Speaker spikes

[Grant]

these things


real audio improvement, or snake oil ?
one pair of speakers has these - the company suppling the equipment also installed and set up things, including mounting the speakers.
i have other pairs of speakers in other rooms, all directly on the floor surface - no spikes to lift them off the floor surface - this got me thinking.

so i set about experimenting and removed the spikes from the one pair, placing them directly on the floor.
it seemed, certain music "may" have been affected, but mostly no significant audible difference.
the difference seemed to have come in the form of low frequency bass - spiked speakers seem to give out a "tighter" sound, whereas unspiked, the same tracks seem to have a slightly more "boomy" bass.
however, and the very big however - is that i may have conditioned myself to hearing what i wanted to, or thought i should, hear.

now i'm curious as to the opinion of others who may have speakers mounted on spikes / insulators.

 

[Fulcrum29]

In my opinion, it is snake oil because it largely depends on the material. Floor, walls, roof, windows, passages, the room, and yes, the housings of the speakers.

The spikes are there to mitigate vibrations, no? Put it on a carpet, put it on tiles, put it on wood, laminated flooring, etc. Tell me if there is a difference. Make it woof in a cupboard... how effective are those spikes?

 

[Grant]

In my opinion, it is snake oil because it largely depends on the material. Floor, walls, roof, windows, passages, the room, and yes, the housings of the speakers.

The spikes are there to mitigate vibrations, no? Put it on a carpet, put it on tiles, put it on wood, laminated flooring, etc. Tell me if there is a difference. Make it woof in a cupboard... how effective are those spikes?

i extended my experiment to an apartment.

the flooring, in this order, top down:
fitted carpet
wood parquet flooring
concrete slab

speakers on the carpet
volume at -05.00dB
no spikes - downstairs neighbor gets the music
spikes - nothing downstairs.

audio difference in the apartment, spikes or no spikes = 0

 

[Fulcrum29]

i extended my experiment to an apartment.

the flooring, in this order, top down:
fitted carpet
wood parquet flooring
concrete slab

speakers on the carpet
volume at -05.00dB
no spikes - downstairs neighbor gets the music
spikes - nothing downstairs.

audio difference in the apartment, spikes or no spikes = 0

The spikes have a small contact surface, so it would make sense, but it wouldn't be anything dramatic. Every material possesses distinct qualities. Rubber, for instance, would slow the transfer, but it is also too soft. Again, you have different types of rubber.

Interesting experiment.

Many individuals struggle to understand that their inadequate perception of sound is often a result of the acoustic characteristics of the room or space they are in, rather than an issue with the audio equipment or hardware itself. You should try this for debate with your guests.

 

[Bliksis]

i extended my experiment to an apartment.

the flooring, in this order, top down:
fitted carpet
wood parquet flooring
concrete slab

speakers on the carpet
volume at -05.00dB
no spikes - downstairs neighbor gets the music
spikes - nothing downstairs.

audio difference in the apartment, spikes or no spikes = 0

That's an interesting outcome.

 

[Grant]

Does it sound the same without the spikes of you stand them on a low block of sorts, I.e. off the ground? If so it might just be subtle accoustics with a hollow space below them.

did not try that.

im thinking spikes reduce contact between floor and speakers exponentially.
introducing something else between speakers and floor, for example something of similar shape and size of a packet of cigarettes, would still stop most sound traveling to a downstairs neighbor, but again would produce no real audible difference within the apartment.

 

[B-1]

I'd say they probably make a difference in certain scenarios.
Very light speaker cabinets with low frequency woofers inside will probably have some resonance to the surface they are sitting on. In that scenario the smaller surface area could help.
The carpet one mentioned above is another good example.

 

[Grant]

I'd say they probably make a difference in certain scenarios.
Very light speaker cabinets with low frequency woofers inside will probably have some resonance to the surface they are sitting on. In that scenario the smaller surface area could help.
The carpet one mentioned above is another good example.

with my little experiment, the results were definitely scenario dependent.

speaker cabinets at the house are about 30kg each.
at the apartment, 22kg each
so both of fairly similar weight, size and design

on or off spikes at both house and apartment produced no audible difference.
however at the apartment, on or off spikes produced a very obvious difference in sound being transferred to the downstairs neighbor - very obvious, like in black & white.

my conclusion and recommendation would be for those in an apartment / townhouse, use spikes to prevent war breaking out with your downstairs neighbors.