Nice post - these can be good for amps, too, YMMV, depensing on setup etc.
Cheap speaker tweak
I was going to post this under " misc audio " but since I did only tweak my speakers I thought I would place it here. I have speakers that come with spikes from the factory, I'm sure many of you have encounter this situation. But I also have carpet in my listening room. When I initially bought my speakers I read the manual, which suggested I let the spikes go right into my carpet. What???!!! Not a chance I thought, I just put in new carpet.
So I purchased some of those carpet saver pads, you know the ones you use to put under sofa feet. I set my speakers on these but the spikes were always causing the pads to lean one way or the other. Then one day surfing somewhere on a audio site I saw a maple board ( that's right just a board ) for sale. The claim of course guaranteed to give your piece of equipment guaranteed " superior sound " I knowing a few things about wood also knew that this was merely a $2.00 piece of maple that someone had routed an edge on, selling for $70! Yikes what will be believe next? So I got to thinking " hey I think I'll go to the local Home Depot and buy a couple of pieces of wood to place my speakers on, then they won't lean "
Well to make a long story short ( I know too late ) I couldn't find any wood the right size. So I went over to the ceramic tiles and began looking. Eventually I found a 12X12 tile that was visibly expectable. I bought a pair @ 99 cents each and took them home and put them under my speakers. I only wanted to provide my speakers with a more stable base, but I got more than that. The first time I listened to my system I thought wow! Everything is more transparent, the sound stage is deeper, the highs and mids were smoother and the bass was tighter. So I got to thinking when I was at the Depot I also saw some marble tiles 12x12 @ $5.49 but 3 times as thick, of course I went back and bought a pair. And yes things improved even more, and the appearance isn't bad either. I can see it now someone is going to read this and make a fortune selling these special speaker tiles.
So if your into cheap tweaks and your speakers are under 1 foot square. I would suggest shopping at your local lumber company. If you do post your results, I would be curious to know if it is just my setup. But now that I think about it, and if my ears are not deceiving me. I'll bet their are other things like this that will work under my equipment.
So I purchased some of those carpet saver pads, you know the ones you use to put under sofa feet. I set my speakers on these but the spikes were always causing the pads to lean one way or the other. Then one day surfing somewhere on a audio site I saw a maple board ( that's right just a board ) for sale. The claim of course guaranteed to give your piece of equipment guaranteed " superior sound " I knowing a few things about wood also knew that this was merely a $2.00 piece of maple that someone had routed an edge on, selling for $70! Yikes what will be believe next? So I got to thinking " hey I think I'll go to the local Home Depot and buy a couple of pieces of wood to place my speakers on, then they won't lean "
Well to make a long story short ( I know too late ) I couldn't find any wood the right size. So I went over to the ceramic tiles and began looking. Eventually I found a 12X12 tile that was visibly expectable. I bought a pair @ 99 cents each and took them home and put them under my speakers. I only wanted to provide my speakers with a more stable base, but I got more than that. The first time I listened to my system I thought wow! Everything is more transparent, the sound stage is deeper, the highs and mids were smoother and the bass was tighter. So I got to thinking when I was at the Depot I also saw some marble tiles 12x12 @ $5.49 but 3 times as thick, of course I went back and bought a pair. And yes things improved even more, and the appearance isn't bad either. I can see it now someone is going to read this and make a fortune selling these special speaker tiles.
So if your into cheap tweaks and your speakers are under 1 foot square. I would suggest shopping at your local lumber company. If you do post your results, I would be curious to know if it is just my setup. But now that I think about it, and if my ears are not deceiving me. I'll bet their are other things like this that will work under my equipment.