subwoofer slab

[pastor_902]

I have a speakercraft ts12. I got the supplier to cut and polish me an extra 40x50 granite slab when fitting the kitchen to put under the subwoofer as I have wooden floors.

I am now reading that some recommend putting a slab on top of the sub as well. Is there any advantage to this?

Also, should the slab sit directly on a wooden floor or should I stick some flat(ish) rubber pads on to it before putting on the floor? Would that affect the sound?

Thanks.

 

[gilesy5]

I have granite slabs and have rubber pads underneath them. I don't think you would hear a massive difference between having the pads on or not to be honest. As long as the floor is flat, it does make the sub really sturdy; this does help with the quality of sound that is produced from them and looks attractive too.

Regarding granite on top of the sub... suck it and see! I believe the reasoning behind putting mass on the top of the sub is that less energy is absorbed by the box and so more is output from the speaker... please don't take this as gospel though. Personally I haven't done that or even experimented with it as I don't think it would be aesthetically pleasant in my sitting room, even if there was an audible benefit.

 

[pastor_902]

Thanks for the reply, I went for the small rubber feet as well. Haven't hooked it all up yet so can't tell what difference it has made...

 

[gilesy5]

If it's anything like mine, it tightens up the bass response quite nicely, giving the sound waves something nice to bounce off initially. it also provided a much more solid platform for my subs to stand on (I never used spikes and the floor is slightly uneven, which lead to a slight rocking whenever I pushed the sub in any direction). This, I'm sure also helped.

In my system, this made the the whole sound seem much more 3 dimensional. In Alice in Wonderland, there is a scene when a big snarly dog armed with teeth and saliva comes thundering towards you. This tracks round the left side of the room very nicely and the sub makes it really feel that the dog is comin' at ya!

Let us know what it's like when you have it set up.

 

[g8ina]

Spikes would always be my first choice for a sub, as prev poster said, you need to stop the box moving and just let the cone do its work. A slab on top will work, but rubber feet is a backwards step.

 

[jb001e9634]

I use these http://www.soundcare.no/

 

[gilesy5]

Spikes will certainly stop the box from moving, although I heard somewhere (but it was a long time ago, so please forgive me) that spikes added onto the feet of a sub place the cone further from the floor than it should be for optimal sub-wooferidgeness. This could all be a load of hogwallop from my memory and this certainly isn't supposed to diss g8ina's post. We both agree the box should not move, and spikes do this wonderfully well.

However, on your wooden floor, rubber feet attached to a granite slap, with a heaving great sub on top works wonders. You will notice the difference, believe you me! Is it better or worse than having spikes on the sub's feet? Personally I don't know, but what you have done, is successfully invested in an improvement.

 

[g8ina]

Speakercraft TS12 Suwoofer at Audio Affair

the above link shows this sub with spikes attached, and, from my memory, space from floor to cone is not half as important as rear wall to cone...

 

[gilesy5]

D'oh! Wish I'd looked at the type of sub before prattling on. I assumed it was a downward firing jobbie, rather than forward. Anyhoo, let us know what it's like when you set it up? Is it better? worse?

 

[mfife]

I agree with g8ina that spikes are the best option, however they must be used in conjunction with spike shoes; spikes directly on a smooth polished surface will mean a FF sub will tend to "skid" quite a bit.

 

[g8ina]

mfife, I'm fairly sure that would depend on the weight of the sub, and this one does look fairly hefty Spikes on blutack has worked for me in the past to stop skidding on a marble surface though.