Biggest audio hoaxes

Not a fan of spikes. Prefer isolation pads when needed. Auralex Subdude does the job period. Not expensive, but effective and versatile. I’m sure there are other ways. YMMV. Isolation is one area where if it works in a studio it will work at home. I am also an Isoacoustics fan and use those as well. That’s not to say that the home audio high end vendors will not find a way to convince some people they need more, sell junked bed springs for a hefty profit, etc.

This is a good time to use common sense. IF you believe your concrete floor is resonating, do you really think that the transference of those vibrations to the speaker is going to create more sound than what is already in the room?

Your speaker is already creating all kinds of frequencies at once. It is moving. Do you think that the very very high mass of the concrete floor (w.r.t. the speaker driver) is going to appreciably move?

Do you really think the small level of dampening material in an isolation stand is going to provide more dampening than huge amount of material that a concrete floor is sitting on?

Not sure what to make of the video. He's showing vibrations when walking on concrete and tapping the speaker box. I didn't see how sensitive the measuring device was set. He talked about how if music was playing how bad the vibrations would be but for some reason didn't play any music to see how audible they are as he walked across the floor. I'd need more evidence and would try something cheaper or homemade first. 

Your speaker is already creating all kinds of frequencies at once. It is moving. Do you think that the very very high mass of the concrete floor (w.r.t. the speaker driver) is going to appreciably move?

Do you really think the small level of dampening material in an isolation stand is going to provide more dampening than huge amount of material that a concrete floor is sitting on?

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We are talking about isolation (one from the other) vs absorption (the ability to SELF dampen). A cabinets resonance and the decay rate are what makes the speaker unit a clump of moist clay with drivers stuffed into it or a BOX that had NO mechanical dampening at ALL or parts of it made to amplify a driver with a bull horn

The fact remains that separating thing that vibrate and create there OWN harmonics is far better than trying to share the vibration with everything inside the listening area.. 

The floor covered with concrete over soil is no different than a drum.
Have you ever jumped up and down in a room with 3 1/2 in of concrete floors with a # 10 wire mesh.. It SOUNDS like HUGE kettle drum.. New it is loud.. WAIT till it dries all the way...

The only way to stabilize the center of a slab is to support it and TIE into the slab. It's not a requirement to support a slab UNLESS it's foundational.  A soil floor has nothing to do with passing code. Concrete offers no foundational support other than it's cleaner.. You can still have soil for floors you know...

It is a LOT quieter soil floors. What makes a barn a barn? NO built floors. It's Always about drainage and keeping thing OUT of the weather. Good sound in a barn too.. Not a good place to be raised.. Born yes, raised NO!

Use to love working with heavy timbers frames.. 

Regards

I think it is difficult to label anything a “hoax” because there are always those who will claim the thing worked for them.  In the circles, like Audiogon, that insist that the differences cannot be delineated or refuted with scientific measurement, all we are really left with is each individual’s personal experience.  Who can refute that?  Who can deny that someone who claims the sound is better when they hold their leg a certain way isn’t experiencing something valid, for them?

It reminds me of a conversation I had this week, in which I observed that various ways of cutting and preparing potatoes results in different tastes, even though the potatoes are cooked in the same way. For example, why do straight cut french fries taste different than crinkle cut fries, that taste different from curly cut fries?  All fried, but the cut seems to make difference, even from the same restaurant. I think audio is like that — you can take the same components and make devices that measure the same but sound different to people.