g_nakamoto asks:
This goes back to a misconception a lot of guys have about how cones work. When we don't understand something very well we reach for metaphors which in this case watch for 'grounding', 'coupling', 'sink', 'isolating', bunch of stuff like that. What they all have in common is a misunderstanding of what is going on. Doesn't take a lot of trying different things to disprove all these false notions. But hardly anyone can be bothered to actually try and see. Especially because when you actually try and see you invariably wind up learning a lot of what you thought you knew was wrong.
Anyway, the spike idea is something pointy digs down into the floor or whatever to where it becomes more solidly anchored and so either vibrations flow from the component to the floor (if you buy that one) or the massive floor keeps the speaker from moving around (if you're into that one) or both.
This is easily disproven by something as simple as placing a penny under each spike. The spike will no longer penetrate, and yet it will still work just fine. Maybe even better.
Every component I have ever seen is shipped with such awful footers that just about anything will be an improvement. So you try something, sure enough its better, and you congratulate yourself on being such a shrewd audiophile. Most of the stuff out there is pointy, the difference with pointy spikes is sharper leading transients which is really easy to hear, which is probably why so many think you need something sharp.
But the best Cones I ever tried had a relatively blunt 1/4" radius. Also you can experiment with something, anything, and learn pretty quickly the exact same material works differently when made into different shapes. Only takes a minute with a file to round off some cheap cones and prove this for yourself. Or make your own out of different materials.
what does 'spiking' mean?
This goes back to a misconception a lot of guys have about how cones work. When we don't understand something very well we reach for metaphors which in this case watch for 'grounding', 'coupling', 'sink', 'isolating', bunch of stuff like that. What they all have in common is a misunderstanding of what is going on. Doesn't take a lot of trying different things to disprove all these false notions. But hardly anyone can be bothered to actually try and see. Especially because when you actually try and see you invariably wind up learning a lot of what you thought you knew was wrong.
Anyway, the spike idea is something pointy digs down into the floor or whatever to where it becomes more solidly anchored and so either vibrations flow from the component to the floor (if you buy that one) or the massive floor keeps the speaker from moving around (if you're into that one) or both.
This is easily disproven by something as simple as placing a penny under each spike. The spike will no longer penetrate, and yet it will still work just fine. Maybe even better.
Every component I have ever seen is shipped with such awful footers that just about anything will be an improvement. So you try something, sure enough its better, and you congratulate yourself on being such a shrewd audiophile. Most of the stuff out there is pointy, the difference with pointy spikes is sharper leading transients which is really easy to hear, which is probably why so many think you need something sharp.
But the best Cones I ever tried had a relatively blunt 1/4" radius. Also you can experiment with something, anything, and learn pretty quickly the exact same material works differently when made into different shapes. Only takes a minute with a file to round off some cheap cones and prove this for yourself. Or make your own out of different materials.