

I have a pair of Kef Q5 floorstanders that stand on threaded spikes. Our living room, which is where the stereo is located, has a laminate floor, essentially HDF with a layer of vinyl/laminate made to look fake hardwood.

Anyway, I had also been wondering about how best to resolve the spikes issue, since they had sunk a bit into the laminate. I purchased "IXOS 304 layer discs" and, while not dramatic, I did detect an improvement in the overall quality of the sound coming from the speakers, a little more focus, detail and clarity. Also, no more damage to the floor.

IXOS is a British manufacturer of audio cables and accessories (including discs and spikes). I bought the discs from an on-line shop with a warehouse in England: www.hificables.co.uk. The price for a set of 8 discs came out to about $30 US. They were shipped quickly and were well packed.

Something that is not obvious from the pictures on the web site is that the discs have a thin layer of polyfoam on the bottom that has a coat of adhesive that can be exposed by removing the covering layer of wax paper. I did not do this since I like to be able to slide the speakers around a little.

Good luck.

Max
Don, I posted a similar question recently. Warren and several others gave me the same advice -- try Audiopoints' coupling discs. I ordered a set and they arrived this week. I put them in place and noticed a definite improvement. I asked my wife to listen and she noticed the same thing -- clearer highs and mids, less muddiness in the sound. They're worth a try. Thanks to the "couplers" out there for the good advice.
I would call Audiopoints.com and ask to speak to Robert. He's the man over there... I don't know if you'll be able to do those "devices" for the $ you want, but check out their website...

I can't access their website - I don't have shockwave installed (yes I know I'm behind the times). Can I have the phone number please.

Thanks
Don
For now, I just decided to go ahead and place the spikes directly into the floor. I'm working on upgrading so many other pieces in my system (wire, cable, cords, power conditioning) that I've decided that this kind of thing needs to be experimented with last - and in the mean time, the stock spikes are the best, quick improvement. I might add some weight to the speaker stands too and see what that does. In any case, I just wanted to say thanks to all who have replied with advice in this thread.

Don