Protecting wood floors from spikes

I had this problem a couple of years ago. I tried putting coins under the Credo's spikes, and not having spikes and both were not for me.

My solution was to purchase granite slabs from HNE systems (www.hne.co.uk - crap web site, call them for a brochure), and blu-tak them to the floor, and then have the Credo's spikes rest on the granite. This way I ended up with a very dynamic but full sound.

I also tried having the granite slabs themselves spiked onto coins on the floor, but the whole musical performance collapsed, and within 5 minutes I was back to blu-taking the slabs to the floor.

You may get the same effect with paving slabs, but I'm pretty sure your girlfriend will not approve.

kevin

Hi Steve,

I suppose it depends on your loudspeakers. I found that putting anything under my SBLs influenced the sound enormously. With my former selfmade speakers, there was no real difference. There I used small coins underneath the spikes.

Ciao!

Willem

Steve,

I've not tried it but if your prepared to spend £100 odd quid you could put Nordost Pulsar Points underneath instead of the spikes. I seem to remember someone on the old forum trying this. The difference was not as beneficial as it can be underneath preamps etc, but it didn't harm the sound. Some dealers will allow you to try these for free - may even improve the sound.

David

As small as possible and be sure that the spike is in the middle of the coin. Levelling becomes extremely important too.

/e

When I lived in houses with wooden floors, I used a product called "Flat toes" to protect the floors from the spikes of my SBLs.

Flat toes are small brass discs, with raised sides and an indent in the middle to accommodate the spike. They are cheap and much more effective than coins because the indent keeps the spike in position. I found that the coins under my equipment racks were much less stable.

Hope this helps.

I've no personal experience of them, but Linn make / made some foot like device exactly for this purpose, it was called a skeet, if my memory serves me correctly.

It sat on the floor, and the spike rested upon it.

Andy.

Andrew L. Weekes
alweekes@audiophile.com

steve, I use Linn Skeets for my equipment, speakers. They work with anything that terminates in a spike. They are very heavy-duty and I put double sided tape on the bottom so that they cannot move laterally. I forget the price but it is something like fifty dollars(US) for four. I think they work very well. david.

Steve,

You might also consider Tendercups, a small cone with a dimple at the end to receive a spike. If you need more info, check out "The Audiophile Store" at www.uhfmag.com.

Cheers,

John Schmidt

Linn Skeets are the way to go. Cheap and Effective.

regards

Dev

Thanks for all the replies. I spoke with my Naim dealer, who gave me the following advice:
I removed the spikes, which screw into the bottom of my Meadowlark Kestrels, and replaced them with carriage bolts. These look like large screws, but the head is smooth and rounded, thus creating a small contact area without damaging the floors. They are working great.

Thanks
Steve

Steve,

glad to see you've found a solution.

Just to add my ha'penorth to the above comments, I found coins under the spikes of my Isobariks hugely detrimental.

Strangely, though, coins between the top spikes and the speaker cabinets are extremely benificial.

cheers, Martin