Coupling vs. Decoupling for Bass Response


My work system is in the hay loft of a converted 100 year old horse barn. The floor is wide pine planks over wood beams and shakes with just the footsteps of someone walking across it. Needless to say it does not help my bass response. I have my LaScalas in this room, which are not exactly known for low bass in the first place. They have a rather large footprint (I believe around 2X3 feet). Any suggestions of some simple (re: inexpensive) ways to get back some of my bass that the floor is eating up? I'm currently using three cones under each speaker, but I'm thinking coupling may be counter-productive. I'm guessing that I should be looking at a means of decoupling. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Marco
jax2

Showing 1 response by gunbei

Marco, is this the system you have posted with Diesel in the picture? Nice barn! Just kidding.

I would try the simple approach first. Get big pieces of MDF and place them under the speakers. My idea is to spread out the weight of the speakers the floor joists are trying to support. The reason I suggest this is so that you can see if this cheap idea yields any positive results before investing a lot of time and money attacking it in a similar manner.

If the floors are old and creaky, platforms constructed of heavy materials may compromise the safety of the entire loft. Buy one sheet of 4" x 8" 1" thick MDF and cut it in half so you'll have a 4x8 under each speaker. If that doesn't work you might have to try two 4x8s under each.

Try the cheap simple way first! Or get Diesel to curl up in front the creakier of the two speakers.