HDBRbuilder's 'Rug Grippers' Music Boxes & La Scalas

[Erik Mandaville]

Finally I've had (made!) the time to get around to installing the neoprene discs on the bottom of my '89 La Scalas. Per HDBR's prescription, a total of 5 were used: one in each corner, with another in the middle. I had been looking for a good, unobtrusive way of reducing some excessive bass overhang and boom we were getting with the La Scalas in our upstairs listening room -- a suspended wooden floor covered with thin pad and carpet.

The way I was reminded of this (elegantly simple and very effective) tweak is interesting: I got my wife a really nice, hand-made music box for Christmas this year. With the lid open and music playing (Pachabel's famous Canon), I set the box down on to a wooden nightstand. I was suddenly amazed by the exponential increase in low-frequency response that resulted from this. It was an obvious and important design element -- almost as if a low, line level signal was suddenly plugged into an amplifier.

Ha! The La Scalas are so heavy that the stock metal 'sliders' in each bottom corner were pushing firmly down onto the suspended wooden floor; and this coupled the speaker to a large, vibrating surface -- thus creating the boominess in the bass response.

Thanks to HDBRbuilder for such a great remedy! The La Scalas are sounding very good with Moondogs (by the way, Kelly....I bit the bullet and 'upped' the 2A3 plate voltage to 275VDC taken between plate and cathode Wow! a brave new increase of 25 volts!). If any of you are experiencing bloated bass response, and have your speakers located in a similar setting, DO try the Walmart 'Rug Grippers' They WILL WORK!

Thanks again,

Erik

[dkbks]

A good many floor standing speakers have bass problems when sitting on suspended wood flooring. I have read comments on this forum abour "muddy" bass from Klipsch speakers (Cornwalls in particular) & suspect that the floor is part of the problem. That's one reason why many 'high-end' speakers are supplied with spikes and neoprene or similar disks sold for components and speakers.

When I bought my used Cornwalls, the prior owner has installed small 1" casters on the riser bases in order to be able to move them around. I have always gotten excellent bass from these in part, I think, because these casters are acting like spikes.

[HDBRbuilder]

Erik,

Glad those Grippers worked out for you...With the situation you described, I kinda figured they would though.

They are also a good choice for speakers that are sitting directly on wooden floors with no covering too, so I have found. If the speakers are equipped with metal gliders, just pry the gliders out and cover the spot they were at with Grippers...if the speaker has a rather large footprint...it is best to put at least one additional Gripper in the center of its bottom, too.

It's always nice to stumble across a simple and inexpensive effective "fix", IMHO! ESPECIALLY if you are a "poverty audiofool" such as I...or even if you are just a moneyed skinflint!

[Erik Mandaville]

Yeah! They are working really well. I put on some rather heavily bass-laden material (music, in other words!) last night, and they (grippers) proved very effective. The bass was very much there, minus all the over hang. We've got a nearly 100 lb. yellow lab who sometimes sleeps in the listening room, and this dog snores like an elephant! Shakes the whole floor!

I've been meaning to get this done, but have been involved with the repair and purchase of edster's AES preamp, as well as the complete overhaul and restoration of a vintage pair of Radio Craftsman 6V6 push-pull amps -- with ten watts to power the La Scalas woofer in a bi-amped system.

Thanks again for your help with this!

Erik