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Decoupling Speakers

Next week, I plan to experiment with decoupling my speakers, which sit over a carpeted floor, over a concrete slab, over sandy soil.  The speakers are Aerial LR5s (105 pounds each), that are secured (bolted) to heavy (70 pounds each), steel, sand-filled, Sound Anchor Signature stands, which are currently coupled to the concrete floor using SA’s spikes.  I do not want to decouple the speaker cabinets from the stands since the stands act as outriggers for additional stability.  Plus, I believe the weight of the sand filled stands will help resist woofer movements and provide damping.  Therefore, my plan is to decouple the stands from the concrete floor.  Obviously, whatever I use will sit directly on the carpet.

I have sets of Herbie’s Giant Fat Gliders on the way but I would also be interested to hear from any who have heard the A/V Roomservice EVP vibration isolation pads used in a similar configuration to decouple speakers.  Below is a link to a discussion On the EVPs vs. Herbie’s but the comparison was to Tenderfeet, which I would not expect to perform anywhere near as well as the large DB Neutralizer pads in the Giant Fat Gliders.  I would like to compare the gliders with the EVP pads but the large pads I need would be $105 each x 8.  I know many like ISO Acoustics Gaia products but I want to keep a low profile under the SA stands so I have ruled those out, at least for now.

https://www.audioshark.org/vibration-isolation-devices-26/data-analysis-v-roomservice-evp-vibration-isolation-pad-17886.html


mitch2
mitch2 OP
4,002 posts
 
You make a good point @millercarbon 
Just this morning I ordered springs for under my speakers so I could compare with the Herbie’s gliders.  I will not say “never” on the EVPs but $800 is a lot of money.
My hang up with springs under my speakers has been stability but I was able to find some that fit my desire for a relatively low profile, while being at least 1-1/2 inches wide for stability and working well within the compression range needed. I ordered one extra spring per speaker in case I need to even out a heavier weight at the front or rear.  I also have some rubber furniture leg cups coming that I can place on top of the springs to reduce the risk of slippage between the spring and the speaker.  I am considering bolting those to the bottom of my speaker stands (through the existing threaded spike holes) so they are stationary and then I can slip the springs up inside of them......maybe not needed but it should make me feel like they are more secure compared to having loose springs sitting beneath my heavy speakers.
The springs I recently put under my amps (in place of Stillpoints) have been an impressive solution so I look forward to comparing these with the Herbie’s gliders under my speakers.  It would be really cool if the springs work out as a low cost solution under my speakers since I also have two heavy subs I could then decouple. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
You could do all that. You could also use carpet tape. The front will be heavier than the back. Tape the four in the corners for stability, leave a 5th free to move for leveling.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,281 posts
 
Interesting. Your floor structure sounds very similar to mine. Very solid and good for not contributing sound itself which I find to be very desirable for clean , articulate detailed sound where floor interactions in the bass region in particular do not obscure the detail in the midrange. Interested to hear what the decoupling sounds like compared to prior.
avanti1960
1,480 posts
 
the only reason to decouple is if something is being excited by vibration and it becomes audible.  
your floor is being excited but it is massive and solid enough not to be audible. 
your stands are also high mass and rigid and doubtful they are being excited enough to be audible.  
this leaves your speaker enclosures.  
they are most likely excited on occasion to the point of being audible.  since they are bolted to your stands the energy from the enclosure is being reflected back to itself and this is also likely to be audible.  
you can decouble the system at the floor, but as long as you keep the speakers bolted to the stands the stands will reflect energy back to the speakers.  
your best sounding option is to decouple between speaker and stand.  
mitch2 OP
4,002 posts
 
@avanti1960 
your best sounding option is to decouple between speaker and stand
That is a consideration, but the trade-offs are the loss of the additional mass provided by the stand and the additional stability resulting from the outrigger effect of the stand being wider than the relatively slim speaker.  I will consider that but I am not really comfortable from the standpoint of stability.

The good thing is that it all sounds good now so the changes will either sound better and stay or I will go back to the current set up.
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