Topic: Spikes for Speakers, Isolation Platform for Subs. Transmit or Isolate?

[markcrenz]

From what I've read, spikes firmly couple speakers to the floor, while isolation platforms loosely couple subs from floors. The former will transmit box vibrations to the floor, the latter will, as the name implies, isolate it. Manufacturers of both products claim improvement in bass performance.

Will we get better bass from spikes or from isolators? What do we REALLY need?

[JoeyGS]

For me, first and formost is to pin those speakers to the floor in such a way that when the drivers move, the baffles will not move so that the drivers move accurately.  You only worry about vibrations from the floor depending if your floor resonates.  So, i guess, you need one or both......

[Nelson de Leon]

From what I've read, spikes firmly couple speakers to the floor, while isolation platforms loosely couple subs from floors. The former will transmit box vibrations to the floor, the latter will, as the name implies, isolate it. Manufacturers of both products claim improvement in bass performance.

Will we get better bass from spikes or from isolators? What do we REALLY need?

I'm a believer of spikes. Master Joey is right as he was in a situation a few months back. Mass loading the enclosure coupled with spikes can also help. I believe he has a concrete flooring as well.
However, coming from reliable people I've talked with, the isolation platforms worked for them because they have a suspended wooden flooring. Those platforms may very slightly lessen the output of the driver but in suspended flooring where the floors literally shake, the isolation platform does its job really well by absorbing the vibrations instead of transferring it to the wooden flooring.

[synchro_01]

Speakers that are set up on top of a carpet would benefit the most from spikes since the spikes will pierce the carpet and will enable the speaker to be firmly planted to its base. The big speaker models are not even spiked at all since their sheer weight plants the speakers firmly to the ground. AFAIK, isolators on the other hand prevent vibrations from being transmitted to the flooring then to the walls.

Now for Amps, Pre, DAC, CD players etc that are being spiked that I do not know the logic because if its beneficial then it would come with the unit itself or there will be provisions on the feet of the device to insert a spike through.

[at_sunset_blvd]

For me FS sounds better when spiked to the floor (when room is carpeted, rubber footing when tiles or wooden floor) as it holds the baffle still & sturdy. Subs do better w/ isolation platform as it absorbs the low frequency from radiating to the floor especially on wooden floors also. Just my experience but everyone has a different perspective on how they like theirs to be 

[JojoD818]

They said it has to do daw with localization, yun speakers needs to be pinned down for the best possible imaging, may toe in/out pa nga iirc. As for the subs, I think the reason they need to be isolated is so we can't "localize" where it/they're coming from.

So my vote is we need to utilize both. My two cents only paps.

[markcrenz]

Great, masters! Thanks for all the insights. Keep it coming!

Now for Amps, Pre, DAC, CD players etc that are being spiked that I do not know the logic because if its beneficial then it would come with the unit itself or there will be provisions on the feet of the device to insert a spike through.

I think the benefit of "spiking" CD players to the rack is to increase the effective mass and dissipate any vibration that the CD player creates. However this will work if the rack has no vibration to begin with, as spikes will also help transmit vibrational energy from rack to cd player. Spikes will do more harm than good if the rack is not stable and "dances" with the speakers. As to other electronics equipment with no moving parts, I could not think of any benefit other than "mas pogi" to some owners.

[synchro_01]

mark,

you are very right in saying that part of this hobby has a lot to do with the aesthetics part of the business. spiking equipment without anything moving is more of show than function.

I have yet to see a CD player that exhibits so much vibration that it transfers to the rack. if that's the case then I wont buy such a player because its poorly engineered hehe. now inversely the rack as well will surely catch vibrations specially if positioned near subs and/or speakers. its more of a benefit spiking the rack and filling the posts with sand to make it inert so that floor borne vibrations from these gears such as subs wont upset the playback of the CD or Turntable.

[timber715]

I have actually done some test/experiments so I rely less from what I read online.
Spikes on speakers in my test gave me tighter bass more control.
Isolation on speakers tend to make the bass a bit bloated which I think some prefer.

Since you topic inquired about them on speakers, I probably would not comment how isolation or spikes affect other gears.... But they do present some changes other than their aesthetics. We were even able to test them on my dac (which seem to have no moving part whatsoever) and the effect was night and day. But I am aware this is not for everyone...
A very simple and cheap tweak you can actually do is cut three pieces of 3/4" plywood to 4" x 1" and place it under your cd player and hear the changes. First with the ply on its sides, then try it again with the ply on top.
Hope you can try it so you can comment better.... It almost free and requires very little time anyway.

[nerveblocker]

I have actually done some test/experiments so I rely less from what I read online.
Spikes on speakers in my test gave me tighter bass more control.
Isolation on speakers tend to make the bass a bit bloated which I think some prefer.

I totally agree.  I tried the isolation platforms for my subs but the bass response in my room was way out of control.  High dbs in midbass which really made my walls rattle. I could describe this as hard bass similar to bass in Hip Hop and Rock.  Guess this could be remedied with a sub equalizer which I didn't have.  I then tried using spikes.  The bass response was refined and smoother.  It became less agressive and I liked it.

I have carpeted floors by the way.  I wouldn't really know how the isolation platforms would perform in wooden or cemented floors.