Vibrapods under speakers

Cream cheese has a higher damping coefficient and smooths out the frequency extremes better than jam, I have found. But don't go with the low cal version it just does not work the same.

All joking aside, I am now experimenting with Vpods on my B&W N805's. There is definitely a change and I thought it was for the better. Based on some of these posts, I want to do a careful comparison to better understand the changes.

I also have plumped up V-Pods by mildly baking them on a cookie sheet. If you fill their centers with a good apricot preserve, they look rather intriguing when done. I reported a negative experience with V-Pods and speakers on the earlier post Doug referenced. Perhaps the jam would have helped.

I have used the pods and have had good results under a preamp and a ariston table.Never tried them under speakers but I have thought about it.This is in regards to them getting squished after a few weeks.Put them on a cookie sheet and bake at 100 degress for 10 minutes.It plumps them right up.

Sdcampbell, we have discussed this before. In the speakers section look for "Vibrapods and Speakers". The last post was 1/29/01. Thanks, Doug

This is an interesting thread, and I'm surprised the topic hasn't been discussed before (to my knowledge). The main speakers in my system are Vandersteen 3A Signatures, which are capable of clean response down to about 26-28 Hz. The floor of my living is medium carpet over wood, and sits above a 3-foot crawl space. I was concerned about the amount of bass resonance, so I decided to mount each speaker on top of piece of MDF that had been a sheet of DexDamp on the underside (a resonance control material similar to DynaMat). I removed the spike feet from the speakers and used 6 Vibrapods between the speaker and the MDF panel. I found that it substantially reduced the speakers of their warmth, and seemed to shift the tonal balance toward the middle frequences. Several good audiophile friends confirmed the same thing, and they thought the change was definitely NOT for the better. So, I went back to the original setup and was much happier. This proved to be an interesting experiment, however, because it showed me that decoupling a speaker from the floor is not always a good thing to do. It may be significant that the Vandy speakers use a Sound Anchor stand that has 3 spike feet, and they sound much better when properly coupled to the floor. Of course, your ProAc's may react differently.

Like others have said, they are an incredible improvement, and at only 6 bucks each! I use 6 #5's under Maggie 1.6's metal rails. They improve detail, transients--listen to how natural guitar music sounds. Only concern I have is that even the hardest #5 pod seems to get squished over time, losing its capabilities. Supposedly you can heat them, but I dunno. Ah, they're cheap, get a new set annually.

Carl my stand mounted small 2 way speakers, which have single 6" bass also responded very positively as you indicate. The most noticeable for me was increased bass
response, which is lacking in small 2 way speakers, was
much improved. I placed the vibrapods between speaker and
stand, not between stand and floor. Vibrapods should directly contact item to be decoupled. Worth a try definitely.

I've had vibrapods under equipment for almost 2 years, but never tried them under speakers until about a month ago. I have monitor speakers sat on heavy target stands, and had always used spikes between stands and speakers, thinking that was best.
I've been looking to buy new speakers for a while, as I wanted better soundstage and imaging.
I tried the vibrapods about a month ago and wow! I've messed around with these speakers for 5 years thinking there was something missing with the sound. The vibrapods have uncovered that 'something missing'. The speakers now sound incredible and image like crazy. I know it won't work in all setups, but for $36 its well worth a try. Yes I use 3 under each speaker which works better than 4 for some reason.
Highly recommended.

There was an article couple years ago about this at soundstage.com where Greg Weaver and another reviewer replaced the black diamond racing cones on their Von Schweikert speakers with vibrapods and were amazed at the difference in sound. May still be in archives there.

I have done much experimentation in this area. Go to local
dept store and get 2 18x24 glass cutting boards, cost $5-10
each, use marker and layout speaker base dimensions, locate
glass boards on carpet where speakers will rest. Now arrange your vibrapods in the speaker outline you just drew,
and carefully lower speaker down on them, spikes removed. The speaker/glass base can be slid on carpet to fine tune placement. You can use slate or whatever for firm smooth surface on carpet, but glass cutting boards are cheap and invisible, carpet shows through.

As for sound, much different than brass spikes which I also use under speakers. Sound will be smoother and softer, perhaps some small amount of detail lost, but bass is strong, 3D imaging quite good, very natural sounding.....if you are a detail freak that likes cones and silver cables, this will not be your cup of tea. Your instincts will tell you this can't possibly work, as slight push of your finger
will cause speaker to sway, but I think results are definitely worth the small cost to try. I currently use brass spikes but may go back to vibrapods under speakers in the future.