Standmount speakers - alternatives to spikes?


Just curious to know what's out there to replace threaded spikes under the stand (I have floorboards at home).

I've found normal spikes to benefit from a Walker puck underneath but any all-in one alternatives?

Feel free to share your bad experiences too!

Cheers

JB
jbcortes

Showing 1 response by bryoncunningham

For speakers, I have tried both coupling (with rigid materials) and decoupling (with viscoelastic materials). In my system, the results of coupling were significantly better than decoupling. Decoupling gave a "softer" presentation, so that it concealed low level detail and obscured transients.

Of course, an advantage of decoupling is that it minimizes the potential resonances between speakers and floors. But filling your stands with sand/lead shot should hopefully provide enough internal damping to minimize potential resonances, without the need for decoupling.

I have found that this approach of coupling + internal damping yields the best results in my system, where I have a pair of bookshelf speakers resting directly on top of a piece of furniture (not ideal, I know). In my system, I achieve coupling + internal damping with a combination of Outriggers and Black Diamond Racing cones and pits. The Outriggers and BDR cones/pits are very rigid, so they provide coupling. The BDR cones/pits are made from carbon fiber, so they provide internal damping. In your case, you could use BDR cones/pits under you stands. The cones are threaded, so they may work easily with your stands.

BTW, I am not questioning anyone else's results. These were just my experiences in my own system. YMMV.