radiob Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I found a cabinet guy today that is going to order a peice of oak mdf and build me some new bases for my chorus2`s witch I just received from california and were damaged in shipping. I wrote to forum and took advice from kind subscribers to have new built. I was looking in the mod section and read that some people claim they have had success wit building new hersey bases and filling them with sand, does any one know if I should do this mod to my chorus2s? please advise me, as I do not want to do anything that might hurt rather than help. THanks again.. Boy imagine that, I have a life now...Klipsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audio Flynn Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I have considered the same idea. The Chorus II is not really "anchored". Mine are on carpet. I was considering a less invasive way to weight them down is to get a piece of scap marble from a countertop kitchen sink cut out. My RB-5s sounded much tigeter in the bass when I used Sanus lead shot filled stands. i see no downside to filling the "risers". Heavier to move long distances of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiob Posted June 7, 2004 Author Share Posted June 7, 2004 You did notice a difference with led shot risers on other speakers, can you try the risers with your chorus`? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 9 Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 I have risers for my Forte, but after considerable research, am not going to use them. Don't get me wrong, sand or lead fill will improve things by adding mass. The mass, makes it harder for the vibrations to travel downward. But there are far more elegant and particularly effective solutions to "decouple" your speakers from the floor and room. To start, if you go to audioasylum.com's Tweak forum, do some searches on "Svelte". You will find several discussions on how to build a DIY version of the Symposium Svelte platform (and save yourself some big $$). Most people agree, this is a far more effective way of "decoupling" a speaker than sand bases or spikes. This technique is sometimes called "constrained layer" resonance damping. By using different materials with different resonance charecteristics, you basically "drain" away the vibrations. The Svelte is only 1.5" thick, yet accomplishes more than the 3 3/4" riser on my forte, which essentially does nothing but shake the floors in my room. The "magic sauce" of the Svelte involves a thin aluminum layer, a PE (polyethylene foam) layer and then another alluminum layer. For that, they charge, $259 per Svelte - $499/pair. If you did it yourself, you can do it for much less. Much less. PE Foam costs next to nothing. From there, you can look into more elaborate solutions which involve suspending the speakers either on ball bearings, inner tubes or poly balls (but done in an aesthetic manner). These are called "floating" methods of resonance damping. These are a little more involved. A lot of guidance and "how-to's" is available on AA. Just something to consider anyways. If you feel like adding mass and weight, like the look of risers, then adding sand is better than nothing to the status quo. A "sand pit" would even be better, whereby the speakers would sit in a sand pit. You then remove vibrations occuring both in the horizontal and vertical planes. That is the key, and why PE foam and hip joint tungsten balls, are so effective. They remove vibrations because they react in both planes. Based on what the engineering types on AA have said ... I believe you can do better than just adding weight to tbe bottom of your speakers. Think about what you are trying to achieve, and poke around and do some research. There is more than one way to decouple your Chorus' so as to minimize resonances and improve sound. People now know a lot more on the subject than ten years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted June 7, 2004 Share Posted June 7, 2004 Whatever you decide, let us know. Thanks to some discussions on here a couple of weeks ago, I've been toying with the idea of building some risers for my Forte's to raise them up 12 inches to get the mids closer to ear level. But I'm not sure what kind of stand to build. I don't really want to put a big hollow box under them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number 9 Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 12" Strabo. That's pretty high. In my mind, 5 - 6" seems about right, but you may have higher ceilings and a bigger room than mine. What if you were to build a stand that looks like a small table (with 4 legs) the size (W x D) of the Fortes? Make it 10" height. Remove the Forte bases. And then use the additional two inches for a constrained layer (to minimize the resonances). See my comments above for constrained layer "recipes". Some have gotten away with just 3 layers (alumminum or steel plate, PE foam, allluminum), while others go with 5 (an MDF layer between the alluminum and PE Foam). Either way, you can do a lot with just 2". As long as the legs of the stand are strong enough to support the speaker, you will be able to decouple the transmission of resonances through the constrained layer. It would look a lot nicer that way IMO than a 12" tall hollow or sand-filled box. Finally, you can put spikes or Vibrapods on the bottom of the feet to keep the entire structure from moving. Overall, easier to do than building sand bases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbflash Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I built stands for my Lascala's and filled them with sand. Gave me much better bass. I built them to get the tweeters at ear level. I think it took about 3 bags of sand to fill both platforms. They are VERY heavy. I sold my Lascala's and am going to use the stands to sit my TV on. It will raise the TV 13" off the floor. I think it is worth it. Danny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piranha Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 ---------------- On 6/7/2004 8:28:26 PM Number 9 wrote: Don't get me wrong, sand or lead fill will improve things by adding mass. The mass, makes it harder for the vibrations to travel downward. But there are far more elegant and particularly effective solutions to "decouple" your speakers from the floor and room. ---------------- Have you tried installalling rubber feet as HDBRBuilder has suggested previously? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I like the look of garden statuary as heavy, sturdy loudspeaker stands. They are attractive, classy and look nice. The heavy weight COUPLES the loudspeaker to the floor. It does NOT isolate it from the floor. Use Blue tack or sticky padding to couple the speaker to the stand. Get the stands high enough so the both the tweeter and squawker horns are at ear level aim the middle space between directly at your ear or the back of your head. Additional weight on the top of the cabinet DAMPENS cabinet vibrations a separate thing all together, but also an effective enough tweak, in my own humble opinion, for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 You might also consider trying cone spikes. The idea is bascially to 'mass load' the speaker to the floor. The very small contact area of the cone tip effectively increases the pressure per square inch that the "speaker/floor interface sees", increasing the 'effective mass' many, many times. It's as if the speaker weighed 100x or more than what it actually does I've long forgotten what the actual ratio is. It may be 1000x+). I use 3 under my Belle center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I have my Forte's spiked. They are on a carpeted concrete slab. This seems to work well. My point was as Colin was saying, trying to get the mids up near ear level. artto, I went with four spikes for stability. Three sure would have been easier to set. How stable is the speaker with three spikes? How would it react if someone leaned on it, or pressed on a corner from the top? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artto Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 ---------------- On 6/8/2004 11:28:11 AM Strabo wrote: artto, I went with four spikes for stability. Three sure would have been easier to set. How stable is the speaker with three spikes? How would it react if someone leaned on it, or pressed on a corner from the top? ---------------- I've never had any problems. I guess the carpet & padding help stabilize the spikes. I guess the tricky part is getting the spikes placed properly in the first place. If they're spaced near the extreme edges/corners this hasn't posed a problem (and believe me, we've had SOME PARTIES in that room!) Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Forte narrower & more 'upright' than Belles? Maybe it's the Belle's more 'squat' center of gravity that makes it work. I also have it pushed against the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 I have Chorus II's. They need nothing. They are heavy and free of cabinet resonance, as far as I can tell (hear). Their height puts the horns at hear level. If I felt like i just had to so something I would install spikes, just because I enjoy saying cabinet/floor interface. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strabo Posted June 8, 2004 Share Posted June 8, 2004 ---------------- On 6/8/2004 6:09:03 PM artto wrote: I've never had any problems. I guess the carpet & padding help stabilize the spikes. I guess the tricky part is getting the spikes placed properly in the first place. If they're spaced near the extreme edges/corners this hasn't posed a problem (and believe me, we've had SOME PARTIES in that room!) Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Forte narrower & more 'upright' than Belles? Maybe it's the Belle's more 'squat' center of gravity that makes it work. I also have it pushed against the wall. ---------------- Yeah, they have a higher center of gravity. Maybe I should just try it. It's only an extra hole in the base if it doesn't work no one will know. One of my speakers is in a high traffic area and I'd hate it if someone leaned on it and it rocked enough for them to loose their balance and tople over. My mother has MS so stable things to lean on are important when she's visiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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