Will standing speakers on brick/granite/stone help any?

[JonW]

I've seen people mention that sometimes it can help floorstanding speakers sound a little bit better if they are placed on a non-resonating, dense surface like stone or cement. "Tightens up the bass" and all that. (I'm ignoring the current post here about the 17.5" cermaic tiles.) Is it a real effect? Worth a try?

I've got wood floors at the moment, in a 100 year old house. Not sure if I'll be putting in carpet or not. But these wood floors have got to be vibrating with the speakers, I'd think. Certainly I can feel the lower bass notes in the floor. So I was thinking about getting 2 of those red brick-like things you buy at the hardware store for making walking paths. And putting the speakers on those. They come in 12x12" or 16x16" sizes. About 1" thick. Quite heavy dense- which is the point here. Maybe only $3 each. Basically, a big, flat, thick red brick. Of course, I'd put some cloth between the brick and floor as well as between the brick and speaker, so as not to scratch anything.

For what it's worth, my speakers are Totem Forests, floorstanders.

So is this worth a try or is it just some silliness I read about on the web?

Thanks.

-Jon

[Jimmy C]

I've seen people mention that sometimes it can help floorstanding speakers sound a little bit better if they are placed on a non-resonating, dense surface like stone or cement. "Tightens up the bass" and all that. (I'm ignoring the current post here about the 17.5" cermaic tiles.) Is it a real effect? Worth a try?

I've got wood floors at the moment, in a 100 year old house. Not sure if I'll be putting in carpet or not. But these wood floors have got to be vibrating with the speakers, I'd think. Certainly I can feel the lower bass notes in the floor. So I was thinking about getting 2 of those red brick-like things you buy at the hardware store for making walking paths. And putting the speakers on those. They come in 12x12" or 16x16" sizes. About 1" thick. Quite heavy dense- which is the point here. Maybe only $3 each. Basically, a big, flat, thick red brick. Of course, I'd put some cloth between the brick and floor as well as between the brick and speaker, so as not to scratch anything.

For what it's worth, my speakers are Totem Forests, floorstanders.

So is this worth a try or is it just some silliness I read about on the web?

Thanks.

-Jon

...complicated, eh? Stone, cloth, carpet, no carpet, wood floors, maybe spikes, etc :*)

For the outlay of $3, I would give it a shot. None of us can tell you what is best, but I am VERY glad I'm on a slab floor now... IME, made a big difference in sound quality... especially with the t'table - no more "woofer pumping". Any footfall used to shoot from the cart, directly to the speakers.

I assume you're trying to couple the speakers... sure, try the blocks. IME, you are not going to find a HUGE difference between a spiked speaker on a block, vs. a spiked speaker on the bare suspended floor itself.

Carpeting (along the best speaker positioning possible) will yield a greater sonic improvement than any combo of spiking, deadening with concrete, marble platforms, whatever. The floor is going to vibrate to some extent either way.

My $.02? Get the wall-to-wall, and spike the speaker directly.

[kexodusc]

I seriously doubt that bricks will help at all. The problem isn't so much the material density or stiffness underneath, but the way the energy is released and returned to the speaker cabinet itself. If your speakers don't have spikes or feet, and are resting flat on the speaker base wall, then the best thing you can do is buy some spikes or feet. Don't let anyone tell you the dense, heavy materials don't resonate. Your house is heavier than the bricks, and it resonates.

Some people will spend $10-$20 on fancy metal spikes. I've done this for looks before. IMO, those little $1 plastic/rubber bumper pads you can buy at a hardware store work just as well.

Put 4 of those on each speaker in the corners, so that only 4 small points are contacting the floor. (the nice thing about the plastic pads is they won't scratch and scuff your floor, and don't require holes being drilled)

If you're already using spikes or feet, just make sure the speaker is level and don't worry about it.

[JonW]

...complicated, eh? Stone, cloth, carpet, no carpet, wood floors, maybe spikes, etc :*)

For the outlay of $3, I would give it a shot. None of us can tell you what is best, but I am VERY glad I'm on a slab floor now... IME, made a big difference in sound quality... especially with the t'table - no more "woofer pumping". Any footfall used to shoot from the cart, directly to the speakers.

I assume you're trying to couple the speakers... sure, try the blocks. IME, you are not going to find a HUGE difference between a spiked speaker on a block, vs. a spiked speaker on the bare suspended floor itself.

Carpeting (along the best speaker positioning possible) will yield a greater sonic improvement than any combo of spiking, deadening with concrete, marble platforms, whatever. The floor is going to vibrate to some extent either way.

My $.02? Get the wall-to-wall, and spike the speaker directly.

Right. I haven't decided if I'll put any carpet in the room or not. Right now, the _only_ thing in the room is the stereo. I've got to get some furniture in there, for sure. Should have figured furniture in the stereo budget. :) I'll probably put in an area rug or something. But it's a 100 year old house with beautiful wood everywhere. So no way can I do wall-to-wall carpet. :) I could put little pieces of carpet under the speaker...? If I have an area rug, then I gather I should try and arrange things such that the speakers are on the carpet?

