Stillpoints and reference-level speakers

08-06-14: Pkoegz
Melbguy1
I find that the footers function better tightly attached to the body of the speaker. The weight of the speaker then settles the ultra 5's to the floor making for an extremely stable, level set up. The adapters, as far as I can tell, are not for any type of adjustment. Christiaan Punter seems to use the bases under amps and such. Stillpoint suggest you will get the same result used in either direction, which makes sense to me. I prefer the threaded. I have the ultra 5's under my turntable and threaded to it. If I were you I would also order the adapters, then try both and decide for yourself. On an unrelated matter I too own the Vitus SIA-025 and love it.

Thanks for your advice Pkoegz regarding connecting the Ultra 5's under Magico speakers. That makes sense because you apply the same principle under an amp for example. In regard to Stillpoints claim the Ultra 5's sound the same sloped side up or down, I don't agree with that. And there is enough forum & review feedback to suggest so. You don't really need to thread the U5's to front end components or amps since they don't generate the same energy as speakers, and aren't at risk of being bumped like speakers. And screwing them into the component limits where you can place the feet. In the case of my SIA-025 Hans Ole Vitus experimented with Ultra 5's under his own SIA-025 and got the best results placing the feet under the screw locations for the psu (which generates the most vibration). Makes sense & works a treat! Try it and post an update :) ps: great amp!

Melbguy1
No more Stillpoints for me I am done at twelve. I have an sra craz rack for my electronics to sit on. Getting ready to retire. I am as close to done as you can get. Just repeating what I read on the Stillpoints web site. I will have to take your word on the subject. Enjoy p.kogan

Pkoegz, SRA rack, wow! Do you find any benefit of using StillPoints on the SRA? If so, I would suggest the Ultra Minis which are exception and cheap. You need to be careful with them, however, as you can shatter the ceramic balls, I'm told.

I am retired now and find that I'm unwilling to miss out on developments at this point in my life. Since my retirement five years ago, my realism has greatly improved making me wish I had it fifty years ago.

Agear, I suggest the following easy experiment. Place on a normal office table a component that has a fan (which is