Brass door knobs as footers

Holy crap! It looks like I misread the Parts Express entry; they charge less than $20 for a package of four cones with threads and protector disks, plus shipping as Ghosthouse said.

Ghosthouse, you are very close.

The brass cones 'couple' the speaker to the floor and thus act as a vibration 'sink', sort of like a heat sink. If carpet, or rubber feet, are between your speaker and floor, then the speaker will be isolated and the energy cannot be drained to the floor.

Its debatable, from vibrations perspective, if coupled or uncoupled is better. I think it depends on the speaker designer / design.

Three feet are most desirable. Four will 'over constrain' the speaker. Ever sat on a 3 leg stool that wobbles? Nope, didn't think so. A 4 legged stool however... wobble wobble wobble.

Brass is good. Great internal damping and nice and heavy. Spikes are only nessasary to pierce the carpet.

A big chunck of mass near the bottom is better too. it will lower the first mode frequency (good, perhaps out of the audio spectrum) and it will act like an vibration absorber because of internal damping.

Good to know that 7 years of mechanical engineering school is good for something.

Lucas

Those parts express footers are absolutely worthless if the adjustability factor is important to you. The only way they will sound decent is if you loctite the tip to the body of the cone. If it ever backs off at all, the sound deteriorates noticeably. These just aren't stable when you unscrew the tip.

Oz

Oz - I used the cones under a Technics table not a speaker. But I do agree with your point. I cranked my cone tips totally down before installing. I'll check for loosening though I suspect this to be highly unlikely. $ for Loctite + 4 Parts Express is still way less than Heavy Footer $. Is the Mapleshade stuff probably higher quality/better made - yes. But the flip side to the econommic equation in my mind is, will I hear the $ differential? Answer for me is, I won't be A/B-ing and given my modest system - probably not. I'm actually surprised I think I hear a difference with the budget cones and plinth now.

Lucas - no argument with 3 is more stable than 4. I went with 4 because the Parts Express threaded studs match perfectly the thread gauge of the stock footer for the Technics table. I was fortunate and needed only a minor shim under the wood block to get things level.

Would have done only 3 had there been some way to go there. The bottom of the Technics table has a somewhat "irregular topology". Using the 4 corners was easy.

The Totem Forests I own have - as you recommend - a 3 legged "claw" configuration (I don't use the balls though that geometry resembles the round surface of a small door knob!).

I just installed a set of PartsExpress Dayton cones on my Technics SL12x0 turntable, replacing the stock feet. The cones sit on an Ikea butcher block cutting board, which sits on Vibrapods.

I was startled at how the cones dropped the noise floor. There's new space around each note, clearer starts and stops. I wasn't aware of the smear until the cones diminished it. It's something you almost feel more than hear. And what I feel is that my shoulders have dropped and relaxed more when I put on music.

The most important thing is it's noticeably improved my enjoyment of the music. I was enjoying it quite a lot before, but I'm enjoying it even more now. I guess those cones do a nice job of collecting the vibrations bouncing around in the rubber base and draining them to the cutting board. (Gee, should I use an over-the-sink cutting board with built-in strainer so it drains faster? :-) )

The Technics DD turntables are capable of great quiet along with the speed stability. It all comes down to vibration extraction from the base and isolation from the rack and room. There are two big KAB mods to further improve this that I haven't implemented yet: the outboard power supply and the fluid damper for the tonearm. Music is coming out of such a nice, dark background now that I suspect when I add these, the true quietness level will equal or exceed some much pricier turntables.

PS. Right now I am using the threaded points to help level the turntable and I'm still getting appreciable results. I suspect that if I level the rack shelf itself and use Loctite to tighten and crank down the cones, the vibration transfer will be even better.