Best Isolation Device for Speakers?

Tom,

I agree with you that one would like the speaker box to not move, and that the reaction force on a woofer (or other driver) motor/basket can be very large - many pounds. This force must be reacted by the cabinet and possibly the floor. But the cabinet is not only a mass at audio frequencies, but has stiffness and modes of vibration. While the cabinet-to-driver mass ratio can be perhaps 1000:1, the cabinet can still end up vibrating significantly at certain frequencies.

This is not a simple problem, and there is not one solution which is best for everyone. For me it did help a lot to "ground" my speakers on points to the floor - but isolation worked even better. I have a flexible wood floor. Perhaps you have a concrete floor?

Charlie

Charlie

Charlie you are correct. The cabinet is in motion and stores energy and that counteracts the motion of the drivers we only wish to hear. That is why I use the Sistrum stands under all my components as well as speakers. The designer makes claims that I agree with. That their products provide geometry and materials which expedite an speed to ground, resonant energy.. They made a huge performance gain in my system..Tom

Tom,

That is a good point about tweeter motion. This is why some speaker designs decouple the tweeter from the rest of the cabinet, rather than hard mount it to the front baffle.

Still, due to cabinet modes of vibration, even with base of cabinet "fixed" to floor, there could still be a lot of vibration of the tweeter (due to woofer-induced cabinet motion). We cannot guarantee that for all speakers, on all floors, that this product or that product will provide the best solution. Also, many times one thing gets better while another thing gets worse! That is what makes this hobby so interesting...

Cheers,

Charlie

Theaudiotweak...Have you measured, or even calculated, the motion. I am not sure that you are correct about that. But so what? Any rocking motion of a 100 pound object will be at a very low frequency. So the tweeter moves around a bit. Well, so does the flute, or whatever other instrument is making the recorded sound. No one requires musicians to clamp their instruments into a rigid mount when they play them. Do you clamp your ears into position when you listen?

Again I point out that vibrational energy is converted to heat by damping material. That's its "exit".

So we agree to disagree. :)

Yep....Tom