Speakers and Subwoofers - Granite bases?

[Oldboy]

Hello,

I've been looking at more possible tweaks for my system, re-routing cables so they don't cross and keeping power, video and speaker cables seperate via conduit etc but yesterday i stumbled into the hi-fi forum on here and was reading about the use of granite under floorstanders and subwoofers.

Could someone just clarify why you would use granite under your speakers/sub and what benefits (if any) to sound you can expect and if it is something else i should be looking at before i think about component upgrades, and is this the sort of tweaking that only gets gains in sound with higher priced kit?

Many thanks.

 

[The_Lhc]

It's to prevent low frequency resonance with a suspended wooden floor. If you have a concrete floor you don't need to worry about it.

My dining room for example has a somewhat flexible wooden floor above a cellar, so bass frequencies get hugely amplified as the cellar acts like a giant guitar resonance box. Does work very well with church organ music where speakers struggle to replicate the bottom registers but other than that it's a bit of an issue. The living room however has a concrete floor, so that has no such problems.

 

[Anonymous]

From what I know its to stop resinance and also direct the bass away from the neighbours.

Some people swear by them some dont.

I tried it with my RSW12 and did not notice any difference from carpet

 

[The_Lhc]

What have you got underneath the carpet though?

 

[Oldboy]

Thank you!

I have a wooden laminite floor on a concrete base so i presume there is no need for me to look at this then? I should add i am on the ground floor and have no suspended wooden flooring, but neighbours both sides which i am always wary of upsetting with excessive volume levels lol.

Many thanks for the quick replies.

 

[chudleighpaul]

A couple of bricks under the sub does exactly the same and is a lot cheaper

 

[Anonymous]

I have concrete.

I would assume most houses on ground floor where home cinema is, they would not need plynths as they would have a solid floor unless they live in a flat I guess?

Or maybe wooden floors possibly

 

[Andrew Everard]

Indeed, though you may have a problem of transmission of bass through the floor and into adjacent properties, in which case something like this may be helpful.

 

[b33k34]

Although not particularly attactive...

I picked up a granite chopping board from Asda big enough for my sub for c£10. It sits on a pair of halved squash balls.

It made a big difference for me (Victorian house/suspended wooden floor with secondary wood floor over the top).