2. speakers
  3. 136261-4374

Floor standing speaker isolation advice needed.

I have an older pair of KEF Reference Model Twos that currently sit on their brass(?) feet on the floor. The floor is tile but not solid cement underneath. I bought two .5" thick granite tiles for underneath the speakers and am wondering if I need to do anything else like put the spikes on the brass feet, add sorbothane under the granite tiles and/or under the brass feet or something else I should be considering? Things sound good on the top end but seem a bit subdued/muddy in the bass region. The KEFs are being driven by a Parasound Halo A23 and I’ve got a HSU VTF-3 MK 2 helping out the bass, mostly for movie duty.


Thanks for any advice.
asahitoro
asahitoro OP
244 posts
 
Thanks for the replies,

Well I’ve got some various sizes of sorbothane. If I use that or the Herbies, do I put it under the granite tile between it and the floor or directly under the KEFs feet? Should I use spikes on the KEFs feet on top of the granite too if I put the other underneath the granite?
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,418 posts
 
Dont use sorbothane directly underneath the speakers, it will absorb the bass and make it sound muddy and less detailed.
You can use the sorbothane under the granite, then try the speakers using their feet or spike them...see which gives you the clearest bass response. This way the speakers and granite bass will be decoupled from the floor.

And I agree, Herbie makes excellent isolation products. Try what you have on hand first.

asahitoro OP
244 posts
 
Thanks lowrider,

That was my original plan, .25"-.5" sorbothane discs under the granite tile and the KEFs directly on top, maybe add the spikes to the KEFs feet. Where I lived before I had a solid, cement underneath carpet, floor and used the spikes to couple directly to the floor and it sounded good.

I've read good things about the Herbies stuff before and will look into it further.
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
Based on what I’ve read, if the floor is cement or tile, covered with carpet or not, it’s best to couple the speakers with the hard floor using spikes, direct or through the carpet. If the floor is suspended and is covered with hardwood, e.g., basement underneath, second floor, etc., it’s best to decouple using a semi hard material, e.g., sorbathane, etc. I can only attest to the second scenario and am using Herbies brass gliders with a layer of their Fat Dots together under the speaker spike. Happy with the results. YMMV.
asahitoro OP
244 posts
 
I appreciate the input kalali,

Also, I can put sand in the plinths of my speakers. Overkill or not with the granite tile/sorbothane underneath and possible spikes under KEFs feet?
More to discover