Spikes - when to use and when not to

Need some help with the logic behind using spikes.

I own some Triangle Genese Quartet speakers. They come with spikes which I can install, or I can leave them with no spikes, which basically means the base has some short rubber feet.

Considering my speakers lie on wood flooring, what's better? To use the spikes or not? And why?

 

I have wooden floors in my home as well and prefer to use spikes. I use some inexpensive speaker spike discs under them to protect the floor.

The smaller the contact point is with the floor the less it is to transfer sound energy to it.

 

There have been various fads in using various kinds of feet , and in explaining why. Currently, the rumours are that we are moving away from coupling equipment (with spikes). More and more attention is gaining popularity to isolate and damp, with very soft rubber feet integrated with springs. So, I still recommend spikes for carpeted floors, to puncture through the carpet, right onto the floor below, to make sure any wobble is above the operating frequency range of the woofer. But I am starting to also recommend tuning the resonance frequency of physical speaker motion with complex feet, that combine floating on springs and damping, particularly for solid floors.

You will have to search the Internet to learn more about the latest feet of this type.

 

Altough spikes have been the ”popular” choice for many years the soft feet solution has been around for at least 20-25 years which includes measurements of loudspeaker and floor vibration using accelerometers. The latest upsurge of isolation gear is thus not coming from new scientific discoveries.

 

Spike them! Then use these:

Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider

no affiliation they just helped my speakers gain a major advantage in focus and image float.

also note that these have a Teflon base, allowing you to make adjustments in the speaker angles and toe in. This is a major advantage. Every other spike cup I’ve used under speakers eventually stick to the wood floors as the adhesive holding the felt on seeps our from the pressure.
I have heavy speakers...

 

One advantage of using spikes is you can level your speakers on an uneven floor, assuming the spikes are adjustable.

 

You might be interested in Superspikes which consist of the spike and the disk in one connected piece. Perfect for wooden floors. They used to have US distribution, but now you have to order from Norway--very easily done. They come with many different threads and are very reasonably priced.

index

 

I suggest using your ears about using spikes or no spikes. No one can say whether or not you need them w/o listening to your system in your home. Some prefer spikes and others, isolation devices decoupling the speaker from the floor.

I decouple my speakers from the floor - but that's me.

 

I have always found that you should decouple (use isolating rubber type of feet) your loudspeakers from the floor if your room has suspended floors. This reduces the bass frequencies being transferred from the speaker to the floor that cause unwanted vibrations.

You should couple loudspeakers to the floor using spikes when your room has concrete floors that are not suspended.

I have played around with both coupling and decoupling in my room (2nd floor suspended floor trusses, plywood and then carpeted) and find that, in my case, decoupling sounds much better. This will be less important with speakers that produce less bass then, say, a full range speaker.

The best way to find out is by trial and error to see what works best in your room with your speakers.

 

Can I ask what you use to decouple?

 

I am on the 7th floor of a condo, I trust that qualifies as suspended?

Can you say in what ways decoupling is better on your setup?

 

I definitely prefer my speakers with the Gaia IIIs over spikes. Much tighter and extended bass performance. Spikes are better than rubber feet however in my experience. Rubber feet sound muddy to me even on wood floors.

 

A lot of people talk about decoupling but I can't understand what people means, as any approach I'm aware of makes contact with the speaker/speaker stand then floor and therefore seems coupled to me, it a question of the amount of energy transferred in to the floor

Unless we've produced a 100% efficient mechanical to heat machine it's coupled and transferring some energy surely.

In my experience spikes, whilst little contact, which reduces energy transfer, a lot of energy is going in to your floor.

For over 3 years I've experimented and found the Gaia type of approach along with roller balls and the Townshend Seismic platforms are the most effective.

Hard to believe the improvements, jaw dropping, even after a 2 week gap my friend immediately noticed and asked if the album was a different master/mix.

Due to lack of funds all mine is DIY and probably saved me hundreds if not thousands of pounds, having said that if I was rich and lazy the cost would have been worth it.

 

Vibration pads used for light-weight machinery I bought at Graingers. Seems to work and did make an improvement. When you own speakers that weigh 160 lbs your options are limited without breaking the bank.

 

I found that when coupling with spikes, the bass frequencies transferred through the floor of my room. While that seems like it may be a good thing, it wasn't. Instead of hearing nice tight bass from my loudspeakers, I was hearing kind of sloppy bass because the floor was magnifying those frequencies in ways that are difficult to control. Didn't sound natural at all, it was over powering the mid's.
Once decoupled, my loudspeakers sounded much tighter and precise in the lower freq's. Mid's opened up nicely and were not being blurred by the bass. My current loudspeakers and Tannoy Turnberry GR's.
My previous loudspeakers were PMC's that were a two way with a 6.5" woofer. I had those spiked and didn't have this problem at all.

I hope this helps

 

My friend soundproofed a garden shed, for his son's drum studio and had a roll of material left over.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072R5CJ7J/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 even though it's only 2mm thick it has -27db reduction, I used sheets of this as the final barrier under my sub and speakers.

It's very easy to cut and work with and this means you can use it in various ways to mitigate the detrimental effects of vibration on your electronics.

 

That would depend on the construction of the condo. If, for example the floors are constructed using wooden beams and boards on top (and a ceiling structure) then the floor would be suspended. But, many such structures are built using reinforced concrete (whether precast or cast in situ), the floors in that type of case would not be suspended.
Jump up and down. If the floor wobbles and shakes a little bit then it is suspended!

 

In my experience spikes are not the best method and this applies to both suspended and concrete floors, my current floor is concrete previously I've had mainly suspended floors.

 

I've found that spiking speaker's will almost always provide better bass. Since I have hardwood floors and didn't want to risk damaging them I made large thick heavy platforms and spiked/coupled the speakers to them, the improvement was shocking.

 

Thanks, I jumped up and down and there was no shaking or wobbling at all.

 

Thanks, I actually get nice and tight bass with the spikes provided with my speakers.

 

do some experimentation. i have owned speakers that sound better with rubberized or plastic feet vs. spikes and vice versa. depends on the speaker and its interaction with your room.

 

Seems that most manufacturers of loudspeaker stands supply spikes, so maybe that's what they've found to work best, or simply, they believe that's what customers want?

My Sound Anchors come with spikes, which of course makes for solid coupling of the stands with the floor. However, they also supply Sorbothane pads to "decouple" the speakers from the stand. I've tried various alternatives and none sounded as good. Mind you this is with concrete flooring beneath carpet.

In my past dwellings, I've found that suspended-wood flooring can greatly amplify some bass freqs, essentially turning the flexible floor into a big bass resonator. There is no straight answer in these circumstances. In one home, I had to decouple the speakers (talking floorstanders now) to mitigate bass boom, while in another, I preferred the floor's bass reinforcement.

My thoughts on this subject now lean toward using decoupling feet for floorstanding speakers, something like the Gaia footers. For standmounts, spike the stands to the floor and use a decoupling medium like Blu-tack between the stands and speakers.

 

it's interesting because the material between stand and speakers is another variable that can affect the sound. there is a stereophile review for some standmounts where the writer said blu tack made them sound lifeless. i have heard it used at a dealer and didn't think so myself but this is still a cheap "fun" thing to play games with.
starting with the stands spiked to the concrete floor i have tried 4 different "bumpers" to put between speaker and stand and all sounded completely different. the only constant was that thicker / and or softer tended to reduce and blur the bass response.
i wound up using some harder clear rubber flat dots bought at an ace hardware store- ~ 1/8" thick and they sound perfect !

 

Moving in to my present property, concrete floor, I thought migration of vibration would be reduced. in fact I found isolating my electronics showed greater improvement than I'd experienced before.

In addition sound traveling throughout my home was greater than before and this seems to be the main cause of bass boom

I believe a suspended wooden floor is preferable, the vibration of the floor is reducing the energy reaching your equipment and walls, whilst concrete relies on it's density.

Energy in your floor will migrate to your walls and your ceiling, if you're hearing noise from a neighbor only a small part of that would come through even a single brick wall, I've proved it.

Years ago we lived in a terraced house, four houses away was a social club with bands playing and with our and their windows closed we could hear what the band was playing.

Their next door neighbor had a long running dispute and environmental health said the club had to soundproof, afterwards we heard no discernible difference as they'd only soundproofed their walls.

A lot of this will depend on the construction of your house but the principles always apply.