OK - I've been fiddling around with my setup this week (CD3/72/hicap/140/ProAcs) and - ended up back where I started
But...in trying various things, I moved the speakers around a bit. I would place the speaker/spiked Atlantis stand in a location and listen. Move it a bit and listen.
Funny thing is when I found a good spot, I would *push down* on the speakers/stands to "ground" the arrangement. This pushes the spikes through the carpet and into the flimsyboard flooring underneath. The sound kindof went dull and lost some life every time I did this.
So...what is the best way for me to 'stand' my spiked speaker stands? And the carpet doesn't come up, so there is no easy way of getting anything under the carpet. For now, the stands are positioned "lightly" on the floor and the result is good.
Oh, and I used to have spikes between the speakers and the stands. I found that using pennies instead, just to prevent the speakers from wobbling on the stands, gave a better result. The spiked speakers sounded dry and "clinical" by comparison.
- GregB
Heavy Forum Use
Posted on: 01 September 2000 by Tony L
quote:
I would *push down* on the speakers/stands to "ground" the arrangement. This pushes the spikes through the carpet and into the flimsyboard flooring underneath. The sound kindof went dull and lost some life every time I did this.
Most people spike their speaker stands down with the venom and brute force Buffy the vampire slayer calls upon when spiking things from the dark side. Many others use screw heads etc driven into the floor to provide a stable coupling, as I did for many, many years.
Earlier this year I picked up some excellent tips from JW (Mana) as to how to get things to work a lot better. With spikes on stands, be they speakers or tables what you are trying to achieve is to get the stand levelled on its spikes on the floor beneath the carpet - i.e. not nailed in to the floor, or resting on the carpet. Mark where the stand goes - I use some packing tape stuck temporarily onto the carpet so I can see where the spikes are aligned, then cut a little X with a Stanley knife so you don't need to stomp the stands through the carpet. Level the stands, and make sure they do not rock by adjusting the spikes - not by stomping, remove the packing tape and that’s it done. When done right the tempo and flow is more natural than the often over fast and impressive sound of screws, and the openness, detail and PRaT is way better than "nailed" stands. Not sure how this method would work (i.e. how not to "nail") for real heavyweights like Bariks / DBLs - suck it and see.
An additional tip for Mana users is to only do the nuts up barely above finger tight - over tight nuts (ooo-er missus) leads to a hard, relentless and forward sound. There is an excellent FAQ in the Mana conference FAQ section, plus JW's replys to me should still be there if you search on 'Kan'.
Tony.
Posted on: 01 September 2000 by Greg Beatty
...to Tony and Vuk. The forum does work
quote:
the openness, detail and PRaT is way better than "nailed" stands.
Yes! Exactly! I'd been putting small rocks on top of the speakers to "open" the sound a bit, but it isn't necessary when the speakers are not nailed into the floor.
Hey, how about cutting the X in the carpet and then putting pennies underneath? Yes? No? Maybe Vuk's brass plate?
- GregB
Posted on: 03 September 2000 by FangfossFlyer
Tony
Yesterday evening I loosened the nuts on my Mana Reference Table supporting my LP12 to see the effect. The last time I re-tuned the Mana was over a year ago and at the time the nuts were really tightened to their limit!.
And, yes I found an overall subtle improvement: less harsh than before.
Although difficult to decide if this was from loosening the nuts and/or re-tuning the table. Although I suspect it was due to loosening the nuts as the table was found to be well tuned before dismantling.
Interesting!
Richard
