Speaker Spikes - do the shake test


Everyone by now knows that speaker spikes improve the sound. The theory is that the tweeter excursion is so short, that any speaker cabinet front to back movement creates Doppler / intermodulation distortion. That movement can exceeed, by many times, the excursion of the tweeter. So, the effect is most pronounced up top and then towards the bottom most frequencies. Or so they say.

I have some C4 series II speakers that come with four “spikes” in the plinths. But, the people in Denmark seem to think we all have hardwood floors. The so-called spikes are dull “lugs" that really are meant to sit into four small aluminum floor bot dots, for any better term for them. Many have speakers on carpet, and the so-called spikes sitting on those four round aluminum discs still are pretty wobbly on carpet.

Last week, I pulled all eight of the spikes (not nearly sharp enough, with a 30 degree rounded tip, to be called a spike) and had the guys in the machine shop at work lath them to 60-degree POINTS!

OK, re-installed and speakers leveled (four point level is a pain). WOW, now they are stable as a rock when you push and tug on them. What was NOT expected, was that the BASS response is significantly better. Not that bass is easy to do, but the contribution to the C4’s bass that spikes that are now planted into the concrete floor and under the carpet is amazing. The bass can now place a black dot on a white background as needed. Everything isn’t a shade of gray in the bass. I always felt that the C4’s weakness was bass definition, but the weakness is that Dynaudio doesn’t supply two sets of spikes, those for hard surfaces and those for carpet. That’s too bad, as the supplied spikes don’t cut it on carpet. My spikes are now good enough to pierce down below the carpet and rest on the concrete. But, real spikes should be like half-inch ten-penny nails that don’t chew-up the carper as much as my 60-degree spikes. But, I can’t find this spikes for the C4’s.

If you are like me and haven’t given your speakers the shake test, go do it! If they wobble around any at all see what you can do to fix it. The rewards are well worth as close to free upgrade as I’ve ever done. Don’t think for a second that it seems, “good enough”. If they move around, it isn’t.
rower30
There are many things that will work, but everything is relative. For a more natural sound with high end extension and low end dynamics check out the NASA grade ceramic DH Cones from Golden Sound. The next hardest material to diamond. You can keep all the carbon fiber, brass, steel, Sorbothane, etc.
I will keep my sorbothane...right where it is! Golden Sound claims that hardness minimizes vibration in advanced military rockets, and "DH Cones reduce the listening fatigue created by vibration. You can play your music louder and longer. DH Cones creates an initial sonic excitement that does not fade away. You will love DH Cones for a long, long time."...and there's this: "Add extra balls to your Gingko 'Cloud' isolation gear. Gingko Audio Standard Rubber Balls are available in green or blue and fit the critically acclaimed 'Cloud' isolation platforms as well as Gingko's Platforma-series equipment racks and stands." So...exciting military rockets that don't fade away or more balls? Who knows?
I must again inquire why one places a generic performance value on spikes when there are so many different types and shapes of conical structures manufactured from as many diverse materials available for purchase in this marketplace.

How does one determine the opinion where spikes never work? In defense of spikes we have found that the choice in material coupled by the geometrical shape of the cone is extremely important to performance. Spikes should not be placed into a single category of understanding. I have never found the two-dollar spike that provides the same level of accomplishment as a fifty-dollar spike.

Most speaker manufacturers provide very inexpensive steel spikes with their products to raise the speaker off the floor in order to avoid an acoustic coupling of the speaker enclosure with the flooring mass. Compact monitors arrive with either nothing at all or everything from hardened rubber dots, soft squishy discs or whatever materials fit into the final retail price for the speaker system. Wishing to avoid arguments over costing issues we have yet to find any low cost device such as steel spikes, tacky stuff purchased at a hardware store and such that affords a robust increase in musical performance.

The recording business is built on providing the best sound quality for our clients so we elected to test various coupling and de-coupling devices in order to make a more informed decision and investment into the overall sonic of the facility.

In order to challenge the ‘myths’ of spike functionalities, testing in the studio was instrumented using real time analyzers (RTA) and sound pressure level metering (SPL) employing two stationary microphone positions. We implemented a pair of compact monitors employing steel stands (filled) and two floor born speaker systems. The electronics testing package provided much the same outcome as our ears in presenting the clear cut winners.

We chose brass as the material of choice and these smallest sized products were not cheap by any means but the end result was very audible enhancing the overall musical presentation from top to bottom.

In our humble opinion, spikes should not be placed into such a vast category nor judged upon in the same fashion. There is a proven success history of companies selling thousands of ‘spikes’ and in business for many years proving there is a viable positive result from the mechanical grounding of speaker systems and electronics.

It has become obvious to us through this testing procedure that a few companies know how to attain great sound from direct coupling methods.

We have also found that these products do cost more than most so search out the brand names with long time reputations for success and spend some of that hard earned money as we did. The proven winners all have financial return guarantees and it will not take much time before you know which ones provide the benefits! After all, this is High-End Audio – yes?

Disclaimer: My father works with a commercial company that employs various forms of vibration management so I am biased, have had greater access to knowledge from experience and have applied various techniques, multiple grounding principles and years of working in recording studio settings.
I've worked in recording studios since 1967...I'm a professional musician, and I've had access to the speakers currently in my living room and they sound better with vibrapods. I am biased by the ears on my head (in my head?).
I love it when manufacturers claim they are using material developed by NASA. I bet the people at NASA are laughing their asses off.