Subwoofer Isolation

J

john87

Guest
How can I isolate my subwoofer from the wooden floor it is on without ruining it's sound. I was thinking along the lines of a concrete slab, maybe.

The main reason I need this is because I am on the first floor of a house and as well as shaking the floor, which then shakes my bookshelves etc. which ruins the sound (rattling), the light fitting underneath is getting shook about!
 
That sounds like its doing its job well!!!

Try some of the following:

1) A rug on the floor. This will reduce the boomyness that a wooden floor can cause. And in your situation try and obtain some dynomat or other like product (soundproofing). Some soundproofing or vibration resistant pads may be effective... see link. Obviously this wont look good in a nicely decorated room so you will need a rug to put them under, stick the sub on top of the rug.


http://www.woolies-trim.u-net.com/felt.html


2) Metal L clips screwed into the cabinets then into your wall - or find the offending rattle and Blu-tack it.

3) The concrete (or Marbel slab) - It may be worth trying a couple underneath the Sub and one or two on top - (experiment). Make sure the floor can handle the weight!! Tru this with suggestion no. 1.

Other than that turn the sub down?

Hope that helps.



:cool:
 
A concrete slab won't really do much in theway of isolation.


Spikes on the bottom of the cabinet would probably be best.

If you want a really cheap solution, buy a couple of squash balls and cut them in half, placing one at each corner. If the sub is too heavy, fill the half balls with silicone sealant - once set, it will then support the weight OK.
 
Depends on how pedantic you want to be I suppose.

As I understand it, yes, with spikes the speaker is still coupled to the floor, but much less so than it is with the cabinet simply resting on the floor. AFAIK, there is no way to totally decouple a speaker from the floor it's standing on, while still maintaining the necessary rigidity to lock the speaker in place.
As far as I'm concerned, spikes offer the best compromise, although to be honest, I have also read that a concrete slab can work as well to some degree (a standard 2x2 may not look that good in your front room though :) )
Maybe spiking to a concrete slab is the answer!!

The squash ball trick is one usually recommended for equipment, not speakers, but it should work there as well. The only problem may be that you lose mechanical rigidity, although I doubt that would be as much of an issue with a subwoofer.
 
In fact, the best solution would be to use the sub on spikes, on a large slab of granite (not TOO heavy, about 2x the weigth of the sub is good) and under this slab, place some damping material, like the squash balls or sorbothane or whatever.

This will make a good mass/spring system with good damping and a low resonance frequency.
 
Originally posted by garmtz
This will make a good mass/spring system with good damping and a low resonance frequency.

And probably crash through the floorboards as well :)
 
Hmm... firstly thanks for the replies.

Garmtz suggestion would mean a 60KG slab with a 30KG subwoofer on top... the weight of a heavy person, spread over a larger area than two feet so that should be OK...

Hmm... I think about this further, and see which options are viable.
 
taken to its logical conclusion,when your sub. gets near the ceiling put a cushion on top or you may get complaints from above.
 
Originally posted by garmtz
Using spikes will not isolate either. Spikes couple a speaker to the floor, not decouple it. Damping works best. Try the squash ball solution. It works in most cases.
I think squash balls are ok for other equipment but not substantial enough for a heavy sub. I use small heavy duty rubber feet. With Mrs Chip sitting on top of the sub during the movie I get perfect results :D
 
At first I'm going to get a slab and squash balls with silicone sealant in them.

I'll get spikes later... where could I get them and which should I use?
 
60KG slab with 2 squash balls cut in half and filled with silicone sealant.

Spikes needed.

:p
 
spike kits (brass) @ richer sounds £4.99. set of four in pack with fixing screws.
 
The RS spike kits are for normal speakers, I wouldn't want to trust them under my Sub
Samir:)
 
they're fine under my paradigm pdr10s and my servo-15, subs are not something that are constantly being moved around (get them positioned before fitting spikes) spikes by their nature are weight bearers so if properly positioned and fitted are even better for subs than they are for speakers.
 
And Richer sounds will never have them in stock at the advertised price:devil:
 
But they will have a good quality Sherwood alternative that sounds even better....;)
 
Originally posted by john87
Plus there is nothing to screw them into :confused:
the kits contain a base a screw and a spike that screws into it (4 of, one for each corner) the only way you culd not use them is if your subs have no bottom or the bottom is made of steel-theres even a way around that. it's a shame sony don't make spike kits though:devil:
 
We bought the slabs yesterday and the difference is enormous. We are waiting for the sealant in the squash balls to dry, and are going to get some spikes soon.

For less than £15, this subwoofer stand is a bargain :)
 

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