Picked up some Q acoustics Concep 20's yesterday ALONG WITH MATCHING STANDS! Sound fantastic with my NAIM gear. On an impulse really, thought i would try and see if the Blutac thing would still help the sound; and yes it does. Anyone else have any opinions on this?
Blutac still works
- Thread starter Peptdi
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chebby
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- Jun 2, 2008
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It stops speakers sliding off their stands.
Slide a thin plastic rule or palette knife between the base of the speaker and the stand's top-plate and 'slice' through the Blu-Tack when taking speakers off. (Pulling them could remove bits of veneer.)
Slide a thin plastic rule or palette knife between the base of the speaker and the stand's top-plate and 'slice' through the Blu-Tack when taking speakers off. (Pulling them could remove bits of veneer.)
I stand on the base of the stands and twist rather than pull. Works fine.
Blu tak is great. As for it changing the sound, erm yes if you jam it into the speaker drivers, otherwise, *coughBScough*
Blu tak is great. As for it changing the sound, erm yes if you jam it into the speaker drivers, otherwise, *coughBScough*
Blue tack is great for my (crappy and uneven but sound great for the money) whafdale 121's that seem to wobble regardless of which surface they sit on!
fr0g said:
of all the subtle changes you can do to a system changes to the speakers can have the biggest impact.
letsavit2 said:
Maybe. But changing the stuff you stick them to the stand makes zero difference, unless you have them loose and they wobble.
They do wobble don't they. The chap from Q Acoustics recommended that you don't use blu tack with them though, as he reckons it defeats the design as the those odd shaped feet provide the minimum of contact with the stands top plates for maximum decoupling.
SiUK said:
A bit like peeing n the Atlantic makes it saltier maybe.
There are things to worry about and things to ignore. A sturdy grip on a stand is far more important than any spurious and doubtful sonic changes imo.
SiUK said:
Can you not stick the blue tack on the feet only?
i don't use speaker stands so my bookshelf speakers sit on cabinets, so the fact that most speaker boxes and the cabinets tops are not perfectly square I use blue tack or foam feet to make sure there well footed with no wobble.
Edit. Frog was typing as well! Yes agreed just make sure they are "sturdy"
hello frog
Spurious? Really? Wow! You think the Q Acoustics designers are frauds then? So they just chucked in the odd shaped little feet for no good reason? Crikey, there's a wild claim! I'm all for securing your speakers for safety (I used blu tack with both my Mission 751s and my Kefs), and if you need to do it go for it, but if you don't need to why not use the speakers as they were designed to be used? I don't know if I could hear the difference to be honest, I doubt it, I haven't tried and won't, but so what.
Spurious? Really? Wow! You think the Q Acoustics designers are frauds then? So they just chucked in the odd shaped little feet for no good reason? Crikey, there's a wild claim! I'm all for securing your speakers for safety (I used blu tack with both my Mission 751s and my Kefs), and if you need to do it go for it, but if you don't need to why not use the speakers as they were designed to be used? I don't know if I could hear the difference to be honest, I doubt it, I haven't tried and won't, but so what.
SiUK said:
Not frauds. Just trying too hard for something that makes no difference. imo. I have Dali Ikon 6. They have little feet and spikes,which for years I used on little spike stands on my wooden floor. I took them off. No difference. Whatsoever.
They do it, imo, to add to the "mystery".
And when I say "mystery" I mean "BS".
Never used anything better than Blu Tac or Black Tac.
Learned of it's real benefits when I wired a pair of DM1s using NAC05 cable. 3 minutes in and, because the cable was so stiff, one of the speakers ended up on the floor at an alarming rate. Needless to say, it was trashed coz it landed face down even tho it went off the back of the stand.
Blu/Black Tac is great!!! :cheers:
Learned of it's real benefits when I wired a pair of DM1s using NAC05 cable. 3 minutes in and, because the cable was so stiff, one of the speakers ended up on the floor at an alarming rate. Needless to say, it was trashed coz it landed face down even tho it went off the back of the stand.
Blu/Black Tac is great!!! :cheers:
SiUK said:
What are the feet made of? Unless it is something which absorbs the vibrations (energy) itself, the area of the feet is irrelevant, as all of the vibrations will be passing out from the speaker into the stand. Area doesn't affect 'decoupling'.
Fwiw I went from atacama gel pads to black tack. Wobbly before, solid as a rock after, worthwhile improvement. But that's not down to the material, it's down to stability.
alchemist 1
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- Mar 28, 2012
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alchemist 1 said:
Hello alchemist 1
How so? According to the Q Acoustics spec sheet, the Concept 20s and their matching stands are constructed with Gelcore™, which is desgined to absorb vibrations. The little speaker feet have been designed to have minimal contact with the Gelcore™ sandwich baseplate, to maximise decoupling. The stands maybe too expensive, and or ugly, depending on your point of view, but I don't really see anything weird about that.
steve_1979
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- Jul 14, 2010
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chebby said:
I'm dreading the day when I need to remove my speakers from their stands. They're well and truly wielded together with blutac.
My 751s were almost 'welded'. They'd been stuck on the stands for 15 years. I had to stand on the base plate and twist really hard and tilt gently to lever them off the top plates. And, the tack leaves a big load of yuck behind as well (I had used half a packet on each speaker in the centre and spots in each corner). I found that a very, very easy way to clean the tack off was to use TIM clean, then clean the TIM residue off immediately afterwards with a clean sponge...then dry with a cloth. My speakers came up spotless and and with a great shine too 🙂
For many years I manufactured stands, fillings and incorporated the benefits of a Blu Tack link. No more, but the industry has continued with pseudo versions of what we started.
You are right, Blu Tack rarely work as a true sonic link because it is not being use as part of the 'stand and its carefully designed filling'. I worked for 5 years on the fillings and links before the unique designers were marketed.
All is confusion now and will remain so.
You are right, Blu Tack rarely work as a true sonic link because it is not being use as part of the 'stand and its carefully designed filling'. I worked for 5 years on the fillings and links before the unique designers were marketed.
All is confusion now and will remain so.
scene
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- Sep 25, 2008
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Anything that stops your speakers sliding or being knocked off their stands is good. Would you rather lose the speaker or a tiny fraction of the acoustics? That said, keeping them firmly in contact with the stands using blutac actually improves the sound good IMO. Acoustic isolation is good but can easily be offset by vibration.
On the subject of spikes. They're good if your speaker is on carpet as it allows you to get it nice and solid on the floor beneath (70s parquet on concrete in my case). I used to use spike shoes on a suspended wooden floor, mainly so as not to scratch the floor, not much other reason for them.
On the subject of spikes. They're good if your speaker is on carpet as it allows you to get it nice and solid on the floor beneath (70s parquet on concrete in my case). I used to use spike shoes on a suspended wooden floor, mainly so as not to scratch the floor, not much other reason for them.
steve_1979
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SiUK said:
Thanks for the TIM tip. I'll give that a go.
When I remove my speakers I'll turn the central heating up for an hour first to make the bluetac get warm and soften up a bit before I remove the speakers. I only used four tiny dots per speaker this time so hopefully it won't be too difficult and risk pulling the speaker veneer off.
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