Hifi miracle?

[admin_exported]

Well i have never believed in miracles until i found a spirt level,two old carpet mats and an 8 mm ring spanner today!

Gave my system its usual full clean via my vacuum cleaner and of course checked all connections!

When i got to my speakers (Celestion F30)i checked their level after i had put some carpet mats i had cut to size underneath them as they were on laminated floor which to my ears at least did not seem right!

Made sure the speakers were as level as possible and plumb,then tightened up all connections at the back of the speakers using my 8 mm ring spanner!

The difference in sound quality was immediate!

I sat down for the next few hours trying to figure out how two mats(rubber backing),a level and a ring spanner could make so much difference in a matter of minutes?

The sound is so much more detailed,lively,warm and full bodied compared with before?

I ain't no Hifi buff so come on guys tell me why in simple terms where and why has this improvement of sound come from?

 

[chebby]

Just the same as a car or motorbike is more of a pleasure to drive for a while after a full service and clean.

[Are you saying you replaced the spikes for a carpet mat? Or were the spikes what you were tightening with your spanner?]

 

[chebby]

OK I get it now. You were tightening the speaker cable connections. I don't get that pleasure. I have soldered plugs.

Still not sure about those carpet squares though. But if it works then it works.

 

[Anonymous]

No mate i kept the spikes on my speakers,just tightened them up like( made sure they were level) and then went to my car!lol!

Got an old car mat from the boot(with rubber backing)cut it in half,and put it between the laminated floor and spikes and the result has been staggering!

The speakers just sound so much better than before in every department and like i said i would never have believed so little effort and time can pay so much back!

 

[Anonymous]

I don't get that pleasure. I have soldered plugs.

Posh git!

I bought all my gear from Richersound sales and second hand shops!

 

[gpi]

Hallelujah! Maybe the floor has stopped complaining over the music: 'get those bloomin spikes out will ya, they don't half smart a bit!'

So now you're hearing just the music. Sorted.

 

[Anonymous]

I reckon it's my rubber backed car mats have made the difference mate!

My Mrs has told she wants em out cos they both have the Saab logo on t

hem and don't go too well with all her other furniture!

 

[chebby]

OK. Sounds interesting.

How about trying two-pence pieces to place the spikes on? You can back them with those sticky-backed felt circles that people stick on the bottom of chair legs.

To ensure the spikes are not going to move around, get a centre-punch and a hammer and indent the middle of each coin.

The coins under the spikes will hardly show, and (with the felt discs stuck on the back of them) protect your floor.

It may make the missus happier and at a cost of 16p (+ felt) will be the least money ever spent by mankind achieving that elusive goal!

 

[Dave_]

or the tesco granite chopping boards that seem to be quite popular on this forum. dearer than the 2p's though obviously

 

[Anonymous]

Great tip Chebby and meets my Mrs approval!

Tomorrow i am off to get some felt pads and coins!

Like she said to me today,'you're tick by jesus'!(After she saw my car mats in her living room)!

 

[Anonymous]

I am off to bed

tanks for all your help lads and all the best.

 

[gpi]

Well, talking of carpets and the Irish... My neighbours had a mice problem so they put carpet tape sticky side up in the airing cupboard 'so their little feet will get stuck on the tape'. They now wonder why they still have the problem.

 

[Anonymous]

daveh75:or the tesco granite chopping boards that seem to be quite popular on this forum. dearer than the 2p's though obviously

Yup, work for me under CD player and speakers - lovely tight sound for £30 for the three.......

 

[Anonymous]

what's the thickness of the granite chopping blocks?

 

[up the music]

This punching indents into 2p pieces. Isn't it illegal to deface the Queen's currency? ****** it, try it anyway, sounds like a good idea.

I keep meaning to get some of those granite boards for my subs.

I use squash balls sliced in half under most components.

I also have stacks of beermats taped together to allow cooling space between amps while I save for a decent rack.

---

I reckon your spanner work may made a better contact with strands of speaker cable and so a better connection.

If the speakers are better coupled to the floor that can tighten things up.

Do those bits of carpet extend to the floor around the speaker? Maybe you're getting less harsh reflection from the floor.

Anyway, a miracle, a miracle, Lord be praised, a miracle. Notify your local Church immediately, you may get your listening room certified as a Grade 2 shrine. Not many audiophiles can claim one of those.

 

[Anonymous]

Charl:
what's the thickness of the granite chopping blocks?

Officially: 2.4 cm

Unofficially much less than that, but still a bargain.......

 

[gpi]

up the music:This punching indents into 2p pieces. Isn't it illegal to deface the Queen's currency? ****** it, try it anyway, sounds like a good idea.

I keep meaning to get some of those granite boards for my subs.

I use squash balls sliced in half under most components.

I also have stacks of beermats taped together to allow cooling space between amps while I save for a decent rack.

---

I reckon your spanner work may made a better contact with strands of speaker cable and so a better connection.

If the speakers are better coupled to the floor that can tighten things up.

Do those bits of carpet extend to the floor around the speaker? Maybe you're getting less harsh reflection from the floor.

Anyway, a miracle, a miracle, Lord be praised, a miracle. Notify your local Church immediately, you may get your listening room certified as a Grade 2 shrine. Not many audiophiles can claim one of those.

What do you mean by this 'reflection'? Are speakers not just affected by close walls and furniture?

 

[Anonymous]

I think he means vibration. That's the reason a lot of HCIAB come with spikes and rubber feet. My Mission M cube sub has the rubber feet on which sounds less bright and trebley ( if a sub could do that) than with the spikes (provided for carpeted floors)I tried first out of interest.

Personally, I think a combination of a rubber Isolating buffer and a stiff base would be ideal. Haven't tried it but the squash balls/rubber feet under granite chopping board would both isolate and solidify the kit.......which is what you pay big bucks for when buying AV/HiFi stands

 

[gpi]

Is this vibration significant enough to feel it? I personally cannot feel the slightest physical vibration on/through my heavy stands. So is there something occurring that is powerful enough to affect the sound even though it does not appear as a physical phenomenom... phernomimon... dodah.

The purpose of using heavy stands is to negate this vertical effect, if it exits? Surely speaker cones move in and out on the horizontal plane so where does this vertical vibration come from?

 

[up the music]

I was thinking if the carpet extended in front of the speakers that sound that used to be bounced off your laminate floor may now be being bounced off (and partly absorbed by)your carpet.

 

[Anonymous]

tightening the terminals with a spanner has perhaps scrubbed some oxidisation from the points of contact.

a spanner though? seems more of a tool than was used to mount them in the first place. be carefull then dont come off completely when you come to undo them.