Slate under speakers?

Donjr

Slate doesn't make sense... The sound will just resonate back through your cabinets if you use slate. It doesn't work.

What is your basis for these statements? Do you have first hand experience or are you just theorizing or imagining what might happen?

In fact, there are sound (pun) reasons for isolation of this type for suspended floors and quite a few AGONers have reported success with this method. It worked extremely well for me and the results were measurable, so I'm concerned your absolute statements might misslead others from trying it.

Zargon. I'm just theorizing. It seems to me that slate or granite would resonate, where as MDF or plywood would not. If I were using slate or granite, I would put it on high density foam and not a lot of it, to cut down on how much surface area is touching the carpet. If you're going from having your speakers spiked to the floor (coupled) to putting them on slate on top of the carpet (decoupled), you will surely notice a difference for the better. Not the best though. You've still got something very heavy and dense, condensing the carpet fibers and slightly coupling itself to the floor, especially because of how much surface area there is with a slab of slate or granite. Companies such as Aurelex have done extensive research on this subject and that's why their line of products for decoupling amps (isolation risers) have very little surface area that touches the floor, yet very large surface area for the amplifier up top. The reason this phenom of slate and granite started was the WAF factor.....really. That's how this all got started. Then everytime somone posted the question, people would reply "I use slabs of granite. It made a big difference and it looks great", and everyone started doing it. I'm not saying it's a bad solution for carpeted floors, but there's better out there IMHO.

..got busy and lost track of this thread..I meant to post back with results. I picked them up and instaled them. Originally the speakers were sitting on the carpet that on top of a suspended wood floor-loft. The next step was to use countertop sink cutouts..and there was a marked improvement in tightness (prat?) in the sound from what I could tell. I then swapped out the sink cutouts for the slate slabs. I gotta say, things still sound pretty sweet. Certainly no loss from what I had and I think it's a bit better. Surely looks 100% better and is still a marked improvement over the speakers just sitting on carpet. All theories aside...I think the slate a keeper.

I put Totem Forests on 1 1/2 inch marble slabs and put 4 hockey pucks under the slabs and I am very pleased with the sound.

I think all of this is as the 'listener' believes it to be.

We're using different speakers, on differing sorts of finished flooring, and applying what we feel or hope will improve things.

I suspect any or all of the above concoctions could be the fix for non solid floors. BUT it seems a no brainer additional attention to those instances is required for better results.

I'd like very much to try a composite layering of Ebony, Mahogany, and granite, totaling under 2in. with the Mahogany on top and stone on the bottom.

Everytime I've used Mahogany wood block footers for devices, the tones gained more harmonic presence and naturalness. Ebony added definition and dimension without inducing artifacts in the upper end.... and Mass, always has a good effect for imaging but it can be too too enhancing and appear either brittle at the extremes or too bright. The two woods would attenuate such ringing as the stone resonates or 'rings'.

Why not then give it a go?

Duckets, gentlemen, just duckets. Pricing out that plan came to well over $250 for 18x18x?.

18x18 will span the 16 on center floor joists, just about regardless their spots. Which BTW, might well be one other consideration. Setting the weight onto the joists directly and not in between them. Thus allowing for better coupling. The added 25-40lbs of each plinth won't hurt much either.

Speckled shiny black, with Ebony and Red Mahog sandwidched atop it ought to please the eye.