I wonder if anyone has experimented with putting their speakers on these materials in a room with floorboards? Was the sound Improved? And did one material sound better than another?
Speaker isolation - marble, granite or slate?
- Thread starter unison
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Yes I have experimented.
The best solution are Auralex Grammas, which are more effective than Granite.
I actually combine the two ie. The Grammas sit on Argos Granite worktop savers.
Granite and Slate are probably better than Marble, but cheap Granite is often easier to come by.
Are your speakers floorstanders or standmounts?...Standmounts are less of a problem.
The best solution are Auralex Grammas, which are more effective than Granite.
I actually combine the two ie. The Grammas sit on Argos Granite worktop savers.
Granite and Slate are probably better than Marble, but cheap Granite is often easier to come by.
Are your speakers floorstanders or standmounts?...Standmounts are less of a problem.
6th.replicant
Well-known member
IME, granite chopping boards (c. 10mm-thick) tightened bass and improved separation considerably. But, they also made my setup sound much brighter.
Then sampled thicker granite, c. 25mm-thick, which reduced the brightness, although not sufficiently, but maintained tighter bass and separation.
Will be trying some limestone slabs that are c. 50mm-thick this w/e...
Then sampled thicker granite, c. 25mm-thick, which reduced the brightness, although not sufficiently, but maintained tighter bass and separation.
Will be trying some limestone slabs that are c. 50mm-thick this w/e...
I made a home made Auralex platform for my sub using auralex foam scraps and they do work.
With stone i believe the general concensus is slate is better than granite
With stone i believe the general concensus is slate is better than granite
I have floorstanding speakers on a wooden floor. Underneath is a void about eighteen inches deep. Using the obligatory spikes I find this void works like a huge sound- box making for extremely boomy bass. I have now isolated the speakers using silicone pads. I now have tighter bass and an altogether more believable sound.
roger06
Well-known member
6th.replicant said:
Hi 6th
So granite boards on the floor / carpet then stands with spikes on top of those?
6th.replicant
Well-known member
roger06 said:
Yes
Granite, Auralax etc is also useful for isolating your system's sound/resonances from a room or apartment beneath, which was my main motivation TBH.
And if you're placing the granite on carpet, it's worth moving your slabs and speakers aside once a month, then giving the squished carpet a thorough vacuum to 'reactivate' its pile. If you don't, you might end up with two permanent rectangle-shaped impressions in your carpet - as I discovered when I last moved house
roger06
Well-known member
I wonder what difference it would make to mine... currently the speakers are on stands with four spikes which go through the carepet into the parquet / wood floor below.
6th.replicant
Well-known member
roger06 said:
IME, various hi-fi/speakers always sounded best when the speakers/spikes stood on a carpet that was laid over a concrete floor.
Whenever I moved to a home with a wooden floor the bass became less defined, as did detail/separation.
But, as mentioned, 10mm- and 25mm-thick granite restored bass focus and separation but added brightness and, IMHO, looked 'orrible.
Can't comment re Auralax.
Maybe it's worth buying some of Tesco's famous granite chopping boards and giving 'em a try - if you don't like the sound, take 'em back for a refund?
And I'll report back tomorrow re the sonics of 50mm-thick limestone...
I have got horrible warped boards under my carpet so this caught my attention. I have read that using a double layer with damping between can be useful. After google searching i came up with this link, seems to be rather cheaper than supermaket boards and its 2mm thicker than the argos board. http://www.theemporiumdirect.co.uk/products/urgranite-worktop-granite-worktop-protector-chopping-board.-natural-colour.html
Edit: any views on a material that could be used to damp between the boards?
Edit: any views on a material that could be used to damp between the boards?
Imagawa99 said:
Here's some ideas, but I've absolutely no idea how effective they'll be:
MDF
Blutak
Polystyrene
Bubble wrap - the bigger, stronger stuff
Carpet underlay
Halved squash balls
Partly inflated bicycle inner tube
If you find a brilliant solution...let us know.
Cno
Only ever used spikes, and even now not those as it's too easy for the kids to push the speakers over (it's happened once). So the 752s sit nicely on the floor and sound great. No boom, as they're rather lean speakers anyway and we're good to go. I think life would be a little on the short side to try different materials and for real world listening, the present arrangement works very well.
Imagawa99 said:Cno i woke up in the middle of the night and i thought... ceiling tiles!!
That's the one that got away!
Has your life really come down to this?......I think this definately, unequivocally marks you down as an audiophyle beyond redemption. :bigsmile:
There is another option that i found better than any stone, not sure if anyone else has tried it...
Play area rubber safety surfacing... comes in 30cm square tiles, solid rubber around 30mm deep and are very heavy.
They come in a choice of colours, black, yellow, red, green or blue so should be more aesthetically pleasing on any floor, spikes sit snugly on top.
You can find these out the back of your local B&Q for around a fiver a piece and are fantastic for isolation.I found them just by chance when wandering around looking for granite slabs, and never looked back...
Just be careful as they can take too much bass away, they are that good. But if you have a boom or heavy bass problem, these will do the trick
Worth a try and inexpensive compared to some other options....
Play area rubber safety surfacing... comes in 30cm square tiles, solid rubber around 30mm deep and are very heavy.
They come in a choice of colours, black, yellow, red, green or blue so should be more aesthetically pleasing on any floor, spikes sit snugly on top.
You can find these out the back of your local B&Q for around a fiver a piece and are fantastic for isolation.I found them just by chance when wandering around looking for granite slabs, and never looked back...
Just be careful as they can take too much bass away, they are that good. But if you have a boom or heavy bass problem, these will do the trick
Worth a try and inexpensive compared to some other options....
Just unwrapped my 4 new granite slabs only using 1 under each speaker atm and i have to say the difference is huge. Bass has gained texture and speed apart from the very lowest which is still faily boomy, treble has become more musical with better stereo image. This is something that every hifi owner needs to look at imo. My speakers still rock tho shows how warped my floor is. The boards came with some polystyrene packaging which was pretty close to what a ceiling tile is and i dont think thats going to work out so well. The rubber mentioned in the post above is probably a better option. What a great budget upgrade for some systems!
only using 1 under each speaker atm and i have to say the difference is huge. Bass has gained texture and speed apart from the very lowest which is still faily boomy, treble has become more musical with better stereo image. This is something that every hifi owner needs to look at imo. My speakers still rock tho shows how warped my floor is. The boards came with some polystyrene packaging which was pretty close to what a ceiling tile is and i dont think thats going to work out so well. The rubber mentioned in the post above is probably a better option. What a great budget upgrade for some systems!roger06
Well-known member
Wow sounds very interesting. I'm tempted to try.
Did you get those ones online?
(If they don't work then can always use 'em as chopping boards!)
Did you get those ones online?
(If they don't work then can always use 'em as chopping boards!)
http://www.theemporiumdirect.co.uk/products/urgranite-worktop-granite-worktop-protector-chopping-board.-natural-colour.html same link as i posted further back in this thread. They came in argos branded boxes so thats what they are, the £14.99 argos boards. Bit rough around the edges few chips maybe thats why they are so cheap but make no difference at all for how im using them.
Edit: iv just sat down and had another listen. There is a certain deadening of the sound. I have added the second boards damped only with the small foam rubber feet that came with it. This has helped. I have actually moved my speakers closer to the back wall. Certainly feel there is more bass detail coming out now.
Edit: iv just sat down and had another listen. There is a certain deadening of the sound. I have added the second boards damped only with the small foam rubber feet that came with it. This has helped. I have actually moved my speakers closer to the back wall. Certainly feel there is more bass detail coming out now.
RMutt said:
Try this, 1" or larger Pozidrive screws straight into the floorboards.
Sit spikes of stands/speakers in cups of screws. Easy to level,and with weight of stands/speakers very,very solid.
Stand back and be amazed.
CnoEvil said:
How about 'O' rings 5 or 6 sitting around between the Boards, I was going to try this if I could find some suitable boards, wanted something bigger than the argos ones, Wilkinsons sell a similar board for £10 have one under my TT.
pwiles1968 said:
These things are very much trial and error. They can often make a change, but not always for the better...give it a go and report back.
In case it's of interest, check out Audioserenity Isolation feet, £7.95 for 4 on ebay (180409729847).
Sometimes TTs can sound better on wooden platforms....can you get your hands on an off-cut of MDF or even Maple to try.
Good luck
Cno
I read comments from people saying that they've tried their speakers on stands placed on different surfaces e.g. spikes onto a concrete floor vs. parquet etc (which are probably in different rooms/houses)
But if you put your speakers in a different room it will influence the sound you hear far more than the effect of any stand. Different rooms have different dimensions and are full of different materials, and therefore have different acoustics.
If you place the best speakers in even a good listening room, put use a measurement microphone at the listening position to plot a frequency response curve it will be anything but flat.
But if you put your speakers in a different room it will influence the sound you hear far more than the effect of any stand. Different rooms have different dimensions and are full of different materials, and therefore have different acoustics.
If you place the best speakers in even a good listening room, put use a measurement microphone at the listening position to plot a frequency response curve it will be anything but flat.
You wouldn't be very happy with a piece of kit had a spec sheet like this, would you? Well, this is what even a properly acoustically treated LARGE room is doing to your sound. A typical lounge or bedroom will be FAR worse!! Those peaks and dips in the room's frequency response are each about 10dB (20 dB at the lower frequencies).
This is why sorting out your room acoustics will fix your sound more effectively than anything else. The differences in response between amps, cables, playback devices etc. is very small these days - probably fluctuations of less than 2 or 3 dB over the audible range. Speakers are the weakest link in the chain by a long way, so by all means, go crazy and spend your money there.
Back to the topic of the thread, speaker stands should hold your speakers still in a good position in the room and not vibrate. Other than by holding the speakers in different positions, they're not going to change the sound perceptibly in my opinion.
This is why sorting out your room acoustics will fix your sound more effectively than anything else. The differences in response between amps, cables, playback devices etc. is very small these days - probably fluctuations of less than 2 or 3 dB over the audible range. Speakers are the weakest link in the chain by a long way, so by all means, go crazy and spend your money there.
Back to the topic of the thread, speaker stands should hold your speakers still in a good position in the room and not vibrate. Other than by holding the speakers in different positions, they're not going to change the sound perceptibly in my opinion.
Tonmeister said:
I 100% agree with this (which is why I put it as the most important part of a system to get right, in a different thread).
Saying that, the isolation of the speakers, may be the most important part of the room to sort out (especially with floorstanders). When my speakers were placed on a suspended wooden floor, all the bass seemed to dissappear underneath the floorboards, and had no "tight punch" to it. It took Auralex Grammas placed on granite slabs, to help sort the problem out. They now sound completely different. I hope to get other treatment done, but this had the biggest effect and needed done first.
Cno
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