What do you put your speakers / subs on?

[jrpavel]

What "platform" do you put your speakers / sub on in a carpeted room? Marble slabs seem impractical

 

[Crustyloafer]

My main speakers, Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk3s, are sat on a pair of Atacama R724 Reference stands with floor spike protectors upside down sat between the the top spikes and the speakers. The stands are spiked into two large concrete paving slabs which in turn are sat flat on top of the carpet. My subwoofer is spiked into another identical concrete paving slab which is sat on the carpet too.

 

[Nimby]

Marble slabs impractical? Too posh perhaps?

Mission 753F floorstanders on 2" high Blackfoot stands on 15" x 15" x 2" concrete paving slabs lying on the carpet. All sitting on a 9" raised floor platform with the TV between them. The 16-46 will sit somewhere between the speakers. Like it or lump it. .

Nimby

 

[rozzar]

my ms30 classics are just on Atacama SE6 stands, 2/3rds full of sand and spiked at the bottom. Blu-Tak is between the speakers and teh stands. I have tried Concrete slabs on speakers and the sound immediately changes but not for the better. Lack of lower mid/upper bass I felt. Speaker dependant tho...

 

[mw3cdj]

Marble slabs impractical? Too posh perhaps?

I dont think their either posh or impractical. I had some 1" thick marble cut to size and polished by a local company .
the speakers are spiked on to the marble.

 

[SamirP]

I have my fronts on B&W stands with Auralex Mopads & an Auralex Gramma Platform under my sub

 

[chris l.]

Have my Mission 753's and MJ 100 sub's on reconstituted marble, cost me circa £50 for 6 slabs circa 18 x 15 x 2" with bevelled edge from a local guy who makes fireplace surrounds etc.

Found him on yell.

Regards,

Chris L.

 

[stevegreen]

I have polished marble under my main speakers and both under and on top of my sub

 

[Ian J]

SVS subs all come with built in base plates.

My M&K Pro speakers are seated on the rubber feet that come with them and they sit on Atacama spiked stands. If you look at the pictures of various studios on the M&K site using their equipment it would seem that they also either seat their speakers directly onto stands using the supplied rubber feet or else they are wallmounted.

The studios' subs also seem to be directly on the floor and if it's good enough for George Lucas it's certainly good enough for me.

 

[mw3cdj]

Stevegreen,
Did the slab on top of the sub make much of a difference??

Daran

 

[alfablue]

I bought a paving slap for my sub (it has the same dimensions as the base), and painted it matt black. Cost £1.50 plus paint - £3.00 ish total? Looks good (discrete). Sound? Cant be sure, but I reckon the neighbours in the flat below appreciate it.

 

[stevegreen]

Originally posted by mw3cdj
Stevegreen,
Did the slab on top of the sub make much of a difference??

Daran

It made a difference yes, but not a massive one. The REL is quite heavy enough as it is, but adding the extra weight to the top seems to tighten the bass up slightly.

 

[thxultra]

I use this

 

[thxultra]

And these

 

[mw3cdj]

It made a difference yes, but not a massive one. The REL is quite heavy enough as it is, but adding the extra weight to the top seems to tighten the bass up slightly.

Got a paving slab or 2 in the garage , might give it a go a liitle later , if it works i'll get some More marble cut.

Thanks,
Daran

 

[Ian J]

There was lots of threads about this about a year ago and many people said that they noticed improvements from their subs by putting a heavy slate, granite or marble slab on top.

 

[Nimby]

Somebody ought to warn potential users of slabs on top of subs that paving slabs are pretty rough and rarely completely flat. Some sort of foam, layers of cloth or a piece of thin carpet should be put on top of the sub first. To protect the finish on the sub from abrasion by the concrete slab. It might make it difficult to sell the sub in the future if the top has been damaged. The top panel vibrations will no doubt cause even more damage unless the veneer is well protected. The slab needs some sort of damping anyway. To maximise its effect on panel resonance and to help to mass stabilise the subwoofer itself.

Nimby

 

[stevegreen]

My two pieces of marble are seated on a bit if blu-tac. This keeps then 'off' the top of the sub casing in effect, and works just fine.

 

[SamirP]

you can buy small rubber feet in Maplin. that's what I used when I had slab on my sub.

 

[rags]

Auralex Grammas work very well under subs. I noticed an improvement in the bass quality and less resonance from my room.

 

[jrpavel]

Originally posted by rags
Auralex Grammas work very well under subs.

Where can one get them?

What about those little inverted cones on a concrete floor? Or furniture castors?

Finally I have little rubber feet for the speakers under my front/centre speakers which are in the first shelf on my AV stand. This improved the sound slightly, as well as minimising the heat effect from the receiver on the shelf below. Unfortunately the speakers cannot go on top of the stand because they would block the plasma picture.

 

[Ian J]

The cheapest place that I have found to buy the Gramma from is Moving Waves Audio here for multi packs. They are selling single packs at £58.75 plus a nominal amount for postage but bear in mind that larger subs will need two of them. Moving Waves will do a much better price for packs of four for £159.99 which equates to only £40 each.

I have been coming across a few comments recently, stating that these are quite useful for cutting out noise transmitted downwards through the floors in flats but that they don't provide any improvement in sound quality. These are some random quotes that I have come across in the past two weeks.

Originally posted by martintyler
I would be lying if i said it definitely made a difference to the sound quality, if it has its only small.

Originally posted by magking
I have to agree with Martin.
I did'nt notice a huge improvement, but I have a hardwood floor and it reduces the vibration in the floor thats for shure. It also makes it easyer to move my subwoofer around and look very cool.

Originally posted by Mr Chefs Salad
I have an Auralex Gramma.

After using the gramma with my sub my observations are - No noticeable improvement in the sound quality .(I wasn't expect any - despite some wild claims)
The vibration and subsequently the noise from the sub travelling to the room below has been quite considerably reduced, although not completely. This was main objective.

 

[rags]

Originally posted by jrpavel
Where can one get them?

What about those little inverted cones on a concrete floor? Or furniture castors?

Finally I have little rubber feet for the speakers under my front/centre speakers which are in the first shelf on my AV stand. This improved the sound slightly, as well as minimising the heat effect from the receiver on the shelf below. Unfortunately the speakers cannot go on top of the stand because they would block the plasma picture.

I have a very old hardwood floor and using the gramma has definately proved beneficial. My floor definately rattles less as does the door adjacent to the sub (previously a very noticeable problem). For my room it has been a worthwhile investment as with less crap going on in the room sound quality has improved. If you have a carpeted floor it may not bring significant benefits.

 

[jrpavel]

Thanks. Sparing the neighbours would be a worthwhile benefit, but the price seems high. Are there cheaper alternatives?