I'm about to finish my diy speaker kit and i am wondering if anyone has experience using this type of speaker spike?
I would like to use this type of spike as i don't want to drill into the speaker cabinet.
Hi Rod, some use spikes to couple the speaker to the stand, others prefer to couple the stand to the floor with spikes, but to use some inert material (eg. Blu-Tac) to provide a good grip to the stand with a little isolation.
If your speaker boxes are reasonably rigid and well damped (ie. they don't need to 'drain' box resonance out to the floor via the stands - I'm not sure that really works that well anyway) then I feel that you are better off using something that is rigid enough to prevent any speaker box motion, but 'grippy' enough to prevent a small knock sliding the speaker off the stand (as spikes would do unless their points fit into small holes or fixed spike dishes on the stand's top plate).
I would consider either Blu-Tac, rubber washers, or shallow rubber feet ... used at 3 points, not 4. You would not need to screw or glue the washers or feet to the speaker or stand, they should be grippy enough to be placed on the stand, then the speaker on top.
Just the other day I read somewhere that a speaker designer (was it Dave Ellis or Dennis Murphy?) tested various speakers on various stands and found that the more rigid and self-damped the speaker boxes were, the less audible any differences between stands were.
For a dollar or two you can try the Blu-Tac, rubber washers (or cork I guess) or rubber feet without damaging the speaker or stand, and change later if you don't like the effect. If you select rubber feet, go for something shallow (eg. 6-10mm) with say a 16-20mm diameter, rather than the taller ones that may have some flex in them under load.