[JonW]

I seriously doubt that bricks will help at all. The problem isn't so much the material density or stiffness underneath, but the way the energy is released and returned to the speaker cabinet itself. If your speakers don't have spikes or feet, and are resting flat on the speaker base wall, then the best thing you can do is buy some spikes or feet. Don't let anyone tell you the dense, heavy materials don't resonate. Your house is heavier than the bricks, and it resonates.

Some people will spend $10-$20 on fancy metal spikes. I've done this for looks before. IMO, those little $1 plastic/rubber bumper pads you can buy at a hardware store work just as well.

Put 4 of those on each speaker in the corners, so that only 4 small points are contacting the floor. (the nice thing about the plastic pads is they won't scratch and scuff your floor, and don't require holes being drilled)

If you're already using spikes or feet, just make sure the speaker is level and don't worry about it.

The speakers do have a sort of "spike" on them. "Claws" they call 'em. Shown in the photo here:
http://www.totemacoustic.com/english/products/floorStanding_forest.htm
I have them, but don't have them on the speakers at the moment. I will put them on in the near future (long, somewhat funny story related to some house work that's ongoing). The speakers also have a space on the bottom for adding sand. I'll definitely try that as well.

Yeah, I can feel the house resonante/vibrate/shake when the speakers play the lower bass notes. I was figuring this is a bad thing- taking away rigidity from the speaker vibrations or something and making things sound a little muddy? I read a Stereophile review of these speakers where the author said he could tighten up the bass by draping a 25 pound bag of lead shot over the top of each speaker. I'm not willing to have 50 lbs of lead in my house, but it made me think about ways to dampen vibrations as much as possible.

[Pat]

I've seen people mention that sometimes it can help floorstanding speakers sound a little bit better if they are placed on a non-resonating, dense surface like stone or cement. "Tightens up the bass" and all that. Is it a real effect? Worth a try?
So is this worth a try or is it just some silliness I read about on the web?
Thanks.
-Jon
Hi Jon,
One set of my Klipsch speakers are on spikes and sitting on top of concrete patio stones. My cylinder subwoofer is on the same and has squash balls between the concrete pad and floor.

Yes it makes a huge difference...no question about it. It is an inexpensive tweek and for my systems it works very well.

[Jimmy C]

Right. I haven't decided if I'll put any carpet in the room or not. Right now, the _only_ thing in the room is the stereo. I've got to get some furniture in there, for sure. Should have figured furniture in the stereo budget. :) I'll probably put in an area rug or something. But it's a 100 year old house with beautiful wood everywhere. So no way can I do wall-to-wall carpet. :) I could put little pieces of carpet under the speaker...? If I have an area rug, then I gather I should try and arrange things such that the speakers are on the carpet?

...REAL wood floors, huh? :^) OK, so you don't want to cover them up - I can understand that.

An area carpet would be better than none... yes, maybe place the speaker at the edge, firing into the rug. A bit of sound deadening can do wonders.

You were talking about lead - substitute Playsand instead. Not as dense, but safer (if that's what you're worried about) and I'm pretty sure it will do a good job of tightening things up, if that's what you're after. A 75 lb. bag is $5 at the local hardware store. Lead is easier to fill and unfill, but this is another option.

[JonW]

Hi Jon,
One set of my Klipsch speakers are on spikes and sitting on top of concrete patio stones. My cylinder subwoofer is on the same and has squash balls between the concrete pad and floor.

Yes it makes a huge difference...no question about it. It is an inexpensive tweek and for my systems it works very well.

You think it'll make a difference? Let's see, this will cost about 2 x $3 for the bricks and then maybe $10 for some cloth for above and below the bricks- $16 total. I could give it a shot. And if it doesn't help, I can always start working on that new walkway to the garage. ;)

[JonW]

...REAL wood floors, huh? :^) OK, so you don't want to cover them up - I can understand that.

An area carpet would be better than none... yes, maybe place the speaker at the edge, firing into the rug. A bit of sound deadening can do wonders.

You were talking about lead - substitute Playsand instead. Not as dense, but safer (if that's what you're worried about) and I'm pretty sure it will do a good job of tightening things up, if that's what you're after. A 75 lb. bag is $5 at the local hardware store. Lead is easier to fill and unfill, but this is another option.

Yeah, don't want to cover up the pretty wood floors _too_ much. But have to put in a little carpet to make the place feel a little warmer. And now with all the echoes in the room, I have to do something with the acoustics.

The room echoes so much that, when I'm walking around the house while talking on the phone, people on the other end of the phone can tell when I walk into that room. :eek:

Right, I don't want lead in the house. I happen to be a chemist, so I know how volatile lead metal is (not a lot, but it's definitely not zero) and what it does to people. I'd prefer sand.

[Pat]

You think it'll make a difference? Let's see, this will cost about 2 x $3 for the bricks and then maybe $10 for some cloth for above and below the bricks- $16 total. I could give it a shot. And if it doesn't help, I can always start working on that new walkway to the garage. ;)
My Klipsch 4.2's are on spikes sitting on those concrete pads and they sure do make a difference. I also spray painted those pads flat black to blend in well with everythig.

The room is heavily dampened and the pads took away (tightened up) a lot of bass.