crawbeaird1 Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 I'm sure you guys have been through this before but could you explain the plus's and/or minus's of this. I'm debating whether installing foot spikes on my KG4's and 4.2"s is worth it. Obvious is the sturdiness of the speaker on carpet. We have really thick padding and nice thick shag carpet. But acoustically are there any advantages..! At higher volumes I could see some advantages. Would the spikes transfer the sound, through the floor trusses, into my basement? Please set the record straight for me. Thanks again..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauln Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 First you must decide which you want to do: 1] Isolate the speaker vibration from the floor 2] Couple the speaker vibration to the floor Then use the spikes; I have seen explanations of their principle of operation that state they isolate and couple, depending on the seller's theory. I'm sure whatever the seller states is how they must work. Beware though, that spikes from different sellers are identical so be sure and buy the one's from the seller that claims the correct principle of operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 This is one of Gidney and Clyod's favorite topics! Especially when you consider how many here are into $1000+ passive crossover component mods... glad I got new lightning fast tennies! Let's see, from the "they will tighten up the sound and dramatically increase the clarity of your sound, improve your sex life, and feed the dog" school...let's take a quick look. They just may minimize a minuscule amount of movement. But if you stop and think of the rapidity - the frequency - that the cones moves back and forth, and then consider the mass of the cabinet and driver suspensions and frames, as well as issues of the existing coupling to supportive surfaces, however inefficient it may be - especially it they have already been accelerated in the opposing direction from the last cone excursion!- or, due to gross inertial concerns, have they? (see any problems yet?????),then you (or more likely, Superman) may 'see' some enclosure movement. Can we say in the micron range. Now, I know that this movement can 'wreak havoc' on group delay, as the rate of change of phase of the propagated signal will be changing positively and negatively. Oh my! And the time domain errors inherent in a few micron movement will be...well, they will. And as those errors are significant enough to run out and buy these, the fact that your passive crossovers support a signal offset in the time domain of several inches (or feet in the Heritage line!) simply need new very expensive capacitors (that also introduce phase errors) rather than a complete changeover to an active crossover with signal alignment. For you see, when the signal offset is measured in inches and feet, suddenly time offset errors become insignificant. But wait! Many will dismiss this issue on the macro scale with crossovers, but will obsess on the micro level with 'tip toes'. Hint! Anyone see an irony here? On the 'positive' side, they will stop the speakers from sliding on the carpet (but not on a non-porous hard surface that they cannot literally penetrate! Here they act like tiny ice skates. Then they come in handy if you have a toddler needing a support to push about as they learn to walk.). And they may result in a slightly more complete coupling to a solid surface below resulting in a minuscule increase in sound transmission that I would not worry about. Bottom line, if they don't cost much, the only damage will be to your pocket book and/or to your hardwood floors. And now that you are sold on these, you can now ponder the advantages of the $40+ foam speaker 'decoupler' mounts sold by so many sources guaranteed to do just the opposite and tighten up and...well, whatever the tip toe folks claim - to your sound as well. Brought to you by the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. In fact, the specs are printed on the reverse side of the map to Oz personally hand draw by the Scarecrow. So, when you find the "seller that claims the correct principle of operation.", by all means, please let us know. But, in any event, I would make sure that they are 'gold plated',as everyone knows that helps significantly as well. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crawbeaird1 Posted July 6, 2007 Author Share Posted July 6, 2007 Exactly..! I think..? That was a yes... right? So you are saying I should also couple the speaker cabinet to the back wall to eliminate all subsequent diffractions? Where do you buy those? O.K I'll take your advice and try 'em and if I like them I'll keep them on. If not , there is always ebay. Thanks... Jeff... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 Exactly..! I think..? That was a yes... right? So you are saying I should also couple the speaker cabinet to the back wall to eliminate all subsequent diffractions? Where do you buy those? O.K I'll take your advice and try 'em and if I like them I'll keep them on. If not , there is always ebay. Thanks... Jeff... Yes? Only if they actively slide around on your carpet! For all other reasons, unless you simply want to spend the money, No. I would save your money. Only audiophiles claim to hear the difference, but then they also hear all sorts of voices in their heads as well as sounds no bat ever heard.... But if you don't spend too much money the placebo effect can be fun too... [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.