speaker isolation

[cypher007]

ok bought some argos worktop savers and foculpods. which sequence do i put them in?

eg. speaker foculpod granite floor/carpet?

 

[CnoEvil]

I would advise that you experiment......remember that the speakers need to be stable.

What are your speakers (Standmounts or Floorstanders) and are they on carpet?

Try the granite on its own.

Try the Foculpods under the Granite (if stable enough); or under the speakers if Standmounts.

 

[cypher007]

should have put more info spose. this is an operation in queting the missus. i have an upstairs bedroom im going to use for a cinema room. i have 6 of these speakers that im currently recapping and modding slightly on the tweaters. anyway every time i put some music on the missus from downstairs shouts turn it down its too loud, now my setup is not loud by any means, and i can only think its because the sound is going through the floor.

these speakers are bookshelf, though it would have to be one hell of a bookshelf at nearly 9kg each. so i have them on the carpet which i think is the problem.

 

[Leeps]

After mostly unsuccessful tinkering, I've finally managed to isolate my speakers from the (carpet over concrete) floor. I don't know why they resonated so much: I was wondering whether the frame of the building was steel and whether that was setting off a harmonic. I actually had less bass trouble in my previous house which in theory should have been worse! Anyway, here's what worked for me (eventually) starting from the bottom:

Concrete floor

Carpet

Rubber isolation pads

Granite boards

Spike shoes (primarily to stop scratching the granite when I was moving the speakers)

Atacama HMS 1.1 stands filled 85-90% with Atabites (these are REALLY hefty stands and give the stability and that dead weight that the floor needed). I was looking at Atacama's cheaper stands too, but I'm glad I went for these much beefier models as they really do the job they're designed for. As indicated above, the stands are spiked.

Atacama gel pads

MA Gold GX50 bookshelf speakers.

 

[macdiddy]

buy some earplugs for the missus for when you want to turn it up.

*biggrin*

 

[cypher007]

like it.

thanks for the replies. the reason i was wondering on the correct sequence was i thought if i put the foculpads on the granite then the speakers on the granite i would get distortion as the speaker ratles against the granite.

i might try speker pad granite carpet.

just a thought whats the granite for? my speakers are quite stubby being large bookshelf units so are very stable on there own. is the granite just for stability?

 

[cypher007]

just another thought. if i bought stands wouldnt the combined weight be more than the 5kg per pad, 20kg total?

 

[cypher007]

is the granite just for stability?

 

[Leeps]

I use the granite mainly to protect the carpet. Many people who have wooden floors use the granite boards to prevent scratching the nice wood. Because my stands are very heavy and the spikes are pretty evil, they'd completely muller the carpet, particularly when experimenting with different locations in the room. I also wanted to do my best to completely isolate the stands from the concrete floor underneath. Much of this was trial and error, and I ought to mention that part of this process included getting rid of my old floorstanders.

Introducing small standmounted speakers enabled me to use the heavy duty stands and i think it's that combo rather than the granite boards that had the greatest impact on the overall sound. But I still wanted to look after my carpet!

 

[cypher007]

ah so the granite is not to help isolate the sound then?

if so i might take them back.

 

[CnoEvil]

ah so the granite is not to help isolate the sound then?

if so i might take them back.

Granite can help with isolation.....why don't you try it and see what happens.

Auralex Gramma is a better solution, though not that attractive. There are expensive solutions from Track Audio and Townshend Audio.