Thiel Owners

prof,

Thanks for the detailed information about your speaker isolation "experiments." This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. In your system and room, what specific sonic differences have you noticed between the use of the standard Thiel spikes versus placement of spikeless speakers directly on the carpeted floor?

I'm presuming that the spikes would couple the speakers more directly to the wood floor while eliminating the spikes would allow the carpet and foam pad to "slightly" decouple the speakers from the wood floor without losing the density and realism you're trying to achieve. Or maybe that isn't how it actually works. Any further clarification of your findings would be very helpful.

sdl4,

Unfortunately you are asking for clarification on the one comparison I feel less sure about.


It's been quite a while since I had spikes under my 2.7s.   The 2.7s were second hand and didn't come with spikes.  But since I also owned the 3.7s at the same time for quite a while, I had grabbed the spikes and tried them on the 2.7s.   But I sold those spikes with the 3.7s years ago now.


Anyway, simply from memory, I don't remember the spikes changing the sound very much (which is a good thing IMO).   But it was easier to shift the speakers around on the floor without them, so I didn't keep using them.


But spikes are definitely the case where my memory on this may be less reliable, since I haven't had them for a while.

FWIW:  The Herbies big sliders worked really well under my speakers.  Didn't "help" the sound in any way I noticed but didn't seem to hinder it much.   I took them off recently to try the Townshend bars but haven't bothered to put them back on afterward, so the speakers are just sitting on my floor.  Sounding great :-)

prof,

Thanks for your additional comments, even if if you're not completely sure about the spike vs. spikeless comparison. It's helpful when you say that you don't remember the spikes changing the sound much.

For my Thiel 2.2 speakers, I may just let inertia (i.e., being lazy and cheap) shape my decisions about trying any new speaker isolation products. If I decide to do my own evaluation of the spike vs. spikeless set-up, it won't cost me a thing since I'm already using the spikes.

I know what you mean about how hard it is to move the speakers with the spikes in place, If I eventually decide to remove them, I would be able to fine-tune speaker placement more easily - so that is a factor to consider as well.

Again, thanks for sharing your experience with speaker isolation. I hope your speakers continue to sound great!  

One point about my situation is that I move my speakers probably more than most people.  For one thing, I swap in various speakers (sometimes my Thiels, sometime my Joseph Audio speakers, occasionally different speakers).   Plus I do play around with speaker positioning rather than just finding one spot and never moving them.   So having an unfussy speaker in terms of movement is a plus for me.

Thiel only made outriggers for certain models and they where the latter models. 

I've tried many platforms under a speaker and you would be and pressed to find something that out performs a Panzerholz/tankwood base.