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Sipkes or isolation devices better under speakers?

After reading about the importance of putting isolating devices like Vibrapods or Aurios beneath system components, I would need some input regarding my speakers (Martin Logan). Would they profit more from these devices compared to the spikes you are supposed to put under the speakers?
With spikes the speakers are coupled to the floor, with Aurios (or other similar devices) the speakers are de-coupled from the floor.
Any idea what is better?
tekunda
tekunda OP
127 posts
 
What are Aurios Pro please? At their website I am only only able to find Aurio MIBs and I cannot see how you would be able to float spikes with these.
Could you please explain in detail?
mgottlieb
334 posts
 
Aurios Pros are Vistek's biggest and most expensive audio product, about $200 apiece. They are essentially a 3 inch diameter flat bottom plate and curving top plate which move independently of each other, almost certainly with ball bearings between them. The top plate has an indentation for the spike to fit into, just the way spike cups which are fixed do. Four of them will support up to 2000 pounds. The speaker seems to rest securely in place, but when you push slightly in one direction or another, the speaker or other component will sway that way and then return. There have been favorable reviews in Stereo Times this past spring and fall. I know Audionut.com will tell you all about them, and I presume they have a bunch of other dealers also.
cornfedboy
1,645 posts
 
i vote for the sipkes. -cfb
mezmo
516 posts
 
At the risk of stating (and possibly overstating) the obvious, it likely depends entirely on what you're spiking them to. Spike a speaker into a concrete floor and you are really grounding the thing into something solid -- which can only help stability and reduce unwanted resonances. Spike a speaker into a suspended wood floor and you are potentially only coupling the drivers to another resonating surface and turning your whole floor into a problem. Spikes might work better in one situation and isolation in the other with the same pair of speakers. Personally, I've got mine on spikes (because the sloppy wooden floor is a bit uneven and the tripod spike arrangement is the only way to get the speakers stabilized) but have a makeshift isolation deal under the spikes in order to decouple them from the same sloppy floor a bit. I'm thinking about trying a hunk of granite under the spikes as well. It's a work in progress. I'd guess there's no single answer and suggest a bit of experimentation. Mileage will almost certainly vary.
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