Speaker stand spikes - necessary?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Porkpie, Nov 8, 2018.

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  1. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I’ve just had our wooden floors at home sanded and lacquered and it’s time to put the furniture back on it. My speaker floor stands have sharp spikes on the base and I don’t want to damage the new floor with them. I’ve read the spikes are there for use on carpet, if I remove them and the just have the flat bottoms of the stands sit directly on the floor, will this have any grounding issues or cause more transfer of bass and vibrations?
     
  2. Night Rider

    Night Rider Well-Known Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Your better option might be to place small cups or pads or bases underneath the spikes to protect the floor. They are specifically designed for this purpose and you can buy them from hi-fi shops or online.
     
  3. GyroSE

    GyroSE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    IMHO I believe that spikes are essential. I use Soundcare Superspikes below both my equipment rack and my speakers, these are very effective, fairly affordable and they don’t damage the floor.
     
    Tim 2 likes this.
  4. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    That was my other option, to buy the cups to sit the spikes on. Think I’ll go for that, thanks
     
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  5. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    On_the_dunes likes this.
  6. Thomas_A

    Thomas_A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    I stopped use spikes many years ago. They just transfer vibrations from the speakers to the floor and also make the speakers rock in the bass region. I use soft feet.
     
    Galactus2 and SandAndGlass like this.
  7. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore

    Place nickels underneath the spikes ,
     
  8. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Are you referring to spikes under the speakers or speaker stands?
     
  9. Thomas_A

    Thomas_A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    Primarily between stand and speaker. For the stands I would use just felt pads or something similar that you use under chairs and other furniture.
     
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  10. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    My Kef speakers are attached to the speaker stands with balls of blu-tac. I have a dog and a two-year old running around and I don’t trust the speakers to just stand on the stands without getting knocked off.
     
  11. Thomas_A

    Thomas_A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    I know the situation; I use Sonic Design feet with double adhesive tape.
     
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  12. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    I went to rubber feet on my hardwood floors. No problem.
     
    Mike-48, Galactus2 and SandAndGlass like this.
  13. TheVinylAddict

    TheVinylAddict Look what I found

    Location:
    AZ
    Cheapskate. :D I use quarters... thinking of upgrading to silver dollars.
     
  14. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    They have small thick discs that have a "V" indentation in the center that is more stable than coins.
     
    Bill Mac, Helom and TheVinylAddict like this.
  15. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    I like to use these between the speakers and stands:
    AcousTech-Speaker Dots-Isolation Devices|Acoustic Sounds

    They are the same pucks that come supplied with Sound Anchor stands. I've experimented with many non-marring materials and concluded these pucks result in the best sound.

    They create a sort of suction bond between the speakers and stand. Takes a good amount of force to "peel" the speakers off, yet they don't damage the finish in any way. They haven't left even the slightest of shadow marks on the veneer of my Spendors. My experience with most other materials is they eventually leave an imprint on the speaker finish.

    As for floor spikes, just experiment with different materials/configurations. I have my Sound Anchors spiked to concrete through carpet. If it weren't for the carpet I'd probably forego the spikes, or use brass spike cups.

    There's endless debate to this topic, but the only correct answer is whatever sounds best to you.
     
    33na3rd, bruce2 and Porkpie like this.
  16. timind

    timind phorum rezident

    Here are a few options:

    [​IMG]

    If you can match the thread.
     
  17. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    Take a spike to your hardware store and they will be able to determine the size and pitch. My RS3 s were 6mm.
     
    timind likes this.
  18. SandAndGlass

    SandAndGlass Twilight Forum Resident

    And "these" can be purchased from?
     
  19. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
  20. vinylontubes

    vinylontubes Forum Resident

    Location:
    Katy, TX
    I'd go with the nickels. You can buy Cone Coasters, but they's spikes. Just take a nail and hammer and put a little indent in the middle if you want them centered.
     
  21. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    A good read for you.

    Understanding Coupling/Decoupling - with particular reference to loudspeakers
     
  22. lonelysea

    lonelysea Ban Leaf Blowers

    Location:
    The Cascades
    I had spikes on my B&Ws with hardwood floors and they sounded worse than with (cheap) rubber furniture pads. I tried spikes with the same speakers on a concrete floor and they were atrocious: no bass! I even tried spikes with Herbie’s grounding bases/discs: good but not great. Upgraded my speakers and went with Isoacoustics GAIA footers: best sound yet.

    Not a spike fan.
     
  23. Claude Benshaul

    Claude Benshaul Forum Resident

    I'm not a a fan of spikes either. They scratched my tile floor and when I followed the advise to put some disks beneath it got me into thinking that the whole idea is not really working for me, especially as it made it easier for the roomba to move them around when it was bumping into them when cleaning the room.

    The only thing I liked about the spikes had nothing to do with being spiked and pointy. The spikes where part of an outrigger kit (actually the same or nearly identical to the one appearing in a photo appearing in the article linked by the OP) and that added a lot to the stability of the floor standing speakers.

    Switching to IsoAccoustics GAIA feet solved for me both the tile scratching and roomba problems. They also look better but this is a matter of personal taste.
     
    Done A Ton and SandAndGlass like this.
  24. Porkpie

    Porkpie Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I’m thinking I’ll just leave the speaker stands flat on the floor (they have a large base) and consider something different between speaker and stand that is also secure.
     
  25. Thomas_A

    Thomas_A Forum Resident

    Location:
    Uppsala, Sweden
    Porkpie likes this.
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