Floor protection from spikes

For a very reasonable price, we really like Soundcare Superspikes. They're a threaded spike with self contained footer. A really durable felt goes underneath the footer which makes it very easy to slide and reposition your speakers while keeping your floors protected. Disclosure: we sell Soundcare Superspikes, as well as a more expensive solution, but many of our customers are extremely happy with these.

munchoba
My new speakers are 190lbs each and come with heavy duty spikes, not so good for my hardwood floor.
What type of spike protection do you suggest?

None, you should never spike into a suspended wooden floor, as the floor is then coupled to the speaker and becomes an "added sound board for the bass", which muddies and woollies up the bass, you only spike into slab cement floors.

For suspended/wooden floors you should always de-couple (not couple) the speaker to it.
Remove the spikes and use these Sorbothane Isolation (de-coupling) Pads under your speaker under the speaker.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-LARGE-SORBOTHANE-DISC-CIRCLE-FEET-PAD-2-5x0-5in-64x12mm-SILENT-PC-AMP-FIRM-70D/372429364953?epid=1031478471&hash=item56b6851ed9:g:O04AAOxycmBS70F6

Cheers George

Thank you both.
I ordered the sorbothane pucks.

I have Joseph Audio Pearls 20/20...They weigh approx.150 lbs each...I have pine floors...I went with Gaia I and they really do isolate! They just tighten the overall sound... And they look cool as hell! Expensive 1200.00 USD...

I should have asked, what speakers do you have? My Pearls have out-riggers, I removed the stupid spikes (you would think for that kind of money JA would provide 2 options) and finished the tops of the Gaia's with a SS acorn nut...

Be careful using coins for such heavy speakers on hardwood. I use to own speakers that were about 150 pounds each and set the spikes on US pennies. When I moved I noticed I had penny size Abe Lincoln impressions on my hardwood floor.

Herbie's sells nice gliders for using under spikes.
Cheep too.
I would be wary of sorbothane as it might stain wood surfaces.
Another alternative is to get either butcher block or marble plinths made.
I know Richard Vandersteen swears by marble under his speakers.
B

I use Vibrapods under my Heresy IIIs, and did under my previous SIlverline Preludes also (the Preludes sat on maple butcher blocks).  I put stick-on felt pads under the "pods" so they can't mar the floor and I can micro move the Heresies or simply push them around when they get out of line.

Great advice; thx. Where do I get gliders?
These are Acapella La Campanella 2 horn speakers. Not getting any spousal love as they are damaging the floors.

Not the cheapest option but I use Linn Skeets...

When you get the Sorbothane pads put a layer of plastic wrap or something similar between the pads and the wood floor. The black pigment in the pads will leach into the wood and leave a permanent stain. That was an expensive lesson for me.

Which ones did you order munchoba?

If you got the 70 hardness rated ones, then they are pretty useless for your application. Assuming you used 3 or 4 per speaker, they are going to do just about nothing under 100Hz. They are way too stiff for the weight of your speakers.

If you got the 50 hardness, then 3 of them would work, but is already pretty stiff. 4 would be even stiffer.

5 or 6 of the 30 hardness (4 likely doable) would provide the best isolation.

munchoba OP4
posts01-01-2020 1:57pm

Thank you both.
I ordered the sorbothane pucks.

Try Herbies products. I use these and they work great.

https://herbiesaudiolab.com/collections/loudspeaker-rack-decoupling-and-isolation/products/cone-spike-decoupling-glider

Do yourself a favor, the Gaia 1 is a very good product. You have some very heavy, large speakers. As I do.Joseph Audio Pearls. I went through the very same thing as you are, Herbie's, disc's, even thought of actual hockey pucks! The minute I installed the Gaia 1's, problem solved. I looked at the Campanella 2s, the Gaia's come with 4 different size shafts.If the speakers have some odd size the owner will send you what ever size you need. In all likely hood one of the 4 will work. You have expensive speakers, what is underneath them is important for SQ. The only issue (not really an issue) with the Gaia's is once the speaker are in place, they are not easy to move because the Gaia's suck onto the floor. Best to place a carpet under and use the carpet to position each speaker. Then remove...

I believe I ordered (maybe too quickly?) the 70 hardness sorbothane pucks. Now looking at Herbie's gliders.
Thanks again.

No worries. The EBAY listing provides little useful information and you were not given direction here. Perhaps you can contact the vendor and change the order to 30 hardness. Even cutting a single 70 hardness puck into 4 pieces will be quite stiff.

The Herbies gliders are great and come in three different variants of brass, titanium and I believe stainless steel. I use them (brass) under the factory spikes of a pair of 160lb Wilson Sophias to great effect. Initially bought them just to ease the movement of the Sophias as I adjusted the sweet spot and removed them as that was achieved but was quick to put back as the improvement with them was quickly made apparent.  Enjoy the music

They also come in giant size (which you might want), and regular "cup" shape or with integral thread (lots of different size threads).

What method are you using to attach or put these items under such heavy speakers?    

No method, they are deep dished and with my speakers show no signs of slipping out of the dish as I slide and adjust the speakers across my hardwood flooring. The three variants of the sliders offer a different tone per say, I chose the brass as they were the cheapest and the original purchase was just to assist in the setup. I have also added their threaded jumbo sliders to a Led Balloon turntable stand replacing the pointed cones that came on it stock and love the results. Enjoy the music