Stillpoints Ultra SS vs spikes on concrete

Ultra a little better than cones/ risers. A very big dissapoimtment for me. Another mk2/SE marketing BS.

Spend $$$ on source.

A surprise for me...I have Vandersteen 5A's which have spikes designed for them...my speakers were on the spikes with brass floor protectors under the spikes. I moved into a new house with Travertine tile over congrete. Much to my surprise, on some frequencies, the whole speaker which is VERY heavy resonated uncontrolably...I could feel the speaker jumping up and down at these resonating frequencies. I fixed the problem after lots of experimentation by simply putting a bit of Gorilla tape under the floor protectors of the spikes and the speakers are sitting pretty. You never know what you bump into with this hobby.

I have been tempted by the Ultra's too. If you are looking to dissipate vibration as the Ultras are designed to do, you might try Herbie's Cone/Spike Decoupling Gliders under your spikes. $14.89 X 8 = $127.12, compared to about $1,800 for the Ultra's. Jim Smith of the book Get Better Sound likes them on wood and carpet over concrete.

After moving house a couple of years ago, I'm now in an (overall better sounding) upstairs room with hardwood floors and a good, solid sub-floor. I came from the basement with 6" fiberglass reinforced concrete floors (which offered excellent low frequency resolution and power).

I'm still working on a suitable footer for my speakers as the suspended floor tends to sink a lot of LF energy. The Herbie's decoupling gliders were absolutely awful for me (YMMV). Yes, they got rid of some vibrations, but they also left me with a tall 200+ lb speaker that wobbled worryingly, and a sound that could only be described as dead and uninvolving, like someone threw a heavy quilt over both speakers...Herbie makes some good products, but these just didn't work in my application. Currently, I'm back to the stock brass spikes on brass discs. There are other so-called 'decoupling' contenders, but none of them come cheap: The Wave Kinetics 2NS (around $1600 for the set) and the Track Audio spike kits (around $1250). I would welcome thoughts on either design.

Palasr - Thank you for your honest input and the (YMMV). I am going on the strength of Jim Smith saying that in voicing many systems every person liked the Herbie's products under their spikes. Mine are coming this week and I will post my mileage on this thread. I will be delighted if they work as they are cheap, and I will not be surprised if they don't because indeed, YMMV.