Isolation some thoughts and measurements

[Blacksabbath25]

BS, What type of floor do you have?

concrete with fake wood floor over the top of it

 

[BigH]

I see, concrete is fine but fake wood on top probably not. Can you rip up the fake wood or drill holes down to the concrete so your speakers sit directly on the concrete?

 

[Blacksabbath25]

I see, concrete is fine but fake wood on top probably not. Can you rip up the fake wood or drill holes down to the concrete so your speakers sit directly on the concrete?

currently I have my speakers on spikes sitting in spike shoes

I can’t drill holes in the floor as I rent my house so the landlord wouldn’t be happy if I did that

 

[BigH]

Ok I see, maybe worth a try then.

 

[insider9]

Decided on these tracks for listening test

Tool "Hooker with a Penis"
PJ Harvey "Long Snake Moan"
System of a Down "Cigaro"
Peter Gabriel "Sledgehammer"

First listen without isolation, next with. Will report back. On my second play through of no isolation.

Oh and I genuinely listen to music like this playlist is just a coincidence

 

[insider9]

Esperanza Spalding "Smile Like That"

 

[ellisdj]

Tool "Hooker with a Penis" PJ Harvey "Long Snake Moan" System of a Down "Cigaro"

I just tried them all out - not sure what to say - how can you improve that type of music - make it more extreme and harsh?

 

[insider9]

They are good test tracks actually if you know them and listen to this kind of music. And to be honest any from these albums. I picked these particular ones as they're not the usual suspects.

Tool "Aenima" (album) has most amazing production, musically also superb.

System of a Down "Mezmerize" not easy to reproduce it will expose slow systems however it generally sounds decent on most.

PJ Harvey "To Bring You My Love" on the other hand can sound a complete mess on many systems.

I use many musical styles to test and its mood dependent.

Here's a few I might put on next as testing is most intriguing.

Chuck Mangione "Children of Snachez (Overture)"
Ornette Coleman "The Face of the Bass"
Esperanza Spalding "Junjo"
Melody Gardot "Over The Rainbow"

If you don't know these make sure you play them loud the first time.

And likely to follow with some Blues

Robert Lucas "Feel Like Going Home"
Keb' Mo' "Come on in my kitchen"
B.B. King "Lucille"

It'll be a whole day of listening

 

[Al ears]

I see, concrete is fine but fake wood on top probably not. Can you rip up the fake wood or drill holes down to the concrete so your speakers sit directly on the concrete?

He probably could but would you??

 

[BigH]

I see, concrete is fine but fake wood on top probably not. Can you rip up the fake wood or drill holes down to the concrete so your speakers sit directly on the concrete?

He probably could but would you??

He can't because it's rented property.

I would rip it all up, hate veneer flooring, I would go with concrete and carpets. If I could not rip it up, yes I would drill a few holes for the speakers to sit on concrete better than spending £600 on a few isolators.

 

[QuestForThe13thNote]

I’m very sceptical of these islotation devices indeed, as it depends on many factors like how inert the speakers are eg how they are braced and how stiff they are, how loud you listen as the effects will be more pronounced if listening louder, and how well the speakers are already spiked and that design. Also it depends on the size and weight of the speakers, size of drivers etc. I’m very sceptical too for the sake of the fact that with all these unknown variables in mind, and where floor interaction could be causative of poor effects to sq, which I’ve no doubt it could in certain situations, that they don’t design or supply better isolation with their speakers.

 

[Craig M.]

Insider, do you get exactly the same measurements if you run them multiple times without changing anything? My old Event Opals came with a measuring kit but I would get different results when measuring pink noise, even when I hadn’t changed anything!

 

[insider9]

Yes, like the OP states I've run 40 or so sweeps. Different volume different lengths getting reliably consistent results. Look at #2 where you can see two lines but the chart is showing 8 measurements. Could redo them as it's all in place for listening evaluation and can place the mic in the same position. All measured up/marked and repeatable. This way I'm able to compare differences.

But like stated above the are gains on one side and losses on the other. So it's not clear cut from theoretical point of view. The differences are also not just to frequency response but group delay, THD and Impulse response and phase to small extent.

Measurable difference are also far more than any cables could possibly give so my scepticism somewhat waned. There's no question these products make a difference and far bigger than cables.

The biggest question for me is what products are best to use and in what conditions. As above there may be times where they measurably don't improve things and possibly make them worse.

In regards to questions of speakers engineering consider that demos I've seen of Gaia II were with £8k speakers so if these are not engineered properly then what chance do most enthusiasts have...

 

[Craig M.]

Ah sorry, missed that. I always wondered if my changing results were the result of a crap mic, that kinda confirms it. Thanks.