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Speaker shock absorbers

From time to time people have posted different methods for mechanically decoupling their speakers from the floor to reduce vibration. Some of these have involved using a ply system of rubber strips and wood strips, which seems reasonable to me. I have looked for suitable sized sections of rubber or even for large sheets to cut up but have been unsuccessful. To those who have used that method -where did you find the material and what thickness of rubber and wood did you use for each layer - finally how many layers did you end up using?
musicnoise
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
If you have a rigid box speaker it becomes less of an issue but I find blu-tak and rubber pads and thick felt (like for furniture) work very well. If you need to resort to ply and rubber layers then it is probably worth considering a speaker upgrade to something that does not have so much cabinet waffle. (you can usually tell a good speaker by tapping and trying to lift it - if you can't lift it then that is often a good sign - if you can cary it with one hand then you will likely have a problem)
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kijanki
4,394 posts
 
Musicnoise - I use Vibrapods. I placed one under each corner. They cost $5 a piece in weight ranges 1-5. I have 5s at the front (heavier) and 4s under back corners. It was one of the best things I bought. Bass became short well control and very even - proper word would be "musical". The only disadvantage is that speakers are not standing as rigidly as before - wobble a little when I push them. It might be a concern with small children running.
dopogue
1,773 posts
 
For a cheap alternative, try your local hardware store. Rubber grommets, o-rings, and various rubber thingies (technical term) in the plumbing department can give you a low-cost way to try various decoupling/resonance damping schemes. I've found all kinds of different thicknesses (or double up with several) and levels of squishiness (another technical term). Good luck, Dave
newbee
4,751 posts
 
Well, I can recommend Hockey pucks, a very hard rubber, that I think has worked for me. Cheap! And will maintain speakers inherrent stability.

Now for something a bit more absorbent, are sheets of heavy rubber pads, made I think from recycled rubber, which are primarily intended for garage floors. Very dense and heavy. Trimmed to the size of the bottom of your speaker I doubt that they would alter the stability of the speaker and I'm confident they would be great for isolation in a speaker/floor interface. FWIW, I've started using sheets of this stuff under components which don't use bottom ventilation. So far as I can tell it works very well (I've used sorbothane in the past, and still do).
I got mine from Home Depot - cost about $35 for 6 18" squares (I trim of the interlocking tabs and end up with 14" squares).

FWIW.
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