Sound isolation for Forte II speakers. Is it necessary?

[AriKona]

I have a pair of Forte II speakers on a carpeted floor over a concrete foundation. It seems like there is a significant amount of coupling going on as I am getting "too good" a bass response at times. They do have the built in risers, but is there a way to decouple them from the floor (spikes, stands, etc.)?  And, is it necessary to do so? That is, has anyone found that adding one of these methods of sound isolation actually improves the sound of the Forte speakers? If so, what did you use?

[twistedcrankcammer]

13 minutes ago, AriKona said:

I have a pair of Forte II speakers on a carpeted floor over a concrete foundation. It seems like there is a significant amount of coupling going on as I am getting "too good" a bass response at times. They do have the built in risers, but is there a way to decouple them from the floor (spikes, stands, etc.)?  And, is it necessary to do so? That is, has anyone found that adding one of these methods of sound isolation actually improves the sound of the Forte speakers? If so, what did you use?

 

Dude! The Forte' and subsequent editions bass response is totally dependent on how far in or out of the corner they are bplaced. Play with distance to suit yourself!

 

Roger

[pzannucci]

The risers have corner blocks in them (at least mine did at the time).  You can use a threaded rod with a nut to basically make spikes to raise them off and lock them to the floor.  That's what I did with mine.  Worked great.  May help.

[garyrc]

21 hours ago, AriKona said:

I have a pair of Forte II speakers on a carpeted floor over a concrete foundation. It seems like there is a significant amount of coupling going on as I am getting "too good" a bass response at times. They do have the built in risers, but is there a way to decouple them from the floor (spikes, stands, etc.)?  And, is it necessary to do so? That is, has anyone found that adding one of these methods of sound isolation actually improves the sound of the Forte speakers? If so, what did you use?

 

Color me surprised.  Coupling was part of the design, to provide smooth response. 

 

PWK was against cavities formed by putting speakers on legs, writing that so doing, "can destroy the bottom octave of response and deteriorate the next 2 octaves."  I would guess that short spikes might be O.K., but stands might create too much of a cavity.

 

Is the floor itself concrete, or is it just a concrete perimeter foundation with a wood floor?

 

Do you have any electronic room correction?  Room treatments?  

 

I assume you have tried moving the speakers, moving the main listening position, and have auditioned many different recordings.

 

If you have a calibrated microphone, USB compatible ($80 to $100), you can run Room EQ Wizard for free, to see if the combined response of equipment, room, and positioning are to blame, or if they are adequately flat.  Getting Started with REW: A Step-by-Step Guide

 

 The Harmon people (and others) found that most people like a curve more like this:

Or this:

 

 

[John Chi-town]

I also own forte II over carpet on concrete floor.  I assume you have padding under carpet?  I do, I have positioned 18 inches off of rear wall, and bass is perfect INMHO.

 

Good luck!

 

John

[AriKona]

O.K. Will respond in order:

Roger (twistedcrankcammer) - My question should have included this, but with regard to extending distance from the wall, it is not a long-term viable option at this point, but thank you.

 

Peter Z (pzannucci) - I have considered this approach but was afraid that it might create the situation GaryRC speaks of (I read the article, too). Since you have had a good experience, it might be worth revisiting and I may try it to see first hand how it works. Thank you.

 

GaryRC - Your comment was the reason I hesitated using any type of spikes or stands that would create an open space directly below the speakers in the first place.  As you can see, Peter Z has had good luck with them, so it might be at least worth trying. The floor is concrete from wall to wall - monolithic like the majority of homes built here in AZ in the 80's. While the room does not lend itself to much in the way of sound treatment, I have all but the bass adjusted to my listening preference. Unfortunately, moving of the speakers is rather limited in its application due to room dimensions and layout. While I have run a calibrated microphone for my home theater (in another room), I trust my music listening to my ears rather than an acoustic "standard" as I have had much better experiences with doing so. Thank you for your well thought out response.

 

John (John Chi-town) Yes, carpet, pad and concrete. While I may at least try them at 18" to see how that sounds, unfortunately, I am not able to leave them that far from the wall in the room they currently occupy. About 10-12" becomes the limit for the time being to allow for everything to fit together. It is far from the ideal listening room, but has served me well for the 29 years I have lived here (the speakers were in a different room initially, but have been moved here to accommodate the home theater in the other room). Thank you also for your response.

 

At this point I will first see exactly what difference moving the speakers further out from the wall makes. While this may not be something I can maintain all the time, it is worth trying. Also, in the name of scientific experimentation, I will see what some form of elevating spikes or other open platform will do. (In all honesty, I have experimented with using milk crates under the speakers just to see what happens and found that the bass is attenuated significantly. However, it really doesn't look very good.;-))

 

Thank you all for your expertise and should I find  the solution that pleases me the most, I will post the results and how I arrived there.

 

Don

 

P.S. Although the forum provides monikers such as "newbie", etc. I hope this related to one's status in posting alone. At 61 years of age and experiences that go with it, my bones tell me I'm no "newbie" when it comes to life.

[JBCODD]

3 hours ago, AriKona said:

Don

 

P.S. Although the forum provides monikers such as "newbie", etc. I hope this related to one's status in posting alone. At 61 years of age and experiences that go with it, my bones tell me I'm no "newbie" when it comes to life.

Don:

        Yes, the moniker is driven by the number of posts which you have made, at least at the lower levels. From some of the titles that long time members have, I guess there is a threshold where some editing privileges kick in. I am deemed a "Forum Veteran" cause I got a few hundred posts, not due to any audio expertise. There are, however, many members with vast practical experience, and others who combine this experience with technical education, so the forum is a valuable resource for maximizing your audio experience.

        Also some members make awesome hot sauce. @oldtimer.