[nanbil]

I am moving into a house with suspended wood floors-I am curious as to what products to use for the following:

Theil 2.2 speakers-these are largish speakers (70 lbs each or so) and sit on three spikes.

Turntable stand-this is a metal stand with four spikes top and bottom and with an MDF wood top-the stand with the turntable maybe weighs 20 lbs.

Equipment stand sits on four spiked feet-this is quite heavy with my system all in place-110 lbs or so.

I obviously don't want to damage the floor of my new home so what are my options?

Thanks,

Bill





 

[Mike Nomad]

To maintain your floor ascetic, you could get some small pieces of some kind of hardwood to put between the floor and the spikes. Or, you could get something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Floor-protectors-savers-polished-brass/dp/B00633S5L4

[JonnyFive]

I use Herbies cone decoupling spikes under my Soundscapes (126 lbs each). They work very well to protect the hardwood floor and may(?) have some sonic benefit:

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/spkrfeet.htm#mobile

I've never tested them without so I can't compare.  I do know putting my sub up on a Gramma isolation pad removed some of the boom that was coming from floor resonance (over the 3' tall crawl space underneath).

[Herbie]

For the loudspeakers, a Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider under each of the spikes should be ideal. A Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider also under each of the tt stand spikes and equipment stand. Other dBNeutralizer-based products could be used as well under the stands.


Cone/Spike Decoupling Gliders


Steve
Herbie's Audio Lab

[JLM]

Couple to rigid/massive/non-resonant floors, but on soft floors (or sub floor spaces that could resonant) you want to float over them.  Lots of mass (especially for the speakers) is always good, but decouple with the soft/resonant floor.

[Herbie]

There's virtually no such thing as a non-resonant floor unless specially treated. All floors vibrate, even rigid concrete floors which are steel/concrete structures having a natural vibration frequency and resonance characteristics. Micro-vibrations, especially the higher-frequency acute vibrations that cause a lot of glare in the music, travel readily through concrete and other rigid materials. Also, some loudspeaker-generated vibration that "drains" from the speaker cabinet to the floor will reverberate right back up the spikes the way they came, introducing some coloration and glare into the music; also, speaker-generated vibrations, becoming floor-borne, can infiltrate the audio rack and sensitive audio components.

An appropriate isolation/decoupling approach is virtually always sonically superior to spiking or otherwise coupling to the floor. (Not trying to isolate with rubber, Sorbothane, vinyl nitrates, or other materials that have resonance issues of their own.) Compared to spiking, isolation with Herbie's Audio Lab's Gliders virtually always produces a superior result, with better bass definition and subtle improvements throughout the audio spectrum.

Steve
Herbie's Audio Lab

[plastico]

Thanks Steve, for making this comment; Micro-vibrations, especially the higher-frequency acute vibrations that cause a lot of glare in the music, travel readily through concrete and other rigid materials. I immediately replaced my granite with a MDF board under my turntable, and that enoying glare is now gone!

Cheers, Plastico

[Ace Deprave]

I am replacing carpet with hardwood floors, so I just ordered some of the cone/spike decoupling gliders for my Salks. Even if they don't make a noticeable difference in sound, they will protect my new floors and they look cool.

-Dave