Removing spikes... Now my speakers sing

Whether you prefer spikes or not it is indisputable that their use increases the amount of resonance measured in the baffle.

As usual it boils down to where you want to put those unavoidable resonances. Nowadays we are seeing a greater awareness of these issues in the design of loudspeakers and microphones.

Suspended mic's in my experience sound pretty, pretty good. Certainly on speech.

It depends on the speakers, I liked them on Dynaudio confidence, on my ESL 63's a big no go, just made things brighter, same for my OB speakers, yes they sound cleaner, but you can lose the meat and dynamics in the midrange, while when spiking the highs and lows sick out better, but that is not always right. In this hobby they are no always a set rule for many things, you learn as you go is to stay open-minded and try things and see how it works out in your system. Live music does not sound like many spiked speaker systems I hear, take the blinders off, and find out what is best for your speakers. 

@phillyb ,

According to this interesting research conducted on behalf of IsoAcoustics:


"There are 3 things to think about in regards to speaker isolation.

1. Is the speaker exciting the supporting surfaces creating dissonant sounds?

2. Are structure borne noises creating anomalies within the listening area and disturbing your neighbors?

3. Is the interaction between the supporting surface and the base of the speaker causing the speaker energy to reflect internally and resulting in smear?"

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Therefore it does matter where you place your speakers as well as what you stand them on, floorboards, concrete, carpet, metal stands etc.

It also further matters how your speakers make contact with this support. This is where the differences between spikes and more compliant methods of contact can be found.

You can see from fig 6 in the link given below that the main differences in isolation between spikes and compliant support are found between 20Hz and 750Hz.

This should result in a cleaner, clearer bass that has less impact upon the midrange.

As you say, the results will depend upon individual speakers and their interactions with their surroundings.

In my case, with every speaker I’ve tried (from large Tannoy DCs to portable plastic radios) greater compliance has always been preferred.

It still doesn't mean that some speakers might not benefit from extra resonances in some situations, but attempts to isolate by compliance do seem to have become more widely adopted the audio industry in recent years. Many manufacturers are now offering an alternative to spikes.

Some, like the Funk Firm are now even offering products to isolate the cartridge from the tonearm/headshell!

This is quite a turnaround from the years when Linn were routinely recommending headshell warping levels of tightness between cartridge and the unfortunate headshell in question.

Quite revolutionary stuff that threatens to turn upside down our existing belief of how cartridges and tonearms work best.

https://isoacoustics.com/isoacoustics-speaker-isolation-technology/