DIY Subwoofer Risers

[Big Daddy]

Go to AV Outlet, on the left hand side, click on Seat Shaker & Amplifiers, and then click on Rubber Vibration Isolators for Chair and Platforms.

Single Buttkicker RI-K28-1 Small Vibration Isolators, $2.25 each:

Set of 4 Buttkicker RI-K28-4 Small Vibration Isolators, $7.99:

[liquidice]

that's fun, because that is where I found that picture I posted. This looks like a good idea, dig the idea.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by liquidice

that's fun, because that is where I found that picture I posted. This looks like a good idea, dig the idea.

All I can say is the isolators I have do an effective job of keeping the vibrations from the transducer to the couch itself. You can't even tell there is one under the couch unless you sit on it. Since I have a ceramic floor, they work very well in my opinion.

[erict]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

All I can say is the isolators I have do an effective job of keeping the vibrations from the transducer to the couch itself. You can't even tell there is one under the couch unless you sit on it. Since I have a ceramic floor, they work very well in my opinion.

What isolators did you end up using and from where?

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by erict

What isolators did you end up using and from where?

They are the same ones pictuered above that came with my Buttkicker. They look exactly like that, and they also have different sized isolators as you can see, that screw into the bottom of your furniture legs.

[erict]

I stopped by the foam factory store today (only a few miles from work) and couldn't believe all the remnants they had. I pick up some nice firm black foam for my isolation/riser pad that I will be making, and they only charged me $6 for all the pieces.

[Big Daddy]

I bought 16 Buttkicker RI-K28-4 Small Vibration Isolators from AV Outlet for the four subwoofers/risers in my HT room. The cost was $7.99 per package of 4 for a total cost $31.96 + Free shipping.

Go to AV Outlet, on the left hand side, click on Seat Shaker & Amplifiers, and then click on Rubber Vibration Isolators for Chair and Platforms.

This is a picture of the back of the isolators.





I attached the isolators to the legs of the risers with wood screws.

Did I notice a change in the bass response? Well, I tried to measure the perfromance before and after with my SPL meter. There may have been a difference of 1 or 2 dB, but that can be due to error. I felt that there was a very small amount of tightness, but it could be due to placebo.

After I finished all four risers, I ran the Audyssey calibration program and tweaked the system with my SPL meter. The bass performance for both HT and music was excellent before and is excellent now. For $8 per subwoofer I bought peace of mind and hopefully I managed to silence the naysayers that the DIY risers do not decouple the subwoofers effectively from the floor. Personally, I think decoupling from the floor is over-rated. Raising the subwoofer and dealing with vertical axial mode is far more important.

I believe I have passed the point of diminishing returns and reached the point of negative returns. I don't believe even spending another $10,000 will improve the sound anymore. I have tweaked my system to death. I have bi-amped and tri-amped my speakers. I have changed my cables a million times. I have used room treatment. I have changed drivers and used super tweeters. I have built risers. I have enough, speakers, subwoofers, amplifiers, components, TV's, projectors, cables, etc. etc. etc. to compete with the local Best Buy. Unless, I double the size of my home theater room, there is no way to improve the sound anymore. It looks like I have to kill the upgraditis virus in me. Maybe I should retire and sell all my equipment and buy a boom box.

What a dreadful thought? Killing the upgraditis virus. No way, I have lived with it all my life. Why should I kill it now? I am calling a contractor tomorrow to see what we can do about the size of the HT room. Get your wallets and checkbooks ready. Big Daddy is back. Hold on to you bu**s, I meant wallets.

[crazyBLUE]

DONE NEVER Big Daddy !!!!!!!

UPGRADE-ITIS IS INCURABLE Once you catch it you are done for !!!

I know there is something else up that sleeve of yours

[liquidice]

So as I mentioned last week, here is my little mad scientist spin on making your own subwoofer feet. Picture diary is as follows:

Ingredients used for feet: crazy glue, REMO hard density foam with adhesive on both sides, and course sandpaper used for hand sanders.


...oh, and a little of this of course! No scientist can work without it!!!


course sandpaper cut to size


little bit of superglue added to the already adhesive foam pads


finished leg/pad


seven pads all together


old feet, if you even want to call them that


strategically placed on bottom of sub, no super glue used, just the adhesive part of the REMO foam rubber pad


height achieved


all done!!!

[crazyBLUE]

Nice job ice ( mad scientist ) Have you had the chance to see what differences there are having the sub raised up higher !!

[Aerodude73]

Nice job Liquidice! - Any noticeable AQ difference detected yet, or do you still have some "testing" of it left to do? Very cool DIY project.

** Edit: Hey CrazyBLUE - Get outta my head! lol **

[zicmubleu]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

Personally, I think decoupling from the floor is over-rated. Raising the subwoofer and dealing with vertical axial mode is far more important.

What a dreadful thought? Killing the upgraditis virus. No way, I have lived with it all my life. Why should I kill it now? I am calling a contractor tomorrow to see what we can do about the size of the HT room. Get your wallets and checkbooks ready. Big Daddy is back. Hold on to you bu**s, I meant wallets.

Why don't you try mounting the subs on air shocks so you can raise and lower them as desired? My guess is for HT low to the floor to get maximum boominess and for music raised up high to make them tight.

[liquidice]

just as BD said, probably placebo effect, but seems a little tighter. Funny at first when I was testing on some new Coldplay material, the lower bass didn't seem as heavy, but I think I was seeing a disappearance of 'boomy' bass, so even though this project was an increase of height by only two inches, the foam feet prevent the sub from having a hard material between itself and the riser, therefore giving it more of a floating subwoofer effect, which is what I was going for. At least that is what I convinced myself to believe.

[erict]

Well I finally built my isolation pad today, but I can't test it till the end of June when I finally have everything set up.

[liquidice]

Originally Posted by erict

Well I finally built my isolation pad today, but I can't test it till the end of June when I finally have everything set up.

don't tell us, show us.

[erict]

Originally Posted by liquidice

don't tell us, show us.

I will take a pic.

[Big Daddy]

Liquidice,

Here is another very cheap tweak for your speakers.

I have been thinking about putting something under my vintage Polk speakers. I have searched the internet and found crazy things for $300 or $400 each. I finally gave up and went to my favorite high-end audio/video tweak shop, Home Depot.

Go to the crown moulding department of Home Depot and buy these wooden mouldings. They come in different sizes. I bought 8 of the 2" x 2" mouldings for $1.10 each. They were on sale. I put them under the speakers for additional stability and decoupling from the floor. You can paint them if you want.

[Driver_King]

Honestly, did you notice a worthwhile improvement? I've been wanting to do something like that for quite awhile now and still don't know if it's worth it. My SDA's don't have legs or anything by the way...

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

Honestly, did you notice a worthwhile improvement? I've been wanting to do something like that for quite awhile now and still don't know if it's worth it. My SDA's don't have legs or anything by the way...

They definitely provided more stability for the tall and heavy speakers. I may have also experienced a bit more clarity in the midrange and upper frequencies, but maybe it was just placebo. I can't say anything about the bass frequencies as I use an external DIY subwoofer in a 2.1 setup. The speakers are crossed at 50Hz.

For $5 per speaker, you shouldn't even question if there were any improvements. If you don't like the results, return them to Home Depot.

[Driver_King]

Well, the next time I'm at the HD, I'll make sure to pick up some. Do you think they'll work just as well even if my speakers don't have legs? Or should I add some?