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Floor standing speaker isolation advice needed.

I have an older pair of KEF Reference Model Twos that currently sit on their brass(?) feet on the floor. The floor is tile but not solid cement underneath. I bought two .5" thick granite tiles for underneath the speakers and am wondering if I need to do anything else like put the spikes on the brass feet, add sorbothane under the granite tiles and/or under the brass feet or something else I should be considering? Things sound good on the top end but seem a bit subdued/muddy in the bass region. The KEFs are being driven by a Parasound Halo A23 and I’ve got a HSU VTF-3 MK 2 helping out the bass, mostly for movie duty.


Thanks for any advice.
asahitoro

Showing 3 responses by kalali

kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
A buddy of mine has his 80 lbs. speakers on a ceramic tile over half a dozen racquetballs on a floor similar to yours and it works for him. Trust your ears....
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Based on what I’ve read, if the floor is cement or tile, covered with carpet or not, it’s best to couple the speakers with the hard floor using spikes, direct or through the carpet. If the floor is suspended and is covered with hardwood, e.g., basement underneath, second floor, etc., it’s best to decouple using a semi hard material, e.g., sorbathane, etc. I can only attest to the second scenario and am using Herbies brass gliders with a layer of their Fat Dots together under the speaker spike. Happy with the results. YMMV.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 

If you already have the spikes in place, you can consider using the Herbies with the brass fitting for the spike and the decoupler attached. I like the spring idea but finding ones with the right compliance to create a stable platform might be a little challenging.

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