To spike speaker stands on concrete or not.

I own a house thats floors are poured on slab concrete, which is pretty common in the southwestern U.S.

I've recently entered the world of stand mount speakers and the stands I've purchased have spikes included.

I've read opposing opinions whether I should spike or not. Currently they're not spiked since it's kind of a pain to level etc. if it isn't going to help.

Give me your opinions and reasoning behind your advice please.

 

I would not use spikes on a concrete floor, but would certainly level the stand, using shims if necessary. Concrete is a hard surface, and the spikes would be more difficult to level than
simply using shims below one or two of the stand's legs. A three legged stand is the best,
but may have to be custom made.

 

Call me crazy, but how do you keep a speaker on metal spikes not "walking around" with the energy and movement produced by the drivers? I use rubber like feet and my speakers sound good, and never stray?

 

PS, I live in S FL, where ther is a lot of tile floors. When I lived in Boston, with hard wood floors, I still used rubber as opposed to spikes. In general, why "couple" the speaker to the floor? Doesn't this create unintended resonance problems?

 

Use the spikes. Be sure to pierce through the carpet and pad, all the way to the concrete. Take your time and level them, once you've settled on placement.

 

I couple the stands to the concrete and isolate the speakers from the stand.

 

Exactly... Spikes on top and bottom. The speakers float.

 

I don't spike em to the ground though. Hard coupled to the concrete. If the speakers are properly isolated from the stand, and I mean properly with sorbothane calculated for the given load, them i don't see the point of spiking at all.

 

Why not spike to the concrete? Where do you find said calculations for sorbothane, since I have some on hand if needed.

This is why I asked, it seems some say do it, and other say don't.

Also, is Blue Tacking speakers to the stands not recommended?

 

The calculator is on the sorbothane website. Blue tac doesn't do the same thing. I think you either isolate the stand or the speakers,not both. But you can argue either way.

 

My towers have individually adjustable feet with rubber tips. I can level them on any surface and they sound as if they were on spikes. Get rubber and keep the spikes in the drawer. Did you at least carpet those floors ? Reflexions from concrete have a way of ruining the sound.

 

You could try something like this:

http://www.symposiumusa.com/svelte.html

More consideration of vibration here:

http://www.barrydiamentaudio.com/vibration.htm

 

Yes they're at least carpeted. I've been using this room for my main system for 13 years, just new to stand mounts.

 

Thank you, I'll go to the site and see what I need to do.

 

Cool. Its a must. Random bits of sorbothane not sized to the weight they are isolating is nest to useless. You see it all the time, people using pads and mats of it for sitting speakers on top of. The calculator isnt all that intuitive, so let us know if it dosent make sense. Took me a while

 

Thank's everyone for the good advice. I leveled the stands by turning them upside down, and using an old Rega glass platter as a flat surface to adjust the spikes to perfection.

I decoupled the speakers using 1/2" squares of Sorbothane. The calculator is Windows only, and the math involved is too much for this brain on Superbowl Sunday.

So far they sound pretty good, with maybe a little more focus, but who knows, time will tell.

 

I suspect every cabinet design favors different frequency ranges based on how the vibration is dissipated. Spikes will connect the cabinet to the floor, but concrete is about as stable as you can get, so probably no harm if the cabinet resonates nicely.

The only way I would try isolation on concrete would be with no carpet. If there is a stand in between, that probably further complicates the issue.

 

Wait, so it's carpet over concrete? I'd definitely spike the stands and isolate the monitors. The additional stability, the energy drain, the minimized contact will all contribute to a tighter, more articulate response in the LF region.

 

Spike 'em. Definitely the stands to the floor and probably the speakers to the stands using spikes and hard disc combination. You could experiment with blu tack or sorbothane between speaker and stand to see if you might have a preference-my guess is that if all is well with the rest of the system all spiking would be preferable.

Suspended floor is a different situation altogether but a concrete slab is pretty inert and doesn't move so take advantage of it.

Spike to concrete, isolate with suspended. That's the drill.

 

My B&W CM7's came with screw-in spikes and screw-in rubber feet, a nice touch! I would guess the rubber feet for concrete floors and the spikes for carpeted floors!

JG

 

The Blu-tac will keep the speakers from falling should there be a minor bump. Actually a major bump and they'll stay on; probably until they hit the floor after tipping.

 

Agree, completely. Concrete is perfect for coupling because it doesn't move. Symposium Svelte Shelves, as mentioned above, are great for the speaker/stand interface.

 

Spikes, feet, sorbothane, as long as they're on a relatively stable stand, I don't think you notice a difference. I built some stands out of two by fours and they worked just as well and my fancy Chicago lead-filled spiked stands. Unless youre a Greek statue who never moves his head a millimeter for hours (or centuries) on end, I doubt the miniscule movement of the vibrations of a moving speaker (put a hand on top of your speaker while its playing, ever feel it vibrating wildly? If you do, it's a pretty crappily braced speaker) are going to affect your listening experience as much as your own body's constant repositioning.

 

Yes, sorry I didn't mention that

 

So spikes, then. The fine tuning will be in how you mate the speakers with the stands. I have heard good things about rope caulk. I use Herbies fat dots—adhesive mounted to the stands with the speakers sitting on those. You would be surprised at the changes in the way the low frequency is presented based on how the speakers interact with the stands and floor. I don’t think there is any one answer, as every room is different. In general, the more surface area connecting the speaker to the stand, the more bass energy.