Casters to replace spikes

Spikes

"Spikes both couple and decouple the cabinet/speaker output from the floor.

Bass wavelengths are quite long and, below about 200Hz, boundary dependent. Without a surface to travel along they dissipate somewhat rapidly. A woofer would ideally be as close to a boundary (floor) or multiple boundaries (side and back walls, and even ceiling) as possible, or at least a constant distance from them. By elevating a cabinet from the floor with spikes, you reduce the propagation efficiency of bass wavelengths. So, you decouple bass from the room, even if ever so slightly. The effect is quite audible.

Spikes couple cabinet output to the floor, turning it into a transmission medium. Soundwaves travel through many solids much more rapidly than through the air. Instead of "moving the floor", cabinet output is transmitted to the listener ahead of the music, through the floor (made usually a good carrier of sound like wood or stone). This is why I’m no fan of spikes, and the Sunfire people aren’t either.

Try some damping compound between the spikes and the cabinet (not between the spikes and the floor) and let me know if you hear a difference. I’ve seen composite spikes that were metal only on the tips, otherwise rubber. Should work better.

Since spikes do two things I don’t like--diminish bass propagation, and transmit or even amplify spurious cabinet talk--I never recommend their use.

As Sunfire recommends, rubber or other absorbent materials can be used as feet for speakers or subs.

Since a lot depends on the height of the stand and the materials from which your floor is made, why not experiment? Personally I like Dynamat." 1987 or so..

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From the old VMPS web site (Brian Cheney. Mr BASS).. and Sunfire.
35 years ago. Like I said there is a reason NOT use spikes, and I can’t think of a single reason to. Wooden floors can be worse..

Otherwise its just a HUGE drum. 3.5" to 5.5" concrete bounces like a drum.. The dryer it gets the tighter it stretches in a monolithic pour. The worst of the worst.. A slab with soft expansion joints. One slab is different than the next. Decouple always.. Really muddies the bass.. Just a big bass driver (the floor). Very little bass cohesion otherwise.

If Carver and Cheney,(RIP) agree, I’m in their CES winning corner.

Innertubes, spring, silicone pods, YES, spikes NO!! Rubber spikes, how’s that working out.. LOL Charlie Chaplin’s drunk routine..

Opinions.. I don’t think so... Just my self proven and re-proven facts over and over.. I have 2 boxes of spikes.. Even Merlin spikes.. rare from the 30s.. they kinda work.. They are tuned for record player isolation and rumble

Regards

Casters are Horrible ,no coupling what so ever , just to move  never a permanent 
solution if you want defined imaging or tight deep Bass.

Over the decades I have spent small fortunes on coupling/decoupling devices to what avail? Likely negligible. Why? Well, my floors are terrazzo = hard as can be


A few years ago I tried Harbor Freight dollys with rubber casters- cheap and highly effective, as well as super easy to move, position and adjust speaker angles


hth

https://casterconnection.com/caster/4-spring-loaded-tpr-rigid-caster?gclid=CjwKCAjwmeiIBhA6EiwA-uaeFeVFXJX935zEHcOsjgr6rbQCp5nLAUjnkhuZtFqU4I7XtfI3l9AipxoC3lYQAvD_BwE

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I don’t know the weight of your speakers. My monitors are 375 pounds each (before mods). Two in the back of this type of caster for me. The front use a single adjustable spring/silicone pod. You can set top to bottom alignment, forward or backward (caster) positive or negative. There is no need for top to bottom left or right (camber) positive or negative adjustment. Then set the toe.

It won’t move, it would be dampened very well and of course decoupled. Just a slight tip to move them and back on the front pod. You could put a slider under the pod.

I’m making new bases for my monitors this is exactly how I’m doing it. Pocket mount (enclose) the rear casters to 1 1/2" butcher block (70 lbs) and a single spring/silicone pod in the front. The 60 lb SS beveled cap is a work in progress. 500 + lb is not easy to move. I had to do something..

BTW there is NO bass used in that cabinet. It’s just the monitors made from HDF. They sound like telephone poles when you knock on them. All of my monitors do.. When they are finally placed, 100 lb of sand can added in the old bass section, as an option.. STILL decoupled.. and below my weight limit on the pod and caster springs. 600 lbs

Regards

Hi Op, you say you have "factory spikes sitting on Herbie's discs." Which type of "Herbie's discs" do you have? Also, what kind of floor do you have? (I imagine that cement would be difficult.)

I use the Herbie's Threaded Stud Gliders on a wood floor. My B&W are simple to move around. Maybe factory spikes into their gliding spike feet are not as simple? If your spikes are lifting off from the feet when you move, just know that problem doesn't exist with their threaded gliders.