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Stands, to couple, or not to couple, contradicting products and positive reviews

There are many practices/products intended to "couple" a stand-mount speaker cabinet to the floor of a room (spikes, adding mass to the stands via sand/shot, specific bolt-on stands for certain models, etc.).  Conversely, there foam speaker pads by Auralex and others, which are intended to de-couple or isolate the speaker from the stand, with rave reviews of audible sound improvement.  

So which is right, should I try to "connect" my speakers to the mass of my house, or do I want to "float" the speakers so they are free to resonate on their own?
waxhawfive
mechans
3,048 posts
 
You want to couple the vibration to the floor to dampen that energy and keep the box still. Use heavy points and even some moveable weight discs to aid you in that process.  I don't know if this guy is still making custom brass fixtures like very heavy feet, ut try to find Eden Sound, IIRC, I got some incredible footers from him.
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kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
How about hanging the speakers from the ceiling?!
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Isolate AND couple. Isolate the speaker from the stand and couple the stand to the floor. Isolate the subwoofer, too, while you’re at it.
erik_squires
16,159 posts
 
No, don't hang the speakers. <hahahahahaa>

Newton's third law would cause lots of doppler distortion. The woofer would act on the air and he cabinet, causing it to move back and forth, and altering the intended output. 

You can hear this with some monitors that are light and loosely coupled. Add mass to the top and they sound much better. This is why. 

Best,

E
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