Marble to place speakers on?

I find this thread interesting.For a couple of years I have considered this as I have an old,crack infested wooden floor that makes spiking the speakers through the carpet/pad difficult.I never seem to be able to get them solidly spiked.My concern is the thickness of the marble and the subsequent raising of the tweeters way above ear level.The obvious remedy is to have the spikes out further in the back of the speakers.Please be kind to me in the follow up to this "obvious" remedy,but is this correct? Also,is this the best/only way?

Dave,

There is a marble and granite wholesaler in Lancaster. For granite, you will speed $50 a plate (custom cut). I won't worry so much about the added height unless your couch sags. I did talk to Audiopoints last week about using their Sistrum Platform on a granite slab with wood/carpet as flooring. They recommended against it because of resonance transfer back to the speaker. They did recommend installing 3/4" dia stainless steel or brass rods across the support beams with washers and nuts (2 - 4" beyond the speaker perimeter) to enhance structural integredity of your flooring and resonance conduction to ground. Email me if you need more info. For me, if you can buy 3 - 4 plates of marble at Home Depot and try spiking the speaker to the marble you would only be out ($2.50 x 8) and then you could experiment with the rods.

Sounds like we have a lot of interest here. It addition to my first post, may I suggest that there is no substitute for experimenting. As for sources, for thicker or larger pieces I found that monument works are great resources. Many times they have large stones that have been broken, & are willing to sell them at very reasonable prices. Cabinet installers that use granite or marble tops are a good source for the thinner pieces, ¾” or 1”. You may also check out tile supply houses. What I usually look for is damaged or broken pieces & them let the supplier cut them in sizes I can use. These stones can be used to fine-tune most systems.
I have found that if I use larger pieces with components sitting on top of them that the spiked feet work very well between the component & the stone. Again experiment with what sounds best; there is definitely a difference in each method. For speakers, bolting the slab to the bottom couples the stone to the speaker, virtually making the stone a part of the enclosure. If the stone is not attached I would suggest trying feet between the speaker & the stone with a large piece of stone resting on top of the speaker. This adds to the coupling affect. Yes, by attaching the stone to the speaker you eliminate the need for spikes on the bottom of the stone, making it much easier to move or adjust your speakers.
I have also had great success using a partially inflated 12” inner tube under the stone for components other than speakers. Here again, experiment. I have found the affects of using stone & inner tubes to make great differences in what we hear & at a very reasonable cost. GOOD LUCK! & HAVE FUN!

My speakers are AR 302's. They measure 24X12X12. I needed 8 to 10 inches of height. Stands would not do, as I have 5 cats and the cats tend to lean against the speakers and topple them. So, I did the following: I built stands using frosted glass blocks ... I used 6 blocks per each side (12 in total) ... they measure 8X8X4 ... so I built 2 rows of 3 blocks (end result ... each row is 8 x 12 ... together they measure 16 X 12 X 8 ... W X D X H) I used a silicone adhesive to hold each row together. On top of each stand, I placed a single 12 X 12 X 1/2 marble tile. Each glass block stand weighs 42 or so pounds. Cost: 12 glass blocks go for $60; marble tiles go for $10. Very effectively disengages the speakers from the floor ... very stable (have them on hardwood floors)...

Refer to my post on audioreview.com/message/dcfourmid6/6975.html concerning stone platforms for floor-standers. MikE