Do Spikes make a difference? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Carl Reid
12-02-2006, 06:41 AM
I've been playing around with the positioning of my speakers, and remembered that I had the spikes in a draw somewhere, so I just put them back on and am trying to determine if the music sounds any different....

So I'm just curious (cuz I really can't remember): What is the purpose of spikes?

And do you find that they make a difference in the sound of your speakers?

So far the only real difference I can note is that they raise the tweeter level about an inch, which I suppose is a good thing... but apart from making the speakers taller, do they have a benefit?

Bernd
12-02-2006, 06:56 AM
Hi Carl,

I found that it is very much floor dependent. If you have a solid concrete floor, spikes will do a great job to firmly couple your speakers to the floor.
If on the other hand you have a suspended floor, de-coupling is what you need. No spikes, but some form of isolation platform, that will drain the energy from the speaker, but don't pass it on to the floor..
I have just been through something like that. Moved from a solid concrete floored listening room to an upstairs suspended floored room.
Out with the spikes as they coupled the speaker to the floor and created boom, and in with the Symposium platform. Superb.
Hope this helps.

Peace

Bernd:16:

JoeE SP9
12-02-2006, 07:53 AM
Bernd has the right track. What you use to couple your speakers or stands to the floor depends on the floor. As an inexpensive experiment you could try hockey pucks. They are somewhere in between sorbothane and spikes. They are also very cheap.:idea:

audio_dude
12-02-2006, 10:04 AM
as for isolation, i use a folded up hockey sock, the fabricis very thick and porous, isolation the speakers from the desk (ya, i know, shut up, i can't afford, or have room for, stands...)

Carl Reid
12-02-2006, 10:19 AM
Ok, so if I'm understanding correctly... spikes etc... are pretty much for isolation of the speakers from (I'm assuming vibrations) of the floor or desk (if you have bookshelves)...

Hmm... Isolation sounds relevant in a Transport/CD player to avoid jitter.... but is it really necessary in a speaker? I'm just curious as to whether this is a trend in audio that is just accepted as being necessary or whether it really makes an audible difference to most people....

SInce I'm probably just gonna relax at home 2day, I'll continue to experiment with my speakers... playing tracks with and without the spikes to see if I can hear any real difference....

polkymon
12-02-2006, 08:23 PM
I use drawer knobs. They come in hundreds of styles and allow you to slide your speakers around, and I move mine alot.

I used polished brass on my last project and gloss black plastic knobs for the one before. Both are floorstanders and around 100# each. No problems whatsoever and they look great..

Mike Anderson
12-02-2006, 11:04 PM
Ok, so if I'm understanding correctly... spikes etc... are pretty much for isolation of the speakers from (I'm assuming vibrations) of the floor or desk (if you have bookshelves)...

Hmm... Isolation sounds relevant in a Transport/CD player to avoid jitter.... but is it really necessary in a speaker?

I think you've got it backwards. The idea is to prevent the vibrations from going from your speakers into the floor, not the other way around.

When you've got something creating loud bass frequencies that is coupled with the floor, the floor (and what else is connected to it) can resonate, thereby causing certain frequencies to be transmitted and amplified irregularly.

It can also make things unpleasant for your neighbors.

When I lived in an apartment, I still wanted to be able to play guitar through a loud amp for recording purposes. So I made a box for it, stuck the amp inside, and floated the whole thing such that it wasn't coupled to the floor. I could crank that baby to full volume, and never heard a peep from the neighbors.

Dusty Chalk
12-03-2006, 12:26 AM
Actually, there's two approaches -- coupling and isolation. Isolation is when you try to decouple your speakers, turntable etc. from the floor, because vibrations (sound) is transmitted through them.

The other approach -- spikes -- is exactly the opposite. You're trying to couple the speaker turntable etc. to the floor, because you believe your floor is more secure, and reduces airborn vibration. This works well in places like a basement, where the floor underneath the floor is concrete.

It's kind of silly to try to do both -- one should pick one approach or the other. MHO.

Mike Anderson
12-03-2006, 07:51 AM
Well OK, but my point is that there's a different reason for isolating (de-coupling) the speakers, as compared with isolating a turntable or other component.

hermanv
12-03-2006, 01:52 PM
Many reviews have said spikes tighten up the bass and improve imaging, but this is only true if the floor is nice and solid such as concrete.

Madisound has some mount it yourself spikes for pretty cheap, why not try it and then decide? You will need to drill holes in your speaker base. If the spikes dont work out, be sure to plug the holes.

Carl Reid
12-03-2006, 09:01 PM
Ok having tried my speakers with and without the spikes on... I think I prefer the sound with the spikes (I may just be imaging things at this point but I think the music sounds better with the spikes)....

Though I'm still not sure exactly what spikes do... I think Mike's explaination seems pretty reasonable to me.... the idea that the spikes are to keep the speakers from sending vibrations through the floor which may adversly affect the other electronics (like the transport).....

But regardless of what purpose spikes serve (even if ony to raise the tweeter height)... they seem to add some kind of value (so as long as they come free with the speakers
I'll use them)...

Finally, to clarify my initial post for some of the members who replied... My Speakers came with Spikes, but I took them off a few months ago when I moved the speakers to another room and never bothered to put them back on.... So I'm not looking to buy new spikes... since I already spikes....

But regardless, Thank you all for the feedback.... and at least now I have some idea what spikes are supposed to do...

Rock789
12-03-2006, 09:53 PM
fyi,,, the papers with my focal jm lab chorus s speakers state to use spikes when the speakers are placed on carpet or fabric, and to not use the spikes when placed on a solid floor such as hardwood or tile...

hermanv
12-04-2006, 10:27 AM
It seems Newtons law about equal and opposite reaction applies here; When the speaker cone moves forward, the cabinet will move backwards. Now we all know the cone is light and the cabinet is heavy so it won't move much, but it will try very hard to move. Spikes stop or reduce the amount of movement. On hardwood floors feet with high friction will stop or reduce this movement. The worst thing is to put nice smooth feet on carpets so the speakers are easy to move.

How much difference? Depends on a lot of things; How heavy are the cabinets? How low are the bass frequencies your speakers support? How loud?. Note that if the baffle flexes, spiking will make little differenece, that's why so many high end speakers go to extreme lenghts to make the baffle stiff and/or heavy.

A simple test; lightly touch the front of your speaker baffle with your figertips while playing something at the loud side of normal and see if you can feel movement (vibration). Then maybe some thinking about how to minimize this movement.

Be reasonable, the effort to reduce movement should be sort of proportional to the system cost, spikes won't do much for a Radio Shack rig with 10 ounce speakers.

At the other end of the music chain, while coupling the speakers to the floor will likely help the speakers it probably won't do your turntable or vacuum tube electronics much good, this is a different problem,. The best systems solve both issues.

polkymon
12-04-2006, 02:56 PM
My experience is with diy floorstanders. I've tried spikes and cannot tell any difference with or without them. My cabinets are dead and 85 to 100# each and even at high levels the 7 or 8 inch woofers on a 1" plus baffle and 20lbs. of sand just aren't making any vibrations at the feet. Larger woofers or powerful subs or light cabinets I would be more inclined to go with spikes but my personal experience says spikes are not essential to good bass response. The knobs I use sink into the carpet anyways and it is an effort to get them moving again.

I have a couple of bookshelfs I've made and have secured them to their stands with thumbscrews. No spikes either just a heavy base is needed (ala Sonus Faber). Although I admit they look cooler with the spikes.