Spikes or Rubber feet?

[Automission]

So I've got my new speakers set up, and I was wondering. Should I place my towers on the rubber feet or the spikes that came with them? I have hardwood floors, but I'm not too worried about the damage they'l cause.
I'd just like clear cut reasons as to which is better and why.

[Alaskankaijudude]

Originally Posted by Automission

So I've got my new speakers set up, and I was wondering. Should I place my towers on the rubber feet or the spikes that came with them? I have hardwood floors, but I'm not too worried about the damage they'l cause.
I'd just like clear cut reasons as to which is better and why.

Besides the possible damage (that you dont care about) to the floor the spikes will not absorb vibrations or be near as stable as the rubber feet. You definitely want the rubber feet on.

[chasswen]

spikes are for placement on carpet. rubber feet all other surfaces.

[Dagger]

I replaced the rubber feet for spikes on my subwoofer and immediately found tighter bass. The bass was boomier and I had more rumble with the rubber feet though. But I'm more of a music guy than HT so I was looking for tighter punchier bass.

But my room is carpet and sound gets a bit dampened with carpet. This is not a bad thing though, most will say that a rug in front of your speakers (if you have hardwoord) will help get you better fidelity since the sound won't be bouncing off the floors.

[nismo604]

You can do both, use the spikes and then place the spikes on the rubber feet

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by Dagger

I replaced the rubber feet for spikes on my subwoofer and immediately found tighter bass. The bass was boomier and I had more rumble with the rubber feet though. But I'm more of a music guy than HT so I was looking for tighter punchier bass.

But my room is carpet and sound gets a bit dampened with carpet. This is not a bad thing though, most will say that a rug in front of your speakers (if you have hardwoord) will help get you better fidelity since the sound won't be bouncing off the floors.

No offense, but im not buying it for a second that just cuz you switched to spikes you found tighter bass...

[Beta Man]

This thread has reminded me to put my spikes in (now that I have a theater room with carpet rather than a living room with hardwood floors)


There was another thread about it a couple of months ago, and I swore I was going to install my spikes..... but forgot

I want to prevent vibrations from going through the floor, and causing sound to travel...... since my space is an attic (although pretty well sound-treated at this point) As far as "Tighter Bass" I think a lot could be psycho-acoustical, but I can't say either way with conviction.

[DavePS3]

Generally... spikes for carpet... rubber for hardwood.

[Scooby Blu]

Originally Posted by DavePS3

Generally... spikes for carpet... rubber for hardwood.

Agree 100% !

[slaizer2000]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

No offense, but im not buying it for a second that just cuz you switched to spikes you found tighter bass...

I don't know if there is a difference or not. When I added spikes mine seem to have gotten tighter as well. But i am not an audiophile so i can't prove it.

From what i have read when i researched spikes is that when you add spikes it creates a greater amount psi (pounds per square inch) in the area where the spike touches the floor. Becuase of this the speaker is more stuck to the floor and the speaker case itself will move less when the speaker moves/thumps.

So basically without spikes when the speaker thumps you get less response because not only is the speaker itself moving to produce sound, the speaker housing is moving as well. Since both move, the sound produced is less.

When you add the spikes (need to level them as well), then there is less movement in the speaker housing whihc in turns allows the actual speaker to move more creating more sound/bass.

Again this is what i have read, i cannot really claim this is true or that the spikes, rubber feet or netiehr or both work best.

what i can claim is I like the fact that the speakers are straight verticially and don't tilt forward on the carpeting like they did when i jsut had them sitting on the carpet with no spikes.

[Twitch9]

Spikes are not just for carpet, put on the spikes and place pennies under them so they won't damage your floor. The whole reason for spike is to prevent vibration from the speaker to the floor and walls, it will improve the sound of the speaker as what was intended by the speaker manufacture.

[CasualKiller]

Originally Posted by Twitch9

Spikes are not just for carpet, put on the spikes and place pennies under them so they won't damage your floor. The whole reason for spike is to prevent vibration from the speaker to the floor and walls, it will improve the sound of the speaker as what was intended by the speaker manufacture.

This is pretty much exactly what it said in my sub/speaker manuals, spikes for optimal sound quality, feet when spikes are not possible.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by CasualKiller

This is pretty much exactly what it said in my sub/speaker manuals, spikes for optimal sound quality, feet when spikes are not possible.

I concur...whether it be a carpeted room or hardwood. I've always used spikes still do. My room has hardwood floors and I beleive the spikes add more stability and better vibration isolation.

John

[Rob J in WNY]

My Polk PSW125 has rather short, tapering feet. They offer small, rubber inserts for the tips of the feet if the sub is being used on a hard surface, but recommend not using them if the sub is set on carpet. I opted to place my sub on a wood panel with the rubber inserts in. I felt the downward-firing port was just too close to the carpet (essentially sitting against the carpet), so raising the sub on the wood panel resolved this concern.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by Pelican170

No offense, but im not buying it for a second that just cuz you switched to spikes you found tighter bass...

No offense taken.

For a $15 tweek it was one of the better things I've done for my set-up.

Speaking of isolation, if you have a bit of money to burn...

http://www.markertek.com/Product.asp...tm_campaign=sf

Don't have one so I can't speak to the merits of the product.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by slaizer2000

But i am not an audiophile so i can't prove it.

Most audiophiles cannot prove anything. Proving a theory is for scientists and engineers. Audiophiles have passion.

[Dagger]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

This thread has reminded me to put my spikes in (now that I have a theater room with carpet rather than a living room with hardwood floors)


There was another thread about it a couple of months ago, and I swore I was going to install my spikes..... but forgot

I want to prevent vibrations from going through the floor, and causing sound to travel...... since my space is an attic (although pretty well sound-treated at this point) As far as "Tighter Bass" I think a lot could be psycho-acoustical, but I can't say either way with conviction.

Psycho-acoustical with this hobby? Never heard of that happening.

I'll be the first to say some of the tweeks I've done yielded no difference in my system... isoclean fuses and power cables to name a few.

But I have a rather modest system so maybe they yield a more audible difference in higher end set-ups.

[Automission]

So basically spikes placed on pennies on wooden floors make for better sound?
Don't spikes couple speakers? Won't a metal spike on a metal coin cause more obvious vibration sounds/rattling?
How is it that a spike makes the sound less vibraty?

[naturephoto1]

Consider using these in different sizes from Herbie's (you normally only need 3 per speaker, but you could use 4):



or:



Both can be found on this link:

http://herbiesaudiolab.home.att.net/bigfat.htm

Rich

[slaizer2000]

Originally Posted by Twitch9

Spikes are not just for carpet, put on the spikes and place pennies under them so they won't damage your floor. The whole reason for spike is to prevent vibration from the speaker to the floor and walls, it will improve the sound of the speaker as what was intended by the speaker manufacture.

It was suggested not to use pennies but nickels or dimes (not silver dimes, tarnish easy as well). Pennies being copper tend to get a green tarnish, which then gets on the floor.