Leveling spikes for speakers

If the spikes wobble, but there is a decent amount of threaded shaft left in the hole, you can stop the wobble by taking the spike out completely and adding a couple of flat washers that will take up the space. This will allow a snug tightening of the spike against the flat washers and stop the wobble.

You may want to ask for AN washers. The AN stands for Army/Navy. These washers are thinner and a smaller diameter than a standard washer and will offer finer adjustment when stacking them. Also, you may want to find half thickness jam nuts. While I'm not familiar with your speakers and the spikes used, I would guess that the spikes thread into an insert on the bottom of the speaker. Assuming you have enough thread to accomodate the jam nuts this should make things more solid once tightened.

Remove the spikes. Get nuts with the same thread as the spikes. Thread the nuts onto the spikes and run them snug tight against the spike. Reinstall the spikes back into the base of the speakers running the newly added nut/spike combo tight to the base of the speaker. Level the speakers by backing the spikes out of the speaker base. Once level, run the nut up to the base of the speaker and tighten the nut to the base of the speaker.

Good Luck,

Doug

Frank,

If you didn't have so much free time on your hands you would not have time to worry about this type of BS, furthermore with your engineering background you should be ashamed of yourself. As suggested by the previous response all you need is a small nut that you can tighten against the bottom of the speaker. BTW thanks for your help with my situation

Ernie

I think that introducing washers might be counter-productive. If I am understanding the situation, the threads are not tight enough.

Try wrapping the threads of the spikes in teflon tape, available at any hardware store in the plumbing section. This should help fill the gap and who knows we might start a new tweek.

I have had this same issue before, and thought it'd be cool if one of the tweak manufacturers would produce threaded cones like the Zoethecus ones, only smaller. That would be a nearly perfect solution, and extremely convenient. Of course, several thread options would need to be made available to fit different speakers, racks, etc. It'd be REALLY cool to have tiny ones for use under components, too. Perfect mechanically-coupled isolation with infinite (and easy) level adjustment...

Gthrush1

If I've got this right, your solution is as follows:

Get a piece of threaded rod with the correct diameter and thread for the for component you want to spike. Also, get some nuts and washers. Cut the threaded rod into lengths long enough to engage the threads in the component and have enough left over for the nut, washer and leveling adjustment. Probably an inch long will do it in many cases. File a point on one end of the cut off threaded rod, put a on nut and washer and thread your homebrew spike into the component (spike pointing down). Level the component, then back the nuts, with the washer between the nut and the component, up against the bottom of the component and tighten a little to firm everything up.

Good Luck

Doug

Interesting responses thus far. Except Ernie's. He missed the obvious: this is a hardware problem and I only do software. Actually, we used to work together and I've come to expect such shennanigans from him. ;-)

The ideas on using nuts and washers actually came to mind, but a more elegant solution is desired. My thoughts on using a regular nut are that finger access to it would be restricted by the cone making a wrench necessary to for adjustments.

Washers are an interesting consideration and might be worth a try. They'll have to be *exactly* the right ID and thickness or Marsh will be correct. He may be anyway.

Either of the above solutions would be cumbersome as these speakers weigh 100 lbs. each. They're easy to tilt, but that ties up one hand which is why I'm tooking for a "one-handed" solution. I'd hate to drop one while futzing around!

The idea of teflon tape is interesting. If the threads on the inserts were cut to a closer tolerance, as Marsh suggests, there wouldn't be a problem. They're most likely made as they are for a reason. Otherwise it would be harder to install the cones due to a greater likelihood for cross-threading the shaft into the insert.

When initially pondering the problem (ok, I actually do hardware on a limited basis) what came to mind was not a nut, but a threaded thumbwheel. Something that would be run up against the bottom of the speaker after it was leveled. Since posting I have found that knurled brass nuts of the appropriate size are probably available at the local hardware store. Eight of these and an equal number of longer threaded shafts (which are actually allen head set screws) should fix the problem.

Nonetheless, thanks for the suggestions.

As an aside, larger spikes would still be nice. The stock ones are 1" in diameter and 1.5" tall. My seating position is higher than a normal couch or chair and raising the speakers a bit probably wouldn't hurt things.

Frank & GThrush your solution is already available. May Audio Marketing sells nice boxed sets of BBC cones/spikes (whatever you want to call them) that have adjustable threads with integral knurled jam-nuts. They are gold plated brass & are available in different sizes, from fairly small to quite large, & they do not cost a fortune. After you adjust the spike thread downward until the spike firmly contacts the floor, you spin the thin knurled jam-nut tightly agaist the upper mount section of the BBC cone. It makes a very stable mount. The knurled edge of the jam-nut is very accessible & easy to tighten with only finger pressure. These boxed sets also come with gold plated brass pucks, can be used for floor protection or even to take up some additional space if the thread isn't quite long enough. Talk about versatile! I don't know if May Audio still sells the BBC line, but if not then try Holm Audio who used to handle the line back in '99 as well. Both links are provided below. If that fails then contact me via email & I'll try to look up the manufacturer directly from my sets' packaging.

http://207.21.251.91/mayaudio/home.asp
May Audio Marketing
10524 Lexington Drive
Suite 300
Knoxville, TN 37932
423-966-8844

http://www.holmaudio.com
2050 West 75th Street
Woodridge, IL 60517
Phone: (630) 663-1298
Email: [email protected]

Thanks, Bob. Didn't see anything on those sites about BBC's products, but did find that Polycrystal has three sizes of cones that appear to come with adjusters.

Check the Martin Logan web site. They sell adjustable screw-in locking spikes for their heavy-weight speakers. Might just work for you.

I'm a contractor. Pull up the carpet. Use a leveling agent. Float it and feather it out. Put down the carpet. Place speakers wherever you want. chuck

Chuck, if I owned this place that would probably be the best solution. Especially since the carpet is getting close to needing replacment, too. Unfortunately, I am a renter, so that ain't gonna happen.

Dogpile, ML's are noted.