Using platforms / shelves under floorstanders?


instead of spikes (which can mar the floor, are impossible to move easily, and tightly couple vibrations), has anyone tried using something like a maple / acrylic shelf under their floorstanders?

i see mapleshade markets them, but no one else seems to.

tia
128x128rhyno
In my trials, I've found, that maple under the speakers pretty much kills the sound. Sistrum SP-101 is so much better. With time, I'm going to get rid of the maple in my system alltogether.
I used a sandstone slab + nordost pulsar points, but find a Symposium Svelt shelves + Rollerblock juniors, a significant improvement on a suspended wooden floor.
Hi,

I have thick carpet and I use the spikes but the speakers don't stand solid because the spikes seem not to punch through the carpet. What do you suggest for speakers with thick carpet?
Thanks!
Tran
Worldcup,
Carpet-piercing cones ( Mapleshade, Audiopoints by Starsound Tech.)It's imperative spikes are coupled to the floor under the carpet.
The type of coupling for any kind of speaker to the floor is a matter of system tuning. In other words, there is no one right way to do it; one must experiment to see what works best.

A lot of times spiking a speaker to the floor is not the best approach, even though the manufacturer supplies spikes for that purpose. On suspended wooden floors, effective coupling of the speaker to the floor might mean that the floor itself becomes a big sounding board which muddles up the sound, particularly the bass.

I would try different approaches. Keep in mind that if you change types of spikes, etc., you will need to make necessary adjustments to get the speaker height and rake (how much it is angled backwards) adjusted.

With my floor standing speakers, the use of a big energy absorbing platform, with the speaker sitting flat on the platform (entire bottom in contact with the platform -- no spikes) worked the best. The platform I used is a big Symposium Svelte Shelf. This consists of two aluminum outer panels sandwiching a foam core (vibration is converted to heat from friction in the foam core). This approach effectively dampened the speaker cabinet itself and prevented energy from feeding into the floor. But, in other setups, this might make a system sound too dry. Experimentation is the key to any tuning of a system.