subwoofer,whats yours on?

paulr

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Is it OK just to plonk it on the floor,or do stands exist and are they any good.?
Whats your on?
 
Currently its just sitting on the floor, no rubber feet etc. Last sub was on spikes.
 
Mine is on spikes but I have been advised to take them off and use the rubber feet supplied. Also being advised to place it on a concrete slab or paving stone which I also haven't got around to.

It isn't as bad as it sounds as the paving stone can be covered with a suitable fabric.
 
Ian.....does it really make a difference to the sound wether its on spikes or feet?........or was it the "advice" of a wife who doesnt want spikes in the carpet:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by paulr
was it the "advice" of a wife who doesnt want spikes in the carpet:rolleyes:

Uncle Eric is not my wife :) and his view was in order to gain every last possible ounce of sound quality.

Whether or not it makes much difference in practice to ordinary mortals, I don't know as I have been too busy in the last couple of weeks to unscrew the spikes and find out.
 
I built my own so it's very firmly bolted to the base from a Linn Keltik speaker. The base is made from a very dense composite material, and this is spiked to the floor also.

The sub doesn't move much.:)
 
My sub is on spikes. Wish it wasn't as I put one of the buggers through my finger the other week moving it. Providing you don't drag it around your carpet should be OK. If Uncle Eric says to use rubber feet then that’s more than likely the best thing to do.
 
The spikes screw into the rubber feet, so there is more room underneath, also they dont wooble, I think they sound better this way...
 
Mine (Q100E) just sits on the carpet. Ironically, it is probably the only thing in my room that doesn't move around when watching films.
brow.gif
 
I had a noticable sound improvement after placing the sub onto concrete slab. One of the most cost efficient sound improving technique (got the slab at Homebase for £3.50).

However, I think this works much better on the smaller footprint sub. Difference on the larger sub were not so obvious.
 
Branxx - does your sub have feet or is it completely flat on the concrete slab?

I'm thinking of doing the same but i don't know whether to take the feet off of my sub for the best effect.
 
Personally, I've never liked spikes, for anything.
Spikes, no matter what, hard couple contact between surfaces. The fact that the actual contact area of the spikes are small is not relevent IMO. Hard contact, hence vibration transmision is always there.

I've always preffered rubber feet. Size of these feet depends very much on the weight and size of the equipment they support.

For example, I use 4 small rubber feet under my speaker stands followed by another four on the surface where the speakers sit. I do not use blu-tak. Blu-tak is plastic rather than elestic hence its compliance lessons over time. Rubber has an elastic nature which handles surface born and airborne vibrations far better.

Regarding Ians downward firing sub, this was firing onto a heavy carpet (not ideal). The concrete (or granite if you're rich) slab under a downward firer is a good idea, particularly if you have a hefty carpet underneath. The addition of a few slabs on top (if you don't mind what it looks like) is even better.
 
Originally posted by uncle eric
Personally, I've never liked spikes, for anything.
Spikes, no matter what, hard couple contact between surfaces. The fact that the actual contact area of the spikes are small is not relevent IMO. Hard contact, hence vibration transmision is always there.

Isn't that the point of spikes (at least for speakers)? That they solidly couple the cabinet to something that won't move, i.e. the fabric of the building, so that only the driver moves? It's the same principle as adding mass to your subwoofer cabinet isn't it?
...Andy
 
If the rubber feet where adjustable, maybe I wouldn´t bother with spikes for the sub, but they aren´t, and the floor is not perfectly even... the same goes for the speaker stands...

Also, if they shake, and they will on rubber feet, particularly if the rubber isn´t very hard, they should loose some energy, I don´t think that is the best setup, IMHO...
 
Andy,
Its not quite that simple. Everything moves. Constantly.
Keith Howard recently wrote a good article in Hi Fi news about this very subject. Using relevent equipment, he measured the effects of external (not equipment born) vibration.
He showed and proved what I've been saying for ages. He evaluated a set of stands that weighed in excess of 30kg each and showed that resonances were cut (drastically) by stand/speaker compliant feet.
The argument you speak of (against compliantly mounting feet) is that it allows the cabinet to move (more) in response to forces generated by cone movement which many believe increases Doppler distortion. Personally I believe hard coupling does more harm than good. Just my humble opinion
 
Originally posted by uncle eric
Regarding Ians downward firing sub, this was firing onto a heavy carpet (not ideal). The concrete (or granite if you're rich) slab under a downward firer is a good idea, particularly if you have a hefty carpet underneath. The addition of a few slabs on top (if you don't mind what it looks like) is even better.

So, are you saying that the granite/concrete slab is only beneficial for downward firing subs and not for a forward firing one such as my Q100 ?

What should I put under it, then ? - Rubber feet such as Vibrapod or some such ?

Thanx,
BJ
 
My Sub sits on the rubber (or plastic?) feet provided. Speakers and racks however sit on spikes and because I don't want to scratch my shiny new granite floor (not ideal, I know ...) I put additional granite slabs below which have rubber feet underneath. The slabs have been custom made from the same material as the floor and to match the size of the speakers (the slabs of the rack are actually coaster like, i.e. 1 piece for each leg).

Interesting debate on the spikes vs. rubber feet, I also always thought spikes are recommended as then the weight of the equipment will force a solid stand which in return is supposed to benefit the sound.
 
Moving slightly from "what's yours on" to "what's yours under"...

How much breathing space does a sub need to really perform. A number of images I've seen of pro-installs seem to have the subs shut away in cabinets under the screen (albeit with fabric or perforated fronts). For reasons of aesthetics how closely closed in can a sub be before the acoustics start to suffer? (and what materials are these "cabinets" best constructed from?
 
My sub is now on the rubber feet provided.Thanks for all the replies.

Paul.
 
Originally posted by MuFu
Mine (Q100E) just sits on the carpet. Ironically, it is probably the only thing in my room that doesn't move around when watching films.
brow.gif

But you do have the supplied spikes fitted don't you? Or at least some vinyl screws to seal the four holes at the bottom of the sub...
I had the same sub and tried it with nothing under it, leaving open the screwholes for the spikes, and it sounded awful. The Q100E is a sealed enclosure design and thus needs its spikes (or something else) fitted in order to work properly...
 
Sadly Im not much of a Tech head. So I dont know wot the sound difference is with a slab under your sub or not. All I can grather is that the sound will bounce off the slab alot more than from a capreted floor. But wot is the difference to the ear?
Also does there have to be a safe gap between the sub and the slab?

PS - I got spikes (not that is gonna tell you much as i aint used rubber feet) :p
 
uncle eric said:
Regarding Ians downward firing sub, this was firing onto a heavy carpet (not ideal). The concrete (or granite if you're rich) slab under a downward firer is a good idea, particularly if you have a hefty carpet underneath. The addition of a few slabs on top (if you don't mind what it looks like) is even better.

Should the slab UNDER the sub be covered with a soft fabric or left as a hard and shiny uncovered surface?

Thanks! :thumbsup:
 

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