Floor spikes - how much of a difference do they really make?

There is a thread on AudioKarma asking this same question, and most of the responses that detail objective data pretty much debunk all of the "de-coupling" myths about floor spikes. One thing they really do help with though, is preventing the speakers from moving. I found this particularly useful with certain subwoofers, like the Sunfire True subs. Those things love to walk across the floor at moderate to high volumes, so for mine, I picked up some PE floor spikes for about $5, and put them into the sub cabinet to keep it planted.
I've also been told the spikes do wonders for preventing the wife from moving the towers around while vacuuming.. but that again, is just rumor.

Personally I could see where they might help in some small way if your cabinet has a lot of resonance perhaps, but my mains are 75 pounds each, and as inert as can be. I can crank them and stand a nickel on it's edge on the top of one and the nickel won't move, so I can't really see the spikes making any audible difference to be honest. I've done this trick with the rubber feet on laminate floors, and on carpet with spikes. Same result. The nickel doesn't fall. Spikes can make speakers look pretty fancy though. Especially if you use the feet under them on a platform like so..

I agree with the wolf.

My spikes keep my speakers planted on the carpet and do a darn good job of it.

I'm sure my speakers would kick a** if they had spikes or not.

Stay with the best deal you can find and feel good about it.

My Energy RC-50 towers came with spikes that I could put in or not. I went a while without using them, and had them on their base alone (minus the spikes). Since I had a young toddler I didn't want to risk having them any less stable to where they could be pushed over, so I avoided the spikes.

Once my daughter got a little older and less interested in the towers, I added the spikes. My carpet is pretty thin, but I think it made a difference. 5.7 million times better?.....No. But better?.....Yes. First off being in an apartment, I noticed the resonance from the cabinet itself wasn't felt through the floor (which would be my neighbor's ceiling) so it helped with that, as well as the speaker sounded "lighter". Not sure how else to describe it, but as incremental as it was, it was a positive change.

Like everything speaker-wise, this is one of those things that different people like and don't like. Part of it depends on the floor (carpet, wood, laminate) or the acoustics of the room. You should try it out and see for yourself. Maybe even if it's just a pair of speakers or the sub, to see how it sounds in your room. Then outfit the rest if it helps.

The primary reason for using floor spikes is that the bass quality can be poor when you put a speaker on carpeting.

The speaker is trying to move large amounts of air when it produces bass, and pushes against the air to do this.

Putting the speaker on a soft surface like carpeting actually wastes some of the bass energy. because the speaker will actually dissipate some of the bass energy by vibrating the entire cabinet back and forth rather than holding still and transferring all of the bass energy to the air.

By having spikes that go through the carpet and put the speaker weight directly on the solid floor beneath, the speaker cabinet is on a solid platform and is held solid so power transfer to the air is much more efficient.

Think of trying to push a car when your feet are in soft mud. You could do better if your feet were on solid ground, right? Having the speaker sit on soft carpet is the same kind of problem. Your speaker needs a solid foundation to push against when it moves air. Carpeting doesn't cut it.

Most spikes are aluminum or steel. It doesn't really matter much what they are, as long as they have sharp points to poke through the carpet and pad and contact the concrete or wood below, and are rigidly attached to the speaker cabinet.

Many speaker cabinets have threaded inserts screwed or glued into the base of the cabinet, and the spikes screw into them and are locked tight with a lock nut.

If you don't have threaded holes for them, they can be attached to the speaker base by using epoxy glue.

You get as much benefit from spikes as you do from these:

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

If your speakers are moving (on their own). I'd say it's time to replace them.

Are there any measurable improvements in bass with or without spikes? I'm skeptical.

LOL! Nevermind, I just opened the link Bill provided. I think I have my answer.

Speakers moving while producing bass. Lol. Must be cheap ass speakers.

There's no such thing as a stupid question my friend. It's all in how you apply the knowledge gained.

I used these fancy gold dayton spikes for my KEF Reference 104/2 mains because they had the exact same thread pattern as the originals, and made a nice match to the rosewood veneers
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=240-718

For the Sunfire sub, I used these less expensive ones, since the cabinet is small, black, and they'd be unseen. $3.50 for 4, 3/8" base. PE has a 1/2 base version for about $5, too.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=240-725

The thread isn't stupid. We all learned the differences between audiophilia myth and fact by either researching, testing, or asking, or in some cases, spending years in college studying Engineering or a related field.. haha We all started somewhere. We're all still learning.


Apparently you haven't seen a Sunfire True Subwoofer. I have a Mk II which uses a 10" driver and 10" passive radiator, in an 11" cubed enclosure, with a 2700 watt plate amplifier. The sub weighs 50 lbs, only has rubber feet suited to hard flooring, and even with those rubber feet, will walk acrss the floor as shown in the below video found on YT. The sub retailed for $1250 about ten years ago. Now the new version sells for $1600. It's anything but a cheapass sub. That thing can shake the entire house.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zPjXIHDD4c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_mp-Lenl8Y

No. I've measured with and without them on various cabs, there's no difference. If there was I'd use and recommend them. I didn't measure Magic Pebbles, though, so maybe I missed the boat there.

Glasswolf, i was referring to speakers, ie bookshelves and floorstanders, and not powered subwoofers. Even then, to me it means that the sunfire is not an optimal design. Room for improvement for the sunfire folks

Spikes are for stabilizing not sound improvement. My RTi A9 speakers are heavy and tall at 48" and wobble considerably on carpet without the spikes installed in the feet. Subs can actually dance across the floor if powerful enough. Spikes would keep them in place on carpet.

You must have visited Sedona, AZ!! My one Paradigm Monitor 9 is sitting 12" from my Rythmik FV15 and it hasn't moved as yet. And I took my spikes off after I ran the sub. Also, I have my crossover at 80hz for the mains so not expecting speaker to move anyway.

Jeff

Good selection of spikes at reasonable cost:
http://www.oregondv.com/spikes.htm

I use the $4.75/set of four spikes to keep my towers stable on the carpet. Not fancy but they do the trick.

Which are NOT to be confused with these

Brilliant Pebbles was a non-nuclear system of satellite-based interceptors designed to use high-velocity, watermelon-sized, teardrop-shaped projectiles made of tungsten as kinetic warheads. It was designed to operate in conjunction with the Brilliant Eyes sensor system and would have detected and destroyed missiles without any external guidance. The project was conceived in November 1986.

John H. Nuckolls, director of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 1988 to 1994, described the system as The crowning achievement of the Strategic Defense Initiative. Some of the technologies developed for SDI were used in numerous later projects. For example, the sensors and cameras that were developed for Brilliant Pebbles became components of the Clementine mission and SDI technologies may also have a role in future missile defense efforts.

Though regarded as one of the most capable SDI systems, the Brilliant Pebbles program was canceled in 1994 by the BMDO.

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I need to get access to a metal lathe now so I can make some cable elevators! hahaha I mean I have such sexy cables I've made, I may as well elevate them, right? Yum.

I use spikes to keep my speakers form "being moved" during house cleaning, party's and such. Sound improvement? I don't know...

Can I come to one of your parties? I'm guessing if subs are moving around they're pretty wild

You really should try cable escalators! The constant upward motion really makes a huge difference throughout the audible spectrum.

I'm guessing this would really help make highs from my tweeters stand out, no?

Glass Wolf: Where did you get those platforms? They look like a good solution. I just moved into a new home, with new carpet (previous home had hardwood floors). I have tall heavy floordstanders and I'm worried about them tipping over because of the soft carpet as they are not very stabl;e right now. I don't want to spike through the new carpet and risk a divorce.