Better sound


Hi. Anyone using isolation platforms under their main speakers? I have Tekton Pendragon fronts and center which are truly full range. I'm still in the placement stage and having fun with their sound but wondering about the speaker "feet." I have hard wood floors so the whole spike thing will not work. Bought some Herbies big sliders but no floors are perfect and so........the speakers rock some due to the slight unevenness of the floor.
So, does anyone have experience with the newer Auralex Subdude HT?? I know they are advertised as "subwoofer platforms" but wouldn't they also do well with a full range front? Or is there a better solution? Thanks
128x128brianpack
06-03-13: Rodman99999
As much as I like Auralex products; anything you place under your main/full range speaker, that allows the cabinet to move, will blur imaging and smear transient detail.

I am definitely no expert in this area so find this statement very interesting. I was looking at Stillpoints isolation "feet". Would you say these would also have the same blurring and smearing effect you describe above? Very curious as I was thinking about trying these out under my monitors.

Thank you.
"Just be aware that anything you put under the speakers that is taller than the existing spikes is going to alter the sound by moving your ears out of the vertical sweet spot." Interesting! How do you know the OP's ears are IN the, "vertical sweet spot?" How high is his listening seat? How tall is he? A speaker that was so beamy, in the vertical plane, that it could not remain accurate if raised or lowered by an inch or two, would be pointless. How many people do you know, that are exactly the same height? Just curious! Just saying.....
Mr T- Stillpoints dealers are supposed to have demo pieces avaiable, for your audition. The Stillpoints are excellent for electronics and isolation from extraneous vibrations. They would not, however, couple a speaker cabinet to the floor, help drain it's vibrations, or prevent movement(in any plane). It's been my experience; these are paramount to accurate reproduction, whether speakers are box or planars. If you can find a Stillpoints dealer, that will allow a home demo; you have nothing to lose, by trying them. Happy listening!
Using either sharp feet or vibration absorbing platforms essentially changes how vibration in the speaker cabinet is dissipated. An absorbing platform does not increase the shaking of the cabinet, rather, it conveys that energy into the platform and dissipates that energy as heat (from molecules in the elastic core rubbing against each other. Pointed feet direct that vibrational energy down into the flooring for dissipation by the flooring. If the flooring is very solid (e.g., concrete or hardwood on concrete), the energy is again dissipated as heat with very little radiation of sound from the flooring (because the flooring is very solid and massive it is hard to move, and therefore, does not readily vibrate). If that flooring is also covered by carpet, whatever sound is radiated is mostly absorbed by the carpet. If the flooring is wood on some kind of suspended structure, there is greater chance that the flooring itself will act as a kind of soundingboard and radiate sound. This could muddy the sound, or alternatively, it could add some warmth to the sound that is needed by the system.

Putting some sort of solid puck under sharp points to protect a hardwood floor actually prevents sharp-pointed feet from working fully as they are intended. The lack of intense pressure on a small point reduces the coupling of the footer to the floor so less energy is transferred to the floor. That means more energy reflected back toward the speaker, and therefore, more "shaking" than the use of no puck under the foot.

I don't know of any way to reliably predict whether one approach is better than another other, and instead, I rely on experimentation. Having helped with a lot of setups, I can only report that use of absorbing platforms is often the preferred approach (perhaps a little over 50% of the time).