Speaker Spikes - Working Principle


Vibration damping obvious makes sense (in speakers just as well as in cars). 

That involves 'killing' (converting into heat, through typically internal friction) kinetic energy. So any sort of elastic material (rubber has lots of internal friction) makes sense. 

And then there are spikes. Using a pointy hard object and pair it with a softer, elastic material (to deform, and kill kinetic energy) can work; think metal sharp spike into carpet or wood floor. 

But what is the idea behind pairing fairly unelastic metal (brass for example) with similarly unelastic (brass, stone, etc) material (example photo provided)? Only thing I can come up with: LOOKS good and makes owner feel good  thinking its an improvement (works only for Audiophiles though),

Even more curious: are they ENGINEERED "spikes" (vibration dampers or shock absorbers) for speakers that are TUNED for the frequency (and mass)  that needs to be dampened? Can piston style fluid dampers be designed for the high frequencies (100, 1000, 10000 Hz) using geometry, nozzles size and viscosity of the fluid?

 

kraftwerkturbo

I used concrete block as damping Masson top...Fined tuned mass ...With 2 set of springs, one set under speakers+load and one set above the speakers compressed only with the load ...

Under the speakers in my sandwiches of materials (cork-Oak-Bamboo-granite-shungite) i add in between one plate of sorbothane patches duro 70 ...One of the best damping materials...Then i use decreasing vibrations materials and also decreasing resonance devices and method  and coupling/decoupling principle...

I used it also inside my 2 headphones +FoQ tape as damping materials ...

https://www.sorbothane.com/technical-data/articles/a-good-damping-material-audio-and-electronics

@mahgister Aside from mass (and materials will like different resonance frequencies), what did you use to DAMPEN?

@mahgister I can see from your description about mounting a Speaker Cabinet you take your investigations into tidying up a sonic quite seriously.

I have a substantial supply of Cork Pads, they regularly find a place as a additional tier in an assembly.  My interest in Granite has a 30ish year history of using it in multiple configurations in a support structure.

On my Cabinet Speakers my the Top Weight is a Large Lead Metal Block rested onto four 1/6" Cork Pads. The Lead Blocks then has approx' 20lb of Steel Dumb Bell Weights sat upon it. Moving this weight around to different resting positions on the Top of the Speaker does have an impact where sonic or box coloration are able to be impacted for the better/worse.

I am a ESL Speaker user as well, so the Cabinet / Driver issues are easily by passed if wanted.  

 

I had fine tuned the compressive and damping load of concrete on top of my speakers acting on the  two set of springs near 100 grams of fine tuning by ears with near 80 pounds of concrete ...( this was with my big speakers, with my actual very small speakers nothing had changed bu t i dont need springs now )

In my experience a sandwich of various materials is necessary under them and not only springs ...My speakers were relatively isolated by coupling/ decoupling using various materials not only damped....The two set of springs were powerful because compressed with different weight force they were able to decrease internal resonace in a way one set will not do ....

 

@mahgister I can see from your description about mounting a Speaker Cabinet you take your investigations into tidying up a sonic quite seriously.

I have a substantial supply of Cork Pads, they regularly find a place as a additional tier in an assembly. My interest in Granite has a 30ish year history of using it in multiple configurations in a support structure.

On my Cabinet Speakers my the Top Weight is a Large Lead Metal Block rested onto four 1/6" Cork Pads. The Lead Blocks then has approx’ 20lb of Steel Dumb Bell Weights sat upon it. Moving this weight around to different resting positions on the Top of the Speaker does have an impact where sonic or box coloration are able to be impacted for the better/worse.

I am a ESL Speaker user as well, so the Cabinet / Driver issues are easily by passed if wanted.

 

I thinking along the lines of @yoyoyaya 

I have a pair of tall, thin B & O ‘pencil’ speakers.  I have rubber feet on them as they’re on a concrete floor.  But if I move them onto an area rug, they easily rock and could be knocked over.  I think the purpose of spikes is to concentrate the weight to a thin point that can penetrate between carpet loops or piles.  This would bring the weight to bear on the firmer surface of the carpet backing.  The plusher the carpet, the more they are necessary and effective.

@tcotruvo - to further amplify your point (no pun intended), I originally had my Wilsons (which weight 400lbs each) directly on my carpeted floor (with thin pile carpet). I subsequently spiked them once I had their position optimised and the improvement in sound quality was significant. What surprised me was the degree of improvement in resolution in the midrange as well as the bass.