Spikes versus Rubber on wood floor?

The reason there isn't much scientific research about this kind of thing is because our measurement equipment isn't as good as our ears. Maybe in the future we will have test gear that will be able to measure more subtle effects that right now are only detected by humans.

Here are a few thoughts, for what there are worth.

IMHO the only vibrations which originate in a speaker that are 'necessary' to drain are those which by reason of construction and materiels creat a resonance at some particular frequency, if that resonance actually effects sound quality (some speakers are voiced to include resonances). In order to 'drain' the vibrations at any particular frequency (where the resonance occurs) wouldn't you have to have materiel which would be capable of passing vibrations in that frequency as opposed to having a similar resonance frequency which might then compound the problem? If that is correct how do you select the materiel used to connect the speaker and the floor?

What I think might actually be in play, which is not discussed much, is the benefit of isolating speakers from the floor. Again IMHO most of the vibrations which occur in the rooms and floors are the result of airborn loading from the speakers. When the speaker is fully coupled with the floor these vibrations are being fed back into the speaker which causes a change in perceived sound quality and may actually increase the degree of resonance of the speaker in its resonance frequency.

As I said, just some random thoughts..............

Just a few thoughts, I'm sure most of you have the answers and they are not revelant.

Mitch2,

Herbie's Big Fat Black Dots provided considerably richer and somewhat more detailed sound vs. the Audio Points in my setup.

Newbee, you raise an interesting point which I think is long overdue for discussion:

There are absolutely no vibrations or "resonances" to be DRAINED from a loudspeaker. And if there are, then its cabinet/enclosure (or stand) is poorly designed.

The object of using spikes/cones under speakers (as opposed to components) is to "mass-couple" the speaker to the ground. "Mass-couple" is just a fancy term for "hold it down tight!" and steel tie-downs with big bolts would work great too, if you didn't mind looking at them.

The only thing that should move/vibrate in a loudspeaker is the transducer(s) itself -- and 99% of those only move forward and backward. And the only thing the transducer should impart its vibrations to is the air -- not the cabinet, or the stand, or the floor.

With components, especially turntables, transports, and amps (because of tubes and especially transformers) it can be desireable to "drain off" micro-vibrations thru a mechanical "diode" like cones, or ball bearings, etc. But speakers do not require this. With loudspeakers, the use of cones and spikes is merely a way of securing the cabinet (or frame, in the case of electrostats) to the ground so that ALL the energy of the transducers is transferred to the air, and none to the cabinet, floor, etc.

Aball, how do we know what our ears are capable of measuring if we can't measure their capability with instruments. What instruments are we using to measure the fact that we can't hear sounds at 40kHz?
If there is any effect from speakers systems 'moving' 0.1mm due to vibrations, that effect cannot be detected by the ear and in any case would be smaller than if your ear (the measurement device)moved a similar amount.