kyanos
kyanos's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Nov 1 2007 - 4:45pm
isolation for speakers and new to audiophile
jackfish
jackfish's picture
Offline
Last seen: 10 years 5 months ago
Joined: Dec 19 2005 - 2:42pm

The Outlaw RR2150 for $650 is very good for the money, nice features and plenty of power for most applications. The Denon DRA697CI or DRA-685 and Yamaha RX-797 are OK. If you don't need the tuner there are some pretty good sounding integrated amplifiers as well.

Jan Vigne
Jan Vigne's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Mar 18 2006 - 12:57pm

You can certainly start with the Isonodes. Spikes can offer different results. And spikes can mess up nice hardwood floors.


Quote:
Does anyone have any suggestions for entry level new or used tuners and amps ...

Do you read Stereophile?

z038
z038's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Oct 7 2007 - 12:30am

I used to have spikes in my speakers when I had carpeted floors. Now I have stone floors (travertine), so I took the spikes out. I thought they were just for carpet. Perhaps I'll put 'em back in and see if it makes an improvement in the sound.

ethanwiner
ethanwiner's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 2:26pm


Quote:
I have a pair of Roger Sound Labs speakers and I want to get some isolation spikes for them.


Are you having a specific problem that requires spikes? Most speakers benefit from decoupling more than coupling. Coupling is useful for speakers that are not as rigid and massive as they should be. So the box flops around at bass frequencies.

Assuming your speakers don't have that specific problem, the larger issue then becomes speaker vibrations coupling to the floor. If a floor flexes and vibrates, sound can reach your ears through that path sooner than through the air. The different arrival times then create peaks and nulls in the bass response. One good way to decouple speakers is to put them on two inch thick rigid fiberglass. Another common material is neoprene rubber.

--Ethan

Jan Vigne
Jan Vigne's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Mar 18 2006 - 12:57pm

As Ethan suggests, speakers cannot simply be spiked (or not spiked) and expect the best results. The two methods of siting a speaker offer the opportunity to use the floor or stand as a part of the speaker or to allow the speaker to sit free (well, relatively free) of its support. If the speaker is already heavily damped, then spiking is likely to be the preferred method. The spikes mechanically ground the cabinet to the support and use the mass and rigidity of the support as an extension to the speaker's structure. This, of course, assumes the stand or floor is stable and can provide good dampening qualities.

I've found under or undamped enclosures to most often prefer decoupling from the support. This sort of speaker can be of all types but typically the cabinet has a bit of a sound to it or has been designed to quickly release energy. In this case holding on to that resonance by tightly coupling it to a more massive structure smears the sound by delaying the release of energy. Rather than using PlastiTak to adhere a standmount speaker to a mass loaded, sand filled stand, upward facing spikes have often worked best as a means of decoupling an undamped speaker from the stand. This allowed the speaker to open up and quickly release its resonant energy with relatively little harm to the original sound.

I think the worst thing you can do is take a tweak that worked for someone else in another systems and assume it will do the same in your system. Tweak by all means. But listen to the results.

cyclebrain
cyclebrain's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 months 1 week ago
Joined: Jun 16 2006 - 11:40pm

Jans last line says it all. Listen for yourself and decide.
Solid spikes can be difficult to adjust for equal floor pressure. A pair of lightly loaded feet can cause them to buzz. Speaker vs room placement and room treatment will have a greater effect on your sound. Ditch the FM sound.
Between the high freq rolloff to suppress the 19KHz pilot and stations messing with compression and F.R. and their endless commertials, why bother?
As for speaker coupling, I remember my old 901s hanging in macreamay hangers and swinging like crazy when cranked.

kyanos
kyanos's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Nov 1 2007 - 4:45pm

Thanks for all of the information. I will start playing around with different techniques as I build my system. It seems as if the speaker is designed to be off of the floor since the placement of the speaker cable would cause the speaker to rest on top of it. As far as my question regarding the purchase of a new system, I realized that there are plenty of posts here on the subject and that above all things, go and listen to each component at a dealer.

ethanwiner
ethanwiner's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 2:26pm


Quote:
It seems as if the speaker is designed to be off of the floor since the placement of the speaker cable would cause the speaker to rest on top of it.


Here's another thing to try:

Invite some friends over and have them lift each speaker 1/4 inch off the floor while you listen. If you hear no change, then you will not benefit from loudspeaker decoupling.

--Ethan

dbowker
dbowker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 2 weeks 6 days ago
Joined: May 8 2007 - 6:37am


Quote:

Quote:
It seems as if the speaker is designed to be off of the floor since the placement of the speaker cable would cause the speaker to rest on top of it.


Here's another thing to try:

Invite some friends over and have them lift each speaker 1/4 inch off the floor while you listen. If you hear no change, then you will not benefit from loudspeaker decoupling.

--Ethan

That'd work great if your friends can each keep the speakers exactly the same height without moving any muscles for minutes at a time. Otherwise he might try more conventional methods and save his friends the back pain.

ethanwiner
ethanwiner's picture
Offline
Last seen: Never ago
Joined: Sep 1 2005 - 2:26pm

I answered this yesterday and now it's gone. This is the second time that's happened. Did I do something wrong?

And now I see much of the thread Wired Science on PBS: Analog vs. Digital is missing.

Say what?

CECE
CECE's picture
Offline
Last seen: 5 years 3 months ago
Joined: Sep 17 2005 - 8:16am

Maybe the MF police got it sent off to the re education camp....you WILL think records sound better.

Log in or register to post comments
-->
  • X