Speakers on carpet over concrete

I use the spikes, not sure if I can hear a difference without the spikes.

It probably won’t matter but try it and see. I have similar floor. Speakers are on castors. 

Completely decouple, no spikes at all. I didn't think people still used spikes on speakers. I've had to dig up basements and fix water, add drains and repair or replace waste pipes. All the guys with stereos in there basements use pods or springs, now. I haven't seen spikes in 15 years.. Spikes transfer a lot of the bass into the floor and then into the walls. It  smears the bass signal and vibrates the house.. The same in a house, spikes setting on spring pads maybe. :-) Spikes not so much.

I been using Townshend Podiums for over 2.5 years, they sure work well.

Decouple with individual springs, properly sized for the weight of your speakers or Herbies Giant Fat Gliders or Threaded Stud Gliders. Size individual springs by putting the actual load somewhere in the middle of the usable range, and account for any differences in weight distribution between the front and back of your speakers since the front can be heavier due to the weight of the drivers.

For a very low cost, cut squares of Owens Corning 703 or 705 rigid fiberglass, or use hockey pucks. The Owens Corning board is very similar to what is used in the AV RoomService EVPs.

If you want to pay more money look at Townshend, RevOpods, IsoAcoustics GAIA footers, or any number of other popular products. Some like Nobsound spring footers, which are relatively inexpensive.

Thank you all for some excellent options.  I didn't think the bass would vibrate the house due to the mass of the floor.  I'll start with the cheaper options like hockey pucks.

You do not want a speaker stand or a speaker resting on carpet and rocking about. You want to be sure that the speaker/stand Is in solid contact with the hard surface of the floor. My stands spikes make solid contact with the concrete beneath the carpet/pad. The stands are filled with Atacama Atabites...my stands do not budge, nor do speakers. Blutac is used between speaker and stand. 

I agree about not using spikes on a wood or composite floor, however if you have a pored concrete floor with carpet & pad overlay and properly spiked speakers, the floor is not going to absorb the bass. By using long enough spikes so the tips rest on the slab and the speaker cabinet bottoms are raised high enough to clear the carpet surface. You will have a solid, stable connection to the floor. Make sure you have sharp spikes and they are long enough.

@jc4659 - I have exactly the same setup in my basement (carpet on concrete), so I took a slightly different approach to others, which appears (to me) to work very well

Under each speaker

• I use two 18" square granite tiles on top of each other with a layer of thin foam drawer liner between them
  • this acts as an isolating sandwich
• at each corner of the lower tile I glue one of these
  • spiked plastic carpet protectors
• The speaker sits on top ot the two tiles using its spiked feet
• This larger "base" is just like installing outriggers to the speakers, which minimizes any movement
• after about two months the underlay is compressed under each spiked foot resulting in a very firm platform on which to place the speaker

My speaker weighs about 60 lbs, which contributes even more to their stability

So now my speakrs are

• nicley seperated/isolated from the concrete under the carpet
• very stable (actually rock solid)
• sounding amazingly detailed with a large and spacious image

One other approach to achieve additional speaker stability is to add heavy weight on top of the speaker - this prevents the woofer cone from moving the speaker cabinet

• A friend places a 15lb bar-bell on top of each speaker
• doesn't look elegant - but it works ! 🤪

Hope that helps - Steve

I was reading the other day that Richard Vandersteen, specifically uses spikes to enhance the sound from his speakers. He only wants drivers moving, not the enclosure. He wants the speaker to couple to the concrete because it moves less than any other surface in our homes.

I have very thick carpet over dense pad on a concrete slab floor. I currently have Zu’s on spikes through the carpet to the concrete. The speakers are rock solid to the floor with brass weights on the top front of the cabinets. I went to 15”x15”x4” walnut Timber Nation pedestals spiked to the floor with the Zu’s on that. This setup sounded terrible. Sean at Zu responded personally to me suggesting spacing and placement distance above the pedestal. I never came close to how it was before and went back to what I first mentioned. My previous system in the room was high power with JBL 4312’s on 26” Sound Anchor stands, again with spikes through the carpet and into the concrete. However the JBL’s had dots between the speakers and the stands. This combo weighed about 100 lbs per side and wouldn’t move even with someone bumping into them. What I’m not clear on that could be addressed by those above is running springs on carpet and not getting a speaker that’s like a rocking horse. Also the bottom line is we have to try it ourselves and hear the results. FWIT I’m in the opinion that a loose speaker rocks back and forth in response to the driver like Mr Vandersteen spikes his stuff. And those beautiful Timber Nation walnut pedestals made great amp stands. Regards , Mike B. 

I have wall-to-wall carpet in my listening room, with stand mount speakers; I found a big difference, especially in the bass, between using spikes and not using them. I think there is a thick layer of concrete between floors of my apartment building.

Yes, it matters.  You want to prevent the speaker from rocking from the motion of the woofer, causing some Doppler shift. Of course this depends a lot on the geometry and weight of the speaker.  If a light touch can rock it, at all, it needs spikes.

My experiences.

Poured concrete basement, pad, carpet.

1. Vandersteen 2ce Sig IIs. Had spikes, tried IsoAcoustics Gaia's. The Gaia's really sucked the life out of the speaker especially the bass. Now let me say that I did hear a benefit with using IsoAcoustics Oreas with the integrated amplifier that I was using at the time, so I do have an open mind on decoupling. Anyway, I returned the Gaia's and went back to spikes on the Vandersteen's. The sound immediately was back to good.

2. Wilson WATT/Puppy 6. I have the stock spikes on these and have no issue with the sound. Not tempted to try IsoAcoustics on these at the moment.

Anyway, just my experiences.

With drivers out of phase or in breakup a bit of spring induced Doppler discoid the least of a listener worries….

Of course this depends a lot on the geometry and weight of the speaker.  If a light touch can rock it, at all, it needs spikes.

This is a good point.  With any of the recommendations here the weight, structure, dimensions, floor coverings, and other factors can all affect the success of a particular product.  My stand mounts are 180 pounds each, including the very rigid stands. They sit on an industrial type carpet over a dense pad over concrete on-grade. The solutions that I like for my situation may not work well for everyone.

I would guess that most brick and mortar audio shops have their speakers set up on carpet over concrete but they may not use spikes because they are always moving gear around.  I think that as long as I can't move or rock the speakers I'll leave them be.  Thanks for all the helpful comments and sharing your experiences.