LS50 and Big Fat Dots

Herbies Fat Dots are a composite, much different than plain Sorbothane.
I use 8 under my Totem Model 1 Signatures on lead/sand loaded Target stands and they are a significant difference .

Max Townshend has a 25 minute video on You Tube discussing the topic of vibration and it's effect on hi-fi (he has done a lot of research on the subject, and is considered an authority in the field). In it he covers spikes, and states as fact that they are just as efficient at transmitting vibration up them as down. The video is definitely worth 25 minutes of your life.

Max makes a great isolation product, the Seismic Pod. Unfortunately, it costs about $200 for one, and you need a minimum of three for any item placed on them. A set of six (three per speaker) will cost you almost as much as the LS-50's, eight more than the speakers!

I used to like Herbie's footers as they worked wonderfully under my components in the past. It was when I got my Marantz Reference gear that it all sounded better without them. With my first and present pair of monitors I tried the ones recommended for speakers and to be honest about it, my monitors sounded better without them, sitting directly on their maple stands. There is more focus, detail, tautness and extension without them.

I'm presently awaiting delivery of some 22 gauge stainless steel sheets to insert between the monitors and the stands that have the same dimensions as the bottom of the speaker to see if this can be a poor man's Symposium Shelf.

After reading Bdp24's post on the Ingress Audio roller blocks, I just may try them if the stainless steel sheets don't further the improvements that placing the speakers on a harder surface does.

And I thought I was done with all of this. :-)

All the best,
Nonoise

Spikes are not mechanical diodes unless they are conical in shape. Cones are mechanical diodes as are spikes that look like cones. That's why when you flip the cones upside down - with points up - the system sounds worse. Hel-loo!

Nonoise, the Ingress Audio Rollerblocks come in sets of three, each having a top and bottom cup. The provided 3/8" ball bearing is placed in the bottom cup, the top cup is placed on the ball, and the component on top of that, just as Symposium Acoustics RollerBlock Jr's. Using both cups makes for a slightly higher resonant frequency and more damping that using just the bottom cup (as with the Symposium original model). Barry recommends using only the bottom cup, with a hard smooth surfaced object (a stainless steel disc, for instance) on the bottom of the component, for the ball bearing to roll against. You are free to try them both ways, of course.

Ingress also offers a newer model Rollerblock, made from harder 7075 aluminum, and with a larger, shallower bowl, the bowl being machined as part of a 2" diameter sphere. The less steep walls of the bowl provides a lower resonant frequency and less damping (the ball rolls for a longer period of time) than the original model, and this model is sold in sets of three, intended to be used on the bottom only. The ball bearings are the same 3/8" diameter, and the set of three is $90 plus shipping. The aluminum of the bowl of the 7075 model is also more highly polished than that of 6061 aluminum original model, for less friction. The 7075 model provides more isolation than either of Symposium's models (as well as the Ingress 6061), a result of the bowl's dimensions.

Isolation in the vertical plane, if desired, needs to be dealt with separately. The cheap DIY method is an under-inflated inner tube on a piece of plywood, which works as well as any commercial product, including Townshend's original Seismic Sink, which was not cheap (and is no longer available new). You can even put a piece of ply across the front of the platform, to hide the inner tube, paint the whole thing black, and have the best isolation known to man, for only a few bucks.