Rattling in the room

Go to Home Depot and get some wider baseboard molding.

Use wire runways: http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=wire+management

Got nuthin else

Nails can have play. Remove one or more of the nails, and stick a screw in there, tight. Otherwise I'd get a drillbit and drill slowly, then nudge any wires out of the way before fastening it.

Not an expert on this, but Auralex GRAMMA pads cut down on room rattle. You could of course couple this with doing work on your baseboards but this would certainly help.

I am, and they don't cut down on room rattle, as that's caused by objects, the floor included, vibrating in resonance to the sub output. They can cut down on the vibration of the floor caused by the floor resonance being transferred back to the cabinet. But so can a piece of carpet or carpet padding. +1, and screws can be easily removed if need be.

+1 on the Gramma. It definitely quieted down the things rattling in my room.

What kind of floor do you have? i.e. tile over concrete, etc. Did you notice any sound improvement from the sub? Some people claim they get better low end. I have my RW12 sitting on a folded bathroom rug which is an improvement over the bare tile floor. Although a Gramma would look much nicer I am not willing to spend that much simply for appearance. If I thought I could get any significant sound benefit over just the rug then I would do it.
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/10/12 at 9:03pm

26 out of 29 people on Amazon say they really like theirs. Are they all looney or just dont realize that a piece of carpet works just as well? I know you have probably answered this before (probably a dozen times).
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/10/12 at 9:05pm

More times than I should have. If Grammas did what they claim they'd have objective data on their site to back up those claims.They don't have that data, because it doesn't exist. I have measured the results of using various isolation techniques, and they don't jibe with Gramma's claims, nor do those claims jibe with the fundamental principles of audio. As for what honest users claim to hear, just as many honest users claim to hear differences in speaker cables, and for the same reason: Placebo Effect. If you think that something has to make a difference, it will.

Two easy fixes. A simple wooden toothpick to wedge the baseboard or a spot of glue that's allowed to dry. If the baseboard needs to be removed, simply cutting the glue joint with a razor blade, without damage, will take care of the baseboard removal.

I think there's a case of resonance as opposed to a need to separate the sub from the floor. When I do frequency sweeps, everything from the subwoofer, to glass panes in curio cabinets to the grill on the fireplace rattle. Nothing that a few well placed toothpicks won't fix.

For isolation purposes, I'll use anything conveniently at hand, whether bubble wrap, rubber grommets or carpet pad.

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 12/11/12 at 6:25am

My floor is suspend over the basement, in a 60 year old house, so not the sturdiest of foundations for pounding bass. Old windows don't help the cause either.

Bare tile flooring is one of the worst things you could have, so placing your sub on anything to separate the two will be of value. The Gramma would be a better isolator then your bathroom rug, but it's tough to gauge "significant sound benefits" I'm afraid.

In my case there's no placebo effect; the Gramma has made a noticeable difference. Only rarely does anything in my room rattle now, which is a far cry from what it once was. I would say the sound is a bit cleaner, but that's potentially due to the lack of extraneous noises and subsequent drop of resonance.

I do think Auralex charges too much for it though. If you're a competent DIYer I'm sure you could closely approximate it's capabilities for half the cost. I don't think the SubDude and Gramma are properly sized either; neither of them seems wide enough for a surprising percentage of subwoofers (at least the ones I've been getting lately). But for me -- and countless others -- isolators are a worthwhile thing to have. If you aren't a DIYer then it's pretty much the only choice it seems.

I'm not the best on trying to save money but this is a killer deal, carpet/rug pad at Amazon.

It's great for holding hall runners in place, separating subs from wood floors and protecting a floor's finish from pottery based floor art.

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 12/11/12 at 6:40am

You can duplicate it by cutting one of these into a few pieces:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stansport-Pack-Lite-Camping-Pad/9856753

Many thanks to you and Jim. I really dont notice anything rattling in my room but I'm sure that it is a good idea to keep it off of the tile floor. The camping pad seems like a good idea and would look better than a bath rug. There is enough there to cut and triple it up and I have Gorilla glue to glue the 3 pieces together. That would give me 1.2" I am going to keep an eye out for one in black (to match the sub) or burgundy (to match the tile).
Edited by Bond 007 - 12/11/12 at 11:36am

hi i have a klipsh rw12 sub on a hardwood floor in a room 22x12 8 ft cielings. when watching a bluray or tv movie a lot of things in the room rattle.have the setting on the sub to-15 and -3 in the reciever. if i was to get some sort of padding for under the sub should it be the same size as the sub or farer out on the front and sides of the sub.

If I understand everybody's comments correctly, even small circles sufficient to isolate the sub's feet from the floor would be sufficient; isolation.

All you need to do is isolate the subwoofer cabinet, so there's really no benefit to getting something larger.

That won't help I'm afraid - you'll need something a bit more substantial then a small circle that only separates the feet from the floor.

so i should make the pad the same size as the bottom of the sub no overhang

It doesn't matter the size. What matters is the degree (efficiency) of the isolating material.


Most room rattling is a sign of resonance as opposed to connectivity. Frequency sweeps highlight this point as one makes note of rattles at different frequencies. The example I gave was intended to show that in this case, size doesn't matter as it's about the efficiency of the isolation effort. A thin, flat mat the size of NY state won't necessarily aid the matter but four efficient isolators, each the size of a coat button, can.


What's important is, the feet of the subwoofer being isolated from the floor; disconnected so any energy from the sub is not transferred to the flooring.

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 12/12/12 at 5:53am

This points out the fallacy of the isolation theory. For the sub to transfer energy to the floor the sub cabinet would have to be vibrating in its passband so badly as to make it totally defective. Well made subs do not vibrate in the subwoofer passband. Whatever panel vibration that is present lies in the midrange, and midrange doesn't cause the floor or anything else to vibrate. The only exception would be where the forces generated by the motion of the cone push and pull the cabinet into and away from the floor, ie., an up-firing driver, which AFAIK no one uses.

Is a down firing sub that much different than an up firing sub?

Fluid Dynamics.

Not everybody is into bandpass enclosure design. Not knocking it, just saying, bandpass enclosure design lacks aesthetic appeal over that of a direct radiating design and fluid dynamics demands that enclosure energy will be transferred. Where am I going wrong?

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Edited by BeeMan458 - 12/12/12 at 6:44am

Why? Do you know of an upfiring sub?

I can think of a couple.

Can you post links or name them? I would like to check them out.

Bossobass.com and Wilson-Benesch's "Torus Infrasonic Generator"

I see. Those look like some very nice subs. I am not sure but the impression that I got from Bill was of a sub that had a cone that fired into the cabinet. That is what I thought you were referring to.

Yes, as the feet incorporated in a downfiring would prevent any panel flex from being transmitted to the floor because no panel is in contact with the floor. Of course said panel flex would be in the midrange anyway, and for that matter adding feet to an up-firing, front firing, side firing or rear firing accomplishes the same thing.