Can I Live With A Hardwood Floor?


Hi All,
I could certainly use some advice on this matter. I have Quad 2905 ESL's in my attic and my attic has hardwood floors. I recently moved into this residence never having experienced hardwood floors previously. My speakers are on cones and isolated with Herbie's titanium gliders. I've been able to position the speakers so that they are given enough room to operate effectively but those hardwood floors are brutal at times. My thought leads me to the only obvious solution, 12 feet by 12 feet carpeting. Are there more cost effective ways of approaching this?
Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks as always!
goofyfoot
I too have 2905’s. My floor is granite. A few thoughts.

Anything you can do to make the walls, floors, or ceiling a bit rough is helpful. I use a large Persian carpet on one wall, and 12" x 24" rectangular patterns of 1" wood trim on the ceiling.

Equally useful are non-parallel surfaces. You might be able to do something with your ceiling to make it non-parallel to the floor, like a peak in the middle.

Consider your floor; make sure it is as stable as possible. Re-inforcing may be costly, but it is something to consider.

I would absolutely forget about trying to tweek the Quads with power stuff. They use so little current, and anyway the RC time constant is so large, that it can’t make any difference. Further, I tested this theory with high class isolation transformers, and they made no difference whatsoever to the Quads. Big difference to amps, pre, and phono, but nothing to the Quads. Save your money for a better source, or better electronics, or a decent Burgundy.

If you want to improve the Quads, you will have to replace the step-up transformers or replace components in the signal path, like that ugly cap and resistor. Not recommended for a DIY, though - Quads can kill you in two ways. Get a tech to do it. Beware!

Good luck.

If you seriously want to improve the Quads, find a good tech who is experienced with high voltage equipment. Get him to install better step-ups (I use Plitron , based on a Vanderveen design), and replace the ugly resistor at the input of the circuit board. Don't do it yourself.

But you can get more bang for the buck in electronics, or isolating your electronics, or with an ultrasonic record cleaner. Experience talking.

Thanks Terry. Room treatments sound practical but the Richard Gray does also. I have a great amp, ASR Emitter II Exclusive and that runs on a battery so nothing to worry about there. 
My stereo certainly sounds good at night as to be expected. I just finished listening and can say that even having laid down blankets made a significant improvement. Any advice on wall panels?
SAC in Thailand has some isolation transformers that won’t break the bank. They are balanced transformers like the BPT series or the Equi=Tech and also have the added capacity of variable step up or step down transformer to change voltages. I discovered them when looking to possibly purchase some equipment from Europe.
The rug doesn’t have to be natural fibers but thickness is desirable.

If you’re thinking about conditioning, consider an isolation transformer. Plitron makes a good one - I use four of them - they were among the first to design in North America and build to the highest specification in China. The build quality is German, or better. But they tend to growl while they are doing their job, so a utility room is a good place to site them, certainly not in the music room.

Wall treatment could be Persian rugs, but a cheaper alternative might be strips of wood. I have experienced very good results, both acoustic and aesthetic, from strips of wood affixed vertically to the walls: 1", 2", 3", 2", 1", etc. with 1" or 2" spacing. Some knowledgeable architect specified it for a conversation room at the University library, and one could not hear a private conversation from a few feet away. They used black walnut - well, they would, wouldn’t they?

Another possibility is random lengths 1" to 4" of 2x2’s, 2x4’s or 4x4’s. Cut some (or all) with angled ends, and arrange aesthetically on a plywood backing. Then place the arrangement by trial and error, starting with the point on the wall midway between the 2905 and the listening position.

Different coloured woods could make that very attractive. I’ve seen pictures of that, but never experienced it, so can’t speak from experience. But it should work very well indeed. I’m considering something of the kind for a too-lively kitchen.

Good luck!