Vibration isolation or absorption?


You see those pointy things at the bottom of a speaker that are very very sharp.  Arguably a weapon in the wrong hands.  And then you see those same pointy things inserted into a disk.

So the pointy things, aka ‘spikes’ , can Channel vibration elsewhere and away from the components and speakers, or they can isolate it.

Seems channeling vibration away from a component/ speaker, which I guess is absorption, is preferable.

Is this true? And why do they keep saying isolation.

 

emergingsoul

Showing 3 responses by audiom3

I have spikes under all of my floor mounted speakers into a concrete slab subfloor. Under my center channel speaker, I use springs which sit on my central equipment rack. You can find them on Amazon for around $30/set. These bettered other anti-vibration products I’ve tried for more money. I also tried spikes into the bases which did little to nothing for me. Things I listened for when experimenting were: less bloat/chestiness, clearer vocals (especially sibilants) and better localization of sounds.

I should add that similar ones are under my 3" maple block turntable isolation platform (in my profile pics).  I think I used 12 for under it because that block and the VPI Classic are so damn heavy.  I also use 4 under my server.  They work killer for that because servers vibrate like crazy with all of the fans, spinning HDDs and stuff.

@soix https://www.amazon.com/Tertullus-Isolation-43mm%C3%9738-5mm-Aluminum-Turntable/dp/B09QC1DJXT/ref=sr_1_6?crid=3O9WPNIK3HIXK&keywords=speaker+isolation+pad+spring&qid=1680557813&s=electronics&sprefix=speaker+isolation+pad+spring%2Celectronics%2C143&sr=1-6

That isn't the brand I bought but those look the same.  Mine were from Audiocrast or something like that.  My Legacy center channel weighs 65lbs or there abouts, so I used all of the supplied springs.  If you have lighter speakers, just take some springs out.  There are 6 on the outside and 1 on the inside.  So you could run with as little as 3 for lighter weights.  As I understand it, you want them to sink down around ~50% in an effort to load them.