Klipsch LaScala footers


Now that I believe I have my Klipsch LaScala AL5 speakers properly positioned, it's time that I deal with proper footers of some sort.  My current rubber furniture coasters with felt pads on the underside allowed me to position these heavy 200 lbs cabinets easily and without damaging the wood floor. These coasters were temporary and it's time to find proper footers.  I actually experimented with plastic coasters with a carpeted underside and they support my weight no problem (I'm 200 lbs). Any suggestions would be really appreciated. 

fire_water

Ok, don’t laugh until you try it, because these solutions are definitely not “high-end audiophile” approved.  However, IMO, either of these solutions would work well to decouple and support your 200-pound speakers on your wood floor.

The first solution is to use elastomeric platinum silicone hemispheres that, when attached to the bottom of your speakers using the supplied adhesive backing, would hold the speakers in-place while providing a combination of elastic support and damping at a cost of $32 for both speakers (link).

The second solution uses high density 1-inch thick wool felt, which is an excellent damping material.  While decoupling your speakers and damping vibrations, the felt would also allow you to safely slide the speakers around on your wood floors. For your 200-pound speakers, I would probably place four of the 8x10-inch pads under each speaker, for a total cost of $56 for both speakers (link).  The grey might look a little funky but, if you move the pads back a bit from the front edge, I doubt you would even see them. There is a company that can cut square footers of the 1-inch thick dense wool felt in black, but those would be more expensive. If desired, the pads could be held in-place by adhering them to the bottoms of your speakers using 3M Double Coated Tissue Tape (link).

@mitch2 hey nothing wrong with inexpensive anything. In fact i just came across these beautiful piano cups with gold painted metal tops, rubber mid layer and felt bottoms. Hey if they work for $200,000 Steinway then I'm sure they'll work with  LaScala speakers ;) But I like the idea of the Stack Audio footers or the Townshend Audio’s Seismic F-type Corners!

@fire_water 

What sonic outcomes are you looking for? 

It seems your speakers have extremely high volume output and need very little power to drive them.  Most dynamic speakers have high mass drivers which tend to move the cabinet in the opposite direction, but your horn-loaded bass drivers fire into a labyrinth, don't go very deep and don't require much energy.  The mass of each cabinet is so high I'd be surprised if conventional considerations apply!

@richardbrand you make a lot of sense.  I guess I was wondering if the cabinets need to be sitting directly on the floor. And while I'm worried about damaging the floor I'm also wondering if I'm doing these spkrs a disservice by placing them on these flimsy furniture sliders. As of today I'm now using rigid furniture sliders with a carpeted underside which seem to work well as the cabinets aren't wobbly.