Slate under speakers?


My system - listening area is on a suspended floor loft. Wood floor with carpeting on it. As a trial/experiment I currently have formica covered countertop sink cutouts under each of my Snell Type AIII's. No spikes...just sitting on top of the carpet. The difference was an easily noticable tightening up of the sound...more resolution...so I'm looking for a more permanent solution.

I came across some slate slabs (1 inch x 22 x 34 inches) that would would fit under the speakers nicely. Has anyone used slate in this way? If needed I could spike the platforms into the floor.
fishboat
02-05-10: Donjr
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.

naah! I don't you have all the info/the correct info on the use of slate for isolation.
Due to the crystalline structure of granite, granite does tend to ring (& marble also exhibits similar ringing) when suspended (as in a rack). That's why some racks (Adona comes to mind) sandwich the granite between layers of wood. That basically damps the ringing within granite. OTOH, I've found that if granite is placed directly on the carpet there is no ringing in the granite.
Slate, if you look at its crystalline structure, is a very good isolation material. The structure allows for sheer movement & that provides very good isolation. And, as far as I could tell, slate did not introduce any harshness to the sound. Plus, as you stated, it has very good WAF.
Yes, there are many other solutions to isolation (as you stated) but don't discount slate as much as you have.
It might be better for you to stop theorizing & get the material into your system & do some listening?
Being retired from research NOTHING has the density of slate. The lab countertops are usually slate so your balances and micrscopes don't drift from vibration. The tops are complety dead or vibration free. For my own spaekers (been building them for 40 years) I lined my subs with slate. The bass I get with 10" Focals is fantastic. Spiking on carpeting is a must!
i have been using slate and marble under my components for many years. under a turntable is a must. i must admit never thought of trying it under my speakers.