I went to Home Depot and bought some 18" X 18" ceramic floor tiles for use as bases on carpeted floors. Heavy enough to add stability! You can then place the ADS metal stands on each tile!
What is a good base for speakers
Fussing with setting up a new system in basement. My vintage ADS L710's sit on original stands that don't have fittings for spikes. As the stands sit on a carpeted floor, they rock a lot (no pun intended). I'm thinking of some sort of base to settle them down. Looking for suggestions of a material appropriate for stability - any experience with wood butcher block, granite or slate cutting boards as a base? More DIY than expensive. Thanks for any suggestions.
22 responses Add your response
Actually they will sound better with springs. Townshend Podiums work best but you can DIY two ways. Easiest is Nobsound springs, they are adjustable for weight and cheap, only about $35. But they work. Slightly better but a lot more work is to build a platform similar to Townshend Podiums and use your own springs. I've done both, DIY platform under my Moabs, Nobsound under all the rest, before upgrading to Townshend. Should probably go without saying but if Moabs rocking on springs isn't a problem (it's not) then it won't be for yours either. They don't actually rock, not when playing music anyway. That's only when you make them rock to show off that they are on springs. |
If they are the open backed metal stands add stick-on footers in a 3-point configuration (2 in the back and 1 in the middle of the front cross brace). They sell little rubber stick-on footers @ hardware stores and online. Whatever the stands are like 3-point/tripod support should help stabilize them. DeKay |
any experience with wood butcher block, granite or slate cutting boards as a base? More DIY than expensive. I have experience with all of these, which is why I recommend springs. Nothing else even comes close. And I am pretty darn good at DIY https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/8367 Yes I built the table and stand. Springs are totally the way to go. |
IMy listening room's in my basement and I bought a pair of usher be20dmd's. These speakers weigh 200 lbs ea and the iron plinths that screw into them with 10 3'' metal screws weigh 85 lbs each so 285 per speaker The dude that sold em attached coasters to the plinths so they could be slid on carpet, they looked like 4'' vinyl tiles. I peeled the tiles off and put the supplied spikes on and bass improved tenfold, in fact I doubt he would have sold them had he listened with spikes attached. Did raising the speakers 1'' off the floor tighten up the bass or was it decoupling the speakers by installing the spikes? I know it wasn't the weight. Yes the ushers used 3 spikes per side, as does my hegel and meridians. |
I bought two of these cutting boards, marked and drilled 5/16 holes at the four corners inside of the drip rail. Screw in threaded inserts and then the cone points. Flip over and the bottom surface is now the top and is completely smooth edge to edge. Set them in living room with a level on top of them, adjusted until dead level and tightened the locking jam collars. No matter what speakers I put on top, floorstander or stand mount, spiked or decoupled, they have a plenty large enough base to work from and always level. I needed to compensate for an un-level subfloor as well as gain a few inches in height because of my listening chair. Roughly $100 all in, look pretty decent and perform well for the investment. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/aptitlig-butcher-block-bamboo-00233429/ https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DSS5-BK-Black-Spike-Set-4-Pcs.-240-684 |
One idea: (from ASC website) (tube trap) “If you just buy a couple of these and stick your speakers on top of them, it will completely transform the sound of your bedroom, I promise you." Pete TownshendAnd to add to this-two more above / on top of the speakers ... |
What you need is to keep the speakers from moving in the direction of what the drivers are moving, so that the drivers can push air without the cabinet fighting it. I believe the ADS are front firing drivers, which means you need to keep the cabinets to be kept still in the fore-aft direction, mainly. Of course it's better to eliminate motion in all directions. As for carpet below the stands, its best to increase mass at the base of the stands, and use something with spikes (below the stand) that penetrate the carpet and padding to mechanically couple the stand directly to the floor (wood or concrete). This hopefully eliminates the carpet/pad spring that otherwise allows the speaker to bounce or rock. After that, you can consider stiffening the stands so it doesn't bend. |
I use Deer Creek Audio steel speaker stands like these: https://deercreekaudio.com/t/steel-speaker-stands The focus, stability and exactness of images is top notch, despite the fact the speakers rest on felt pads affixed to areas of the steel base. All the best, Nonoise |
On a concrete carpeted basement, springs (like Nobsound) would work better than spike, rubber (or silicone) cone/feet, granite, concrete slab, ...? Nobsound springs (4 of them) support up to 40lbs, but I guess it is pretty limited. Most full range speakers will weigh more than 40 lbs. I’ve never tried springs. I thought spikes work best. I might try springs on my subwoofer. It rattles too much on high volume. [EDIT] I see that it supports up to 66 lbs (or 30 kgs). The would cover most mid size speakers. |
This video will give you an idea of why Deer Creek Audio Steel Stands cost a bit more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkafYmxhmTY
|
I made speaker stands out of Red Mahogany wood. I added damped casters so that I can move them easily to get the best placement. I spent far too much time on the finish but they look nice and serve the purpose. They will raise the height of drivers, so that must be taken into consideration with placement. I took much time to decide if I could get good sound after they were raised and that was crucial. |
