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Stands, to couple, or not to couple, contradicting products and positive reviews

There are many practices/products intended to "couple" a stand-mount speaker cabinet to the floor of a room (spikes, adding mass to the stands via sand/shot, specific bolt-on stands for certain models, etc.).  Conversely, there foam speaker pads by Auralex and others, which are intended to de-couple or isolate the speaker from the stand, with rave reviews of audible sound improvement.  

So which is right, should I try to "connect" my speakers to the mass of my house, or do I want to "float" the speakers so they are free to resonate on their own?
waxhawfive
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,397 posts
 
Consider watching the Max Townshend (Townshend Audio) video on You Tube in which he explains and demonstrates the properties and performance of his Seismic products.
erik_squires
15,629 posts
 
You want to avoid large surface to surface contact, but you want to minimize the movement of the speaker due to reaction to the driver forces. 

So, you want the largest point to point distances, highest mass. If you have carpets, spikes will ensure your speakers aren't riding on the carpet and padding. On bare floors however large feet will work as well. 

Turntables on the other hand need to float. 

mechans
3,048 posts
 
You want to couple the vibration to the floor to dampen that energy and keep the box still. Use heavy points and even some moveable weight discs to aid you in that process.  I don't know if this guy is still making custom brass fixtures like very heavy feet, ut try to find Eden Sound, IIRC, I got some incredible footers from him.
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