Seting up the system after having new flooring fitted.
Originally tried some small floor protectors from Custom Design.
They failed almost immediately, with the spikes holing two of the protectors.
Utter rubbish, going back tomorrow.
Can’t remove the spikes from the speaker stands, so they’re now on granite chopping boards from T***o and sound better than they ever have.
Target table for the turntable is a little more problematic.
I could remove the spikes, tidy up the messy welding at the bottom of each leg and fit rubber/felt pads, which seems to be the most elegant solution.
Can’t you unscrew them and turn them round on the un spiked screw end? My old Mission floor slanders did this fir this very reason. I would have thought they’d not be fixed as you don’t want them to rock on a slightly uneven floor so they should be adjustable?
slowoldman – Member
BTW your experience with granite chopping boards ought to tell you something about how worthwhile spikes are.
Always used them on carpet over floorboard going back, ooooh, 30 years?
Why? It was the done thing, wasn’t it?
They seemed to improve the imaging & bass when I first tried spiked stands with a pair of Royd A7’s as a kid, as far as I remember.
Still have the spikes between the stands and the granite – as above, can’t remove them.
It’s a floating wooden floor and the granite has tightened up the bass to the extent that even Ms S commented on it.
Felt pads between granite and floor btw.
Wish I’d tried it years ago.
daveh – Member
Hope you’ve got a nice heavy rug going down otherwise the spikes may not be your biggest problem.
The idea of spikes on carpets is (probably) sound. It links through a wobbly surface of carpet and underlay to a more solid surface beneath. On a solid floor I would think some blobs of Blutack would be just as effective.
Sadly I do have carpet and my equipment rack has spikes (because that’s how it came). Speakers however are pretty heavy ATCs sitting on pretty heavy subwoofers and no spikes. The spikes added nothing.
On a solid floor I would think some blobs of Blutack would be just as effective.
I’ve never had a chance to try it.
Read loads of guff on the net re coupling/isolation, but I only ever trust my ears.
Love to give it a go, but I’m not spending 150 quid on new stands just to try it out. 🙂
Forget the spikes – not that effective, try sorbothane isolation pods/feet.
We’ve organised our Dance tent at the Wickerman festival for the past 13 odd years and have had our fair share of isolation problems, especially when you factor in 20,000 watts of Martin or Funktion 1 sound system along with a prefabricated wooden stage set-up, the best product we have found to isolate the multitude of decks and equipment is sorbothane isolation pods.
The basic early set up with two 1210’s and two CDJ 2000’s
Craig/Graeme (silicone soul) played with 3 decks and two cdj’s and despite the tent being rammed wi folk going apeshit and a helluva vibration through the ground we never experienced a skip with the decks at all, we do use heavy concrete slabs under essential equipment but they sit on Sorbothane feet and the deck stands also sits on Sorbothane feet.
Room acoustics. I reckon half of a good system is the components, half the room (totally unproven HiFi mumbo jumbo). You may find it sounds ‘brighter’ – could be a good thing though generally reflective surfaces are bad.
Also what daveh says above – In my sitting/living room i have corner bass traps, various frequency responsive acoustic panels on the walls and acoustic tiles across my ceiling – needless to say i do not have a GF 😉
I’d and make new legs to screwe in place of the spikes and cover the protuding metal with sufficient diameter to protect the floor. Otherwise I’d cut some lengths of tubing to cover whatever bodge I’d done with a the two pence pieces and blu tack these disguising sleeves in place.
Speakers with spikes on clayterracota tiles(there what I had leftover from tiling a wall)with blutak underneath focuses the speakers but isolates them from the wooden floor in snakeoil hifi speak.
I’ve got a hi fi specific stand for my amp and sources with spikes on the legs on a carpet with a solid floor underneath which skips whenever I walk past it so will be doing something similar with that.
Sorbothane – I use it for the decks, sub and gaming consoles. Works a treat. The sub actually sits on Sorbothane feet then a slab of Granite then another set of Sorbothane feet.
Ah I remember the daze of bass traps aka books & curtains, I mean acoustic tiles. 😉
I got a large slab of acrylic from a very nice eBay seller who flame polished the sides for me and it was only a couple of quid. Rubber/sorbathane feet of your choice and it was basically the same as what many sites were selling for £100.
Posted 9 years ago
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