Speakers on carpet over concrete


My system is current located in a partially finished basement. The floor is thick carpet over a thick pad on top of concrete.  Does it affect performance of the speaker differently if spikes are used that pierce the carpet and pad, contacting the concrete below versus removing the spikes and having their "feet" resting on top of the carpet which is also a bit less stable?  I'm sure I'm not the only one with a system installed on carpet over concrete.  How are yours set up?

jc4659

My experiences.

Poured concrete basement, pad, carpet.

1. Vandersteen 2ce Sig IIs. Had spikes, tried IsoAcoustics Gaia's. The Gaia's really sucked the life out of the speaker especially the bass. Now let me say that I did hear a benefit with using IsoAcoustics Oreas with the integrated amplifier that I was using at the time, so I do have an open mind on decoupling. Anyway, I returned the Gaia's and went back to spikes on the Vandersteen's. The sound immediately was back to good.

2. Wilson WATT/Puppy 6. I have the stock spikes on these and have no issue with the sound. Not tempted to try IsoAcoustics on these at the moment.

Anyway, just my experiences.

With drivers out of phase or in breakup a bit of spring induced Doppler discoid the least of a listener worries….

Of course this depends a lot on the geometry and weight of the speaker.  If a light touch can rock it, at all, it needs spikes.

This is a good point.  With any of the recommendations here the weight, structure, dimensions, floor coverings, and other factors can all affect the success of a particular product.  My stand mounts are 180 pounds each, including the very rigid stands. They sit on an industrial type carpet over a dense pad over concrete on-grade. The solutions that I like for my situation may not work well for everyone.

I would guess that most brick and mortar audio shops have their speakers set up on carpet over concrete but they may not use spikes because they are always moving gear around.  I think that as long as I can't move or rock the speakers I'll leave them be.  Thanks for all the helpful comments and sharing your experiences.