Substantial Speakers: Casters/wheels instead of feet.

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Audioholic
I'm a glutton for punishment. Open mind though.

Bought a copy of Speaker Building 201 (Ray Alden). He is a sadist. Beer inspired woodworking project approaching finishing and assembly.

Listening room is carpet. 120 lbs. speakers.

I've never seen it for home audio/AVR: Casters, like on a desk chair, instead of feet. Would it impact the sound? Is it essentially making a plywood wing screwed on the back of a Lexus?
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I'm a glutton for punishment. Open mind though.

Bought a copy of Speaker Building 201 (Ray Alden). He is a sadist. Beer inspired woodworking project approaching finishing and assembly.

Listening room is carpet. 120 lbs. speakers.

I've never seen it for home audio/AVR: Casters, like on a desk chair, instead of feet. Would it impact the sound? Is it essentially making a plywood wing screwed on the back of a Lexus?
Casters have been used for decades, but are a better way to move them than as something to stand on.

What's the goal- moving, isolation, preventing dents in the carpet? Casters certainly won't do the latter.
 
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Audioholic
I was hoping to make moving the speakers easier, with all the benefits of feet/spikes.

I did the same old boring thing and installed feet, fearing the casters might resonate and rattle.

Thanks highfigh for your time.
 
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Audioholic
They're still in progress Alex2507, but here they are so far, in the middle of the mess creating them. Old School 3-ways...

9.2 Cubic feet Enclosure
- 7.4 feet is vented, tuned to 24 Hz (calculated)
- Two 10"x10"x10" separate internal enclosures for the Mids are sealed

(1) 15" Woofer 32.9 FS 92.3 SPL 8 Ohm 275/550 (RMS/Max)
(2) 8" Paper cone Mids (in series) 95 SPL 4 Ohm 130/260 (RMS/Max)
(1) PT2C-8 Planar Tweeter 94 SPL 8 Ohm 80 RMS

Crossover is 500/3500. Mids and Tweeters attenuated 3db each

This is a learning project to me. Cabinet is Birch Plywood. To be sanded, transtint dye/Wipe On poly finished. Internal area for woofers is lined with acoustic foam. Mid boxes are each lined with foam and will have polyfill too.
 

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Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
For moving heavy objects, Teflon pads can do the job (look for Teflon furniture glides or slider pads). If considering casters, use locking casters that can be locked down so they don't roll. Locking casters should not rattle.
 
Verdinut

Verdinut

Audioholic Spartan
I have been using ball casters on my three front 8 cf speaker enclosure for years. They are reliable and they definitely won't rattle taking into account the weight of the cabinets.
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
… Listening room is carpet. 120 lbs. speakers.

I've never seen it for home audio/AVR: Casters, like on a desk chair, instead of feet. Would it impact the sound? Is it essentially making a plywood wing screwed on the back of a Lexus?
Those speakers are 120 lbs, each? At that weight, they would never move at all, even without any feet. Instead of spiked feet, you should consider an audiophile-grade forklift instead of casters to move those speakers ;).

I would use casters and stop worrying about audible differences between them and spiked feet. I doubt if you are anyone else would hear a difference.

I like the idea of heavy duty 2" ball casters. Locking might not matter with 120 lb. cabinets. Here are two examples, one with a flat mounting plate, and the other with a pole & sleeve mount. Amazon has many more to choose from.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
I was hoping to make moving the speakers easier, with all the benefits of feet/spikes.

I did the same old boring thing and installed feet, fearing the casters might resonate and rattle.

Thanks highfigh for your time.
I doubt they'll resonate with 120 pound speakers on them. Casters aren't expensive, although they can be- depends on materials, design, etc.

The one thing I don't like about casters- if the speaker is a narrow tower, it moves the center of gravity/mass higher and they become easy to tip over unless they're outside of the cabinet's 'footprint'. Some speakers have a wider base/plinth or what amounts to 'outriggers' for the spikes and those help to prevent tipping. If the casters are attached to the cabinet without some way to move them outward, they're automatically inside of the footprint, which makes tipping easier than if the speakers didn't have them and if the casters can swivel, the difference can be measured in inches, especially when the diameter of the wheels is larger and the radius of the rotation is large.
 

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