Can foam padding isolate better than spikes?


This may be quite crazy but I've set my Dynaudio C3 speaker stands down on a 1.5" thick sheet of soft foam padding instead of using spikes. Now the floor has almost no vibration. The sound is cleaner and more natural. I did the same with my subwoofer with the same results! Now I'm considering laying all of my gear on soft foam. Has anyone tried this? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Chris
sonicray

Showing 2 responses by sonicray

Thanks for your responses. Yes, it is fun trying all these unusual tweaks and decoupling materials but the bottom line is what sounds better.

So spikes get rid of resonances quickly whereas decoupling materials allow the resonances to remain until they dissipate on their own, it seems.

Enjoy,

Sonicray
Stanwal has a very intriguing point about the perceptions of "blacker" silences. I wonder if this blackness is enhanced by the fast dissipation of unwanted resonances being emitted from within and around the speaker cabinets or from the floor. Not knowing the kind of floor or anything else about the listening environment, I would suspect its the result of both which is creating an absence of unnecessary resonances. And its this absence that most purists strive for (do I sound like the professor on Gilligan's island here or what?). And then there are a few who can accept and enjoy a little added "earthiness" as their floor chimes in and the fleas in the carpet begin to sing along . . .