Speaker/floor interaction

Posted by: Hammerhead on 04 October 2000

Does anyone have any experience in isolating speakers from the floor? The reason that I ask is because my current speakers (see profile) give out a fair bit of bass which you can feel through the (carpet over concrete) floor. I don't personally find this a problem but I'm not so sure about the chap downstairs… I'm toying with the idea of placing some concrete slabs, which I'll also spike, underneath the speakers.
Will this reduce the amount of energy going into the floor without having a detrimental effect on the sound of my system?

Cheers,

Steve

Posted on: 04 October 2000 by Former member

Stephen,

I had a similar issue with my setup, where I felt I was losing too much energy into the floor resulting in some losses in bass definition and weight. Since installing Mana Soundbases, the transmission of vibration to my suspended floor has diminished significantly. The end result is tighter and deeper bass for me, but you should also know they lift the height of the speakers about 4 inches, which could affect the dispersion of HF content.

Soundbases are made in a variety of sizes to suit various loudspeakers, so I suggest you contact the boys at Pinner in the first instance for your specific application.

James

Posted on: 05 October 2000 by Naheed

Stephen, i had similar problems, and decided to go for a pair of Soundbases which worked a treat, i then added a second pair which improve matters EVEN further.

Additional Height does'nt seem to be a problem with additional phases...

naheed...

Posted on: 05 October 2000 by Darren Miller

My speakers were producing thes same problem. Losing power into the floor(wooded suspended). It was quite noticeable as you could feel the vibration in your feet.

I simply purchased 4 half size paving slabs and positioned the rear spikes of the speakers on one slab and the front spikes on another. I found it easier to level with 4 slabs rather than just 2 large ones.

This has not only removed the vibration from the floor but increased the performance of the system no end.

Try it first as it's lots cheaper than starting with the Mana and will probably give you 75%(ish) of the perfomance gain. Thus allowing you to purchase a Mana stand for your CDX with the money that you've just saved.

Darren Miller

Posted on: 05 October 2000 by Former member

I had a similar experience to Darren - exactly the same environment as he describes, except I spent a day levelling them as I did use two massive paving slabs. Why didn't I think of more than one ?

BUT - it doesn't seem to work as well concrete-on-concrete. I recommended the same solution to a friend with a concrete floor - and he was unimpressed. Probably worth a try though. Cheap too.

Jonathan

Posted on: 05 October 2000 by Former member

Stephen,
I used to keep my speakers on large floor tiles to protect my wooden floor from spikes. It worked fine, I thought, until I replaced them with Linn Skeet (I got suggestion somewhere else on the Forum). The look is better (you can't see them because they're black and hidden below the speakers, but, more important, sound improved.
More definition, detail, deeper bass and larger imaging.
Retail price here is approx 50 UKP.

Stefano.