Chips

Paul,

I have been using chips under my Fraim and DBLs for a year now with excellent results. Its like adding a power supply to your speakers...the effect is that dramatic. Coins and screw heads are a waste of time...the chips really work!

Chris Bell

How are Naim "chips" different from the run of the mill, local hifi shop, brass plugs with machined diamond divots to seat the speaker spikes correctly?

And do I need a dedicated mains for those too?

Martin

Martin.

I once purchased the run of the mill hifi shop ones. The ones with the gold plating, a metal middle and some foam on the bottom.

those that have been bothered to read my drivvle know that I do not subscribe to the big rack debate, nor have I heard a different between cables.

However one thing is for sure, there is a mraked difference with differing speaker to floor interfaces.

The best for me has been direct, or with pennies. The run of the mill things however magically pull the bass away and leave you with nothing, horrid things.

Hmmmm. I've been using Linn Skeets under my speakers for a couple of years, and the difference they made on installation was fantastic. They're (relatively) cheap too.

But has anyone tried Chips -vs- Skeets? I'd be interested......

Stephen.

I use blutak under the chips to stop them sliding around on the wood floor. Works well and no apparent detriment to sound.

I currently have pads made from an inch wide brass billot cut in about 1/4" coins.

The center of each one is machined to a diamond cone to accept the speaker spike.

The contact chain goes spike, brass, hardwood floor. No felt, blutak, foam or anything. It didn't move with my old Advent/1s on top and even less with my new s/h SBLs

It did wonders for the bass at around 1,5 $cdn each (make that around 65p for you brits)

Since I cannot find any reference for Naim's pads, I'm curious of their construction and availability.

Martin

Not a new idea, but I replaced my spikes with "carriage" ? bolts. These are screws with a hemispherical head. Big improvement. Unfortunately, knob that I am, I did a plug/unplug and one or two other things at the same time so I can't catagorically say the improvement was down to the bolts. It is however, very easy to try, and the bolts are cheap as, er, chips.

I appreciate that spikes are necessary for carpet penetration, but I'm a bit suspicious of the bending resistance of a tapered piece of metal, particularly when supporting a speaker subject to for/aft forces.

I do love machined discs of aluminium though....

regards,

Brian OReilly