Spikes and hardwood flooring ?

I was curious about two things.

1. How big a difference the spikes make ?

2. How much damage do they cause to hard wood flooring ?

My wife saw the spikes and is asking me as good as my speakers sound now if I really need to put spikes on them.

Opinions ?

If the differences are very subtle, I will drop this and just continue enjoying how they sound.

Put Auralex below the spikes, so the floor will be ok. And the EThos has a downward firing sub too, right? That will sound much better with the Auralex than the floor. I did all these granite, floor, Auralex and Townshend stand experiments with the Summits

Yes, The Ethos is a similar design.

The solution seems obvious when you mention it. Don't spike the floor, but put down an intermediate material. My wife will be happy

I just need to make sure it looks tasteful. I thought I was past all the WAF issues, but there it is. LOL! Truth be told in almost every instance where my wife pushed back the end result is a better solution where we are both happy.

Are you talking about something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-SubDu...qid=1424459676&sr=1-10&keywords=auralex+mopad

I see it has an MDF top layer that would stop the spikes. But is that really any better than using the rubber feet?

One thing that might be worth the try are small hockey pucks under each spike. They don't look too bad and work quite well. Here's another Auralex product I'm using with my subs, works well with Montis too:
http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-GRAMM...61174&sr=1-1&keywords=auralex+acoustics+gamma

There are many types, brands of spike/floor protectors . Just go to Music Direct, or any audio accessory site and you will see plenty from which to chose. Just make sure they are rated to accept the weight.

I used the same SubDudes in my set up and was very happy with them using the spikes. It can be seen here if you want to get an idea...

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/showthread.php?5608-System-230-(Vista-Fresco-Depth)

Those pics were taken a few weeks ago and I have since taken them out and went to the rubber feet with the following under the rubber feet.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003P4VDGS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did this to make the Mrs. happy as she did not love the look SubDudes with our new credenza.

I definitely noticed a difference when I stopped spiking on the tile and spiked to the SubDudes, though I have not done any critical listening since removing spikes.

I plan to purchase something like...

http://www.townshendaudio.com/hi-fi...e-cinema-vibration-isolation-speaker-podiums/

as recommended by another forum member, but I cannot find a resource in the USA to purchase them. They are beautiful.

Looks like there are numerous aesthetically pleasing ways to protect the floor.



The question is whether putting spikes down on something like this is any better than using the other feet that come from the factory.

Hmmm....

I could even get some black delrin or UHMW and machine it exactly to the dimensions I want.

Maybe two 1/4" thick 1.5" wide strips for each speaker from front to back with small indentions perfectly centered for the spikes and a bevel routed across the top edges.

I guess I'll need to think about this some more. If I can custom make something that perfectly matches my speakers, I may go that route.

If you do, make them adjustable so you can adjust panel azimuth to perpendicular.

The spikes that come with the Summits can provide you with a viable example to replicate.

Gordon Gray said:

If you do, make them adjustable so you can adjust panel azimuth to perpendicular.

The spikes that come with the Summits can provide you with a viable example to replicate.

Click to expand...

I wasn't looking to replace the spikes that came with my Ethos, but just give them a surface to sit in that wouldn't damage the floor.

Unfortunately a pipe just burst in my garage. So I need to fix that before my wife gets home

I think I need to install a cutoff to that pipe since it is in an unheated wall so I can just drain it!

Let's see, spikes are to firmly attach the speakers to the floor through something soft like a carpet. But spikes on a tile or hardwood floor will just let the speakers bounce around. I would go with a thin, firm rubber pad, just enough to take up the irregularities.

When I had my Aerius, I used the spikes and set them onto pennies on my hard floors. Sounded better than the flat feet option.

Tile yes. Hardwood floor, no. Will definitely "settle in" and won't bounce.

I used to use the BDR pucks between the spikes and my floor. Prefer direct into the floor with my MBL's.

You can always use interface shown in Post No. 7, hocky pucks, etc. As Steve said, check Music Direct for this and other options.

They will all impact sonics to one degree or another. Need to listen to determine preference.

GG

Thanks for all the suggestions !!!!

I played the first CD through my Ethos that sounded horrible. Looks like I found a resonant frequency in my room. Wow! It was really BOOMY !

I may have to look some more at that other thread talking about room EQ.

Apparently the journey has just begun...

under the spikes

For the past many years my Prodigy in a room with travertine floors have sat on their spikes ON 1x2x3" oak blocks.

It isn't just about keeping the speaker from moving. Spikes are used for mechanical grounding. They drain resonances by transferring them down a diminishing path of mass and dissipating them as heat. Similarly, they present a very small contact point for floor born vibrations to enter. Spikes are somewhat new to audio, but have been used in other disciplines (photographic and optical research) for many generations. The physics behind their use are pretty well established.

Bruce Weiland said:

For the past many years my Prodigy in a room with travertine floors have sat on their spikes ON 1x2x3" oak blocks.

Click to expand...

I can do oak

This is some quarter sawn rough 4/4 White Oak that I recently got. I could have just as easily gotten rock maple or mahogany.

Quarter sawn is the most dimensionally stable cut of wood and the most expensive.



When it was processed for what i needed it looked like this.

MiTT said:

It isn't just about keeping the speaker from moving. Spikes are used for mechanical grounding. They drain resonances by transferring them down a diminishing path of mass and dissipating them as heat. Similarly, they present a very small contact point for floor born vibrations to enter. Spikes are somewhat new to audio, but have been used in other disciplines (photographic and optical research) for many generations. The physics behind their use are pretty well established.

Click to expand...

OK, I'm putting the spikes on and seeing if that boomy CD sounds a little better.

It is true that jamming a chunk of wood under a spike sort of defeats the purpose of a spike. But I believe you will find that spikes on wood blocks on tile sounds much better then the flat metal feet. Please experiment with different types of hard wood. Yes it will sound different.

I've got the spikes in the floor right now and I think it did help with that boomy CD.

One thing I didn't mention is that for the moment I have carpet, so I figured what the heck, but we will be tearing up the carpet and the existing hardwood to put down engineered hardwood in the near future.

It sounds like I should just use the spikes for now and then got back to the round feet on hardwood and if there are problems I can put it up on a subwoofer pad or experiment with other materials.

Got my burst pipe fixed and went ahead and installed a cutoff valve so I'll never experience that again!

RCHeliGuy said:

Yes, The Ethos is a similar design.

The solution seems obvious when you mention it. Don't spike the floor, but put down an intermediate material. My wife will be happy

I just need to make sure it looks tasteful. I thought I was past all the WAF issues, but there it is. LOL! Truth be told in almost every instance where my wife pushed back the end result is a better solution where we are both happy.

Are you talking about something like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Auralex-SubDu...qid=1424459676&sr=1-10&keywords=auralex+mopad

I see it has an MDF top layer that would stop the spikes. But is that really any better than using the rubber feet?

Click to expand...

Hi do a search on Auralex Gramma. That is the one you are looking for (not the great gamma). It is cheap and improves sound much more, it will make music flow much more easier than bouncing off the floor.