Black Diamond Racing products under speakers?


I am wondering if anyone out there has tried BDR Cones or Pucks under their speakers. I have a carpeted plywood floor and have been experimenting with Vibrapods under my floor standing speakers. I feel like their is a dramatic improvement in the overall quality of the sound using them. The thing is that I have Vandersteen 2Ce's and am using the Vibrapods between the T shaped Vandersteen stands and the speakers. The stands still have the spikes on them for stability on the carpet. With the pods set up this way their is a lot less vibration noticable with a hand laid on the cabinet durring loud percussive passages and the sand no longer leakes out of the stands which also tells me that there is a lot less energy being transfered into the stand and therefore into the floor. The problem is that the stands are bolted to the speakers(I use longer bolts to adjust for the added thickness of the pods)and since you dont want to overtighten the bolts in order to not crush the Vibrapods(which may diminish their effectiveness). With this set up over time the bolts loosen up and you have to keep checking them to make sure that the speakers don't fall off the stands(made worse due to the fact that the speakers need to be tilted back slightly). My 2Wq is on pods as well, by the way.

I know that the Audio Point(Warrenh), cone foot, spike guys out there are going to scream bloody murder that decoupling anything is a travisty and that you need to have a pathway to drain...bla bla bla... I will say that if it works for you do it. I am a dampening/isolation guy myself. This may just be because of differences in room/floor construction.

Has anyone tried using the BDR carbon fiber products instead of something like Vibrapods under their speakers? I think that some of "The Pucks" or "The Thick Pucks" might solve the problem. I could even put the speakers on a Bright Star Big Rock with Pyrimid cones under the stands with The Pucks between the stand and the speaker. I know I can't afford to set the speaker/Puck/Cone combo on BDR "The Shelf Boards". The 3/4" BDR material is said to have 25 times the resistance to resonance of 8" of granite. This way I can tighten the stands a bit more firmly since the BDR material is not elastic like the Vibrapods. Any ideas or comments?
maxgain

Showing 3 responses by lugnut

Maxgain,

While I have no experience with your setup or decoupling the speakers from the floor, I do have a lot of experience with bolts/nuts that loosen. I would find what is referred to as a nylock assembly. Most people have seen the nylock nuts but not the bolts. For those of you that aren't familiar with this type of fastener, it has nylon intergral with the thread and really holds even if you don't tighten the bolt or nut. Most large cities have a fastener specialty outlet. I would recommend taking one of your bolts with you to such a store and buying enough to replace the bolts you are now using.

My hotrod would simply vibrate apart without these wonderful products.
Maxgain,

I guess Locktite is worth a try but it is designed to hold when the fasteners are torqued to spec. It's not glue. That's why I believe the Nylock product comes closest to your needs. They will resist backing out from vibration based on your description of not tightening to spec. Good luck.

Patrick
Maxgain,

For an interim solution try wrapping as much teflon tape as possible around the bolt threads. If you can find the bolt specs I may be able to forward enough bolts of the nylock variety. Contact me directly for this. Good luck.

Patrick