Brass door knobs as footers


I was just wondering what you guys think of the possibility of using brass door knobs as footers. My father in law was kind enough to construct a 2" thick oak platform for me, and decided to use the knobs rather than the footers from mapleshaderecords--they look really good. I'm sure the mass is not quite the same, but factoring in the price difference(20$ vs. 100+$) what do you think of the idea?
jmoog08
Neat.Reminds me of folks using old electric pole isolators to lift cables off synthetic or synthetic bend carpets.You can find those a flea markets,antique shops,and Ebay and they (the isolators) work/look better and cheaper than many "pro" devices.The knobs would only worry me if they rang (material was resonant) or had loose parts.My argument with a lot of folks who buy nice looking Billy Bags or expensive synthetic racks and speaker stands is that nothing beats mass (add cones or points to isolate after you have established mass) and for me Sound Anchor with it's heavy iron can't be beat.But not only does Bob (no my cousin) Warzalla make SA heavy he knows where to put it say more mass at top of speaker stand for some low on stand for others and does lot's of design work for individual speakers.But cheap eats that get that mass in thier and don't cause WAF freak outs are great so ideas like this should tried and reported on.
Cheers
Chazz
Holy crap! It looks like I misread the Parts Express entry; they charge less than $20 for a package of four cones with threads and protector disks, plus shipping as Ghosthouse said.
Ghosthouse, you are very close.

The brass cones 'couple' the speaker to the floor and thus act as a vibration 'sink', sort of like a heat sink. If carpet, or rubber feet, are between your speaker and floor, then the speaker will be isolated and the energy cannot be drained to the floor.

Its debatable, from vibrations perspective, if coupled or uncoupled is better. I think it depends on the speaker designer / design.

Three feet are most desirable. Four will 'over constrain' the speaker. Ever sat on a 3 leg stool that wobbles? Nope, didn't think so. A 4 legged stool however... wobble wobble wobble.

Brass is good. Great internal damping and nice and heavy. Spikes are only nessasary to pierce the carpet.

A big chunck of mass near the bottom is better too. it will lower the first mode frequency (good, perhaps out of the audio spectrum) and it will act like an vibration absorber because of internal damping.

Good to know that 7 years of mechanical engineering school is good for something.

Lucas
Those parts express footers are absolutely worthless if the adjustability factor is important to you. The only way they will sound decent is if you loctite the tip to the body of the cone. If it ever backs off at all, the sound deteriorates noticeably. These just aren't stable when you unscrew the tip.

Oz
Oz - I used the cones under a Technics table not a speaker. But I do agree with your point. I cranked my cone tips totally down before installing. I'll check for loosening though I suspect this to be highly unlikely. $ for Loctite + 4 Parts Express is still way less than Heavy Footer $. Is the Mapleshade stuff probably higher quality/better made - yes. But the flip side to the econommic equation in my mind is, will I hear the $ differential? Answer for me is, I won't be A/B-ing and given my modest system - probably not. I'm actually surprised I think I hear a difference with the budget cones and plinth now.

Lucas - no argument with 3 is more stable than 4. I went with 4 because the Parts Express threaded studs match perfectly the thread gauge of the stock footer for the Technics table. I was fortunate and needed only a minor shim under the wood block to get things level.

Would have done only 3 had there been some way to go there. The bottom of the Technics table has a somewhat "irregular topology". Using the 4 corners was easy.

The Totem Forests I own have - as you recommend - a 3 legged "claw" configuration (I don't use the balls though that geometry resembles the round surface of a small door knob!).