Footers under new speakers
Hi , I’m seeking advice regarding footers and/or platforms under my speakers. I purchased Tekton Double Impact’s and have heavy shag carpet and padding over a cement slab floor. House is 35 years old, cement is thick and well cured. I’m from that old mindset of spikes into cement and I am looking for an improvement. I’ve looked online at Gaia footers and Herbie's Studded Giant Gliders. I emailed Herbie’s and specifically inquired about the studded gliders alone on the DI’s over carpet. I asked about stability and was told the speakers were “ heavy enough “. Unfortunately I just set up the DI’s temporarily to get a little break in time. They are without any footers upright on my carpet. At 115 lbs the speaker does about zero to compress the carpet. I understand weight Vs footprint is abysmal but they won’t even stand straight. I’ll probably put the spikes on for a bit until I formulate a plan. But my first concern is that Herbie’s gliders alone are not enough and due to the minimum cost of the speakers I am struggling with purchasing Gaia’s footers and footer spikes. The seismic stands look exceptional, but I’m trying to be frugal. So I’m looking for suggestions like, gliders or dots with or without spikes on wood / stone plinths spiked to the floor. My goal is to try some sort decoupling (Gliders / Springs / Dots) AND eliminate the need of having to rely on the carpet being compressed. And yes I have cheap speakers and seek a cheap solution, so I get that limitation. Unfortunately I can’t afford Tannoy’s or Fynes to compliment my 180 watt tube mono blocs for at least a year. Cheers , Mike B.
I was close to pulling the trigger on a set of Auva 70's. They're still around $900 for the set. I'm running a pair of REL subs that sit just outside of my mains. I understand vibration going through the floor, but wouldn't my mains also pick up bass through the air? I haven't spent enough time researching the benefit of footers and how they help when I'm sitting on concrete. I've had my speakers on wood floors and I totally understand how bad that can be. |
To give a little substantiation to the things I am saying, I own AT 616 Pneumatic Footers in quite a large number of the footers. The AT 616 Feet have been loaned out for a broad selection of individuals to receive demo’s of the footers in use at a few locations in the UK. As a result of demo’s given, there are now Townsend Sleds, Plinths and Gaia Footers in use by individuals who have received AT 616 Footers. As a result of being demo’s speakers with Townsend of Gaia Footers used others have adopted the footers. Being fortunate to know how close the Townsend and Gaia is a influence on a Speaker Sound as a result of follow up visits and hearing the comparison, I can say in he homes visited either with a Speaker on a Townsend Support or a Gaia Support, the AT 616 when added is as good as identical. A multitier Plinth as described produced an end sound that is very very close as a mimic to a AT 616. Either tidies up the lower frequencies and gives the upper frequencies new space to make this range of frequencies presence known. |
I’ve been having side conversations with a couple members and the rep from Townsend. From what I’ve gathered it’s about the speaker more floating on the platform than the base being immovable. This whole thing goes against my logic of solid heavy box, spiked to the floor preventing the speaker baffle ( motor board , front ) from moving. I’ve always pictured some sort of Newtons Law that as the cone goes fore and aft it flings the cabinets in the opposite direction thus reducibg the amount of air the speaker moves. This whole thing of “ Floating in the breeze” goes against my logic. But it’s back to contempt prior to investigation. A few days ago starting with the speakers unspiked on carpet and listing a couple degrees had me thinking this is a joke. But they sounded pretty good. The after 3 days I added spikes and SQ was considerably worse. It was pointed out by another Tekton owner on this thread that breakin is not always linear. And I experienced that especially with the multi speaker array as they breakin unevenly and have a smeared sound, then clear , then smeared. Yesterday i readjusted the footers and placed 10 lb dumbbells on top. It’s better , but not quite equal to carpet only. So in reality it’s try and see, learn as I go. Now with your subs , my old logic would be use a heavy slab base or as one member in this thread discussed layering. Hilde45 added a link early on about “ More Stuff “, it’s well worth reading. Also I hit you on your other thread about tubes. I see LTA is pushing Apos Ray 12AT7’s for stage 3. Check out the Mulkard 10M’s. Also domestic GE 5 Star and Sylvania Gold Label. We’re pretty established and maybe I could loan you a care package to try when you’re LTA is done. BTW I’m deep into the forth quarter of life and this is fun. Cheers , Mike B. . |
@pindac , Hi and thanks. I must apologize, at 67 and encountering the onslaught of Autoimmune disorder and accompanying heart issues, I’m realizing how off I am cognitively. Please I’m not asking for any sympathy I just want to say THANK YOU, and I’ll be researching this over the next few days. I saw a TT plinth article and would appreciate any links to research this topic. Also @sls883 would probably be interested in this info too. Respectfully, Mike B. |
@buellrider97 Thank you for the information regarding vacuum tubes. Very good information. I get no sense of you being off cognitively. You seem pretty sharp to me! It took me four tries to spell cognitively. lol. |
