Stand spikes?

[sghoughton]

Hi,

I've just finished making some stands and am now looking for some spikes for them. Does anyone know of a source for these things or preferably something you could get at a home depot that might do just as well? I couldnt find anything there myself but not exactly sure what they might be called there either.

What have some of you guys used if you've made your own stands?

thanks

steve

 

[claudermilk]

Check out this auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14997&item=5775572548&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

I don't recall if this is the same guy I got mine from, but they look exactly the same as the spikes I got off ebay. They work great & you can't beat the price.

 

[Shinerman]

These look pretty good. I ordered a wall plate from these guys before and had good service.

http://www.supercellaudio.com/pages/3/index.htm

or you can check out partsexpress (put a www. and a .com around partsexpress to find it. This site has a blok on their web address). Seems like they had some decent spikes that were cheap.

Shinerman

 

[sghoughton]

Excellent.

Exactly what i'm looking for. thanks

steve

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

When did speakers start having these spikes put on them? What is their purpose? What about us with wood floors?

 

[Shinerman]

When did speakers start having these spikes put on them? What is their purpose? What about us with wood floors?

Spikes help anchor a speaker to the floor when carpet is use. The points drive down into the carpet so that theyare hitting something hard and thus makes a more stable contact. They can be very helpful with todays taller, slimmer speaker designs. They can also reduce vibration, or at least that's what I have been told. I have never had to use spikes since I seem to always have wood floors.

If you have wood floors, don't worry about it. There's not need for them. Unless you have uneven flooring. You can also find metal disks to go under the spikes if you need to use them on hard fooring that can be damaged.

Shinerman

 

[adjutant]

Do they do anything about sparing your neighbors the bass resonance from your speakers?

I live in a condo and I sort of worry about the people below me. Would spikes help on eliminating/reducing the transfer?

BTW, I have carpet

 

[Shinerman]

Do they do anything about sparing your neighbors the bass resonance from your speakers?

I live in a condo and I sort of worry about the people below me. Would spikes help on eliminating/reducing the transfer?

BTW, I have carpet

They very well may. Bass is Bass. So your neighbors will still hear it but spikes would probably reduce actual vibration in the floors and neighbors ceiling.

Shinerman

 

[korgoth]

seems like it would make it worse.. shakes your walls less, but your floor more.

 

[Shinerman]

seems like it would make it worse.. shakes your walls less, but your floor more.

I'm not sure about that. Seems like four small points of vibration on a floor would have less of an effect that one large point of vibration (bottom of speaker)? Of course 4 solid contact points would maybe make it worse compared to a large area with no solid direct contact?

Maybe someone with some more scientific knowledge will chime in. I'm curious to find out.

Shinerman

 

[Shadow_Ferret]

Personally, having owned many speakers myself and never having seen them move across the floor no matter what the volume, I'm wondering if these speaker spikes aren't just more snake oil or just sold as aethetics.

 

[Shinerman]

Personally, having owned many speakers myself and never having seen them move across the floor no matter what the volume, I'm wondering if these speaker spikes aren't just more snake oil or just sold as aethetics.

I guess in some cases they could be considered snake oil but they can serve a purpose. Plush carpet can cause stability problems with some of today's taller thinner speakers. SOmetimes you just can't get a speaker to sit right on plush carpet. Spikes drive down through the carpet to a harder surface so they sit more level and sturdy.

There is also the issue of grounding bass vibration. That's the part I am a little unsure about. I have heard people say spikes can result in tighter bass or something to that regard. Again, not really sure about this. I guess is kindof makes sense but who knows.

I am really hoping someone else chimes in because now I want to know more.

Shinerman

 

[mtschust]

Speaker Floats

I saw a web page advetising these things called speaker floats. Made out of some kind of super high grade plastic, the likes that NASA has used or something. The makeers say that their research lead them to believe that the only way to make speakers soundproof is to make them float. They are supposed to virtually eliminate bass resonance and vibration through furniture and flooring. Now that I think about it though, How would one use them with spikes on their tower speakers? ANyone heard anything about these? It sounds like they could be help.

If you search Speaker FLoats on the web you are sure to find them.

 

[Tempest]

slate

I am in an apartment with neighbors below me. While the place has 6" concrete floors and walls, I'm still a bit paranoid about disturbing my neighbors. I went to Home Depot a couple weeks ago and got three pieces of 16x16x3/8" slate and put my two mains and subwoofer on them.

The slate has greatly reduced the vibrations I feel in the floor and it did clean up the overall sound…as well as provide a more stable surface for the mains. I can turn up the volume and listen to some pretty loud explosions without sending total havoc to the apartment below.

For $2.50 per piece, it might be worth trying.

 

[korgoth]

i dont really see how it would make it sound much better, but its possible.
The claim about it vibrating the floor less though doesnt make much sense to me.

it seems like The sub's vibrations would transfer into the floor more efficiently.

this might not be the same thing, but a cell phone vibrating on top of your desk will jump around, but if you glue it down it will shake the desk more.

i really doubt anyone could tell the difference either way, unless you had it super loud.. and at those volumes your neighbors would be pissed anyway.

 

[adjutant]

I am in an apartment with neighbors below me. While the place has 6" concrete floors and walls, I'm still a bit paranoid about disturbing my neighbors. I went to Home Depot a couple weeks ago and got three pieces of 16x16x3/8" slate and put my two mains and subwoofer on them.

The slate has greatly reduced the vibrations I feel in the floor and it did clean up the overall sound…as well as provide a more stable surface for the mains. I can turn up the volume and listen to some pretty loud explosions without sending total havoc to the apartment below.

For $2.50 per piece, it might be worth trying.

Wow! thats a great idea! It actually might look kinda cool if I can get it to match up with my HT system. I'm gonna check it out, thanks

 

[WmAx]

Spikes = Decoupling? No way, Jose'.

They very well may. Bass is Bass. So your neighbors will still hear it but spikes would probably reduce actual vibration in the floors and neighbors ceiling.

Shinerman

Spikes can not decouple energy --- they do exactly the opposite. This was a subject of audiophile myth(what isn't?) that started years ago with some even claiming that a spike acts like a mechanical diode(Why such a crazy idea? Maybe because the profile of a spike on a surface resembles the schematic symbol?). If you wish to decouple energy, you will need to use something such as a low compliance foam base(these are sold by pro music distributors for this very purpose) or make some sort of suspension base that has a resonant frequency that is below the bandwidth you want to decouple. If you have thick carpet, placing a large size flat base on the carpet and subsequently placing the speaker on this base may help decouple energy. The layer of carpet acts as a spring/damper system -- though probably not optimized -- may be somewhat effective depending on the mass of the speaker, size of the base and density of the carpet.

Decoupling is not going to reduce a wide band of energy, but if the floor structure has a primary resonance within the band that is decoupled, that narrow peak(of one noted type sound) will be decreased in amplitude by decoupling the speaker from the floor. In some cases, decoupling may also enhance sound quality if the resonant peak was severe enough to audibly affect music in the listening room.

-Chris

 

[adjutant]

Spikes can not decouple energy --- they do exactly the opposite. This was an audiophile myth that started years ago with some claiming that a spike acts like a diode(Why such a crazy idea? Maybe because the profile of a spike on a surface resembles the schematic symbol?). If you wish to decouple energy, you will need to use something such as a low compliance foam base(these are sold by pro music distributors for this very purpose) or make some sort of suspension base that has a resonant frequency that is below the bandwidth you want to decouple. If you have thick carpet, placing a large size flat base on the carpet and subsequently placing the speaker on this base may help decouple energy. The layer of carpet acts as a spring/damper system -- though probably not optimized -- may be somewhat effective depending on the mass of the speaker, size of the base and density of the carpet.

Decoupling is not going to reduce a wide band of energy, but if the floor structure has a primary resonance within the band that is decoupled, that narrow peak(of one noted type sound) will be decreased by decoupling the speaker from the floor. In some cases, decoupling may also enhance sound quality if the resonant peak was severe enough to audibly affect music in the listening room.

-Chris

O.K. Now you're just talkin' space talk! Me no understand

 

[WmAx]

O.K. Now you're just talkin' space talk! Me no understand

Please quote any specific statement(s) that you feel is(are) "space talk", and I'll expand/clarify on this(these) statement(s).

-Chris

 

[Shinerman]

Thanks WmAx for clearing that up. Now we know.

So, apart from providing stability for a speaker, there's no need for spikes. Although they do look really cool.

Shinerman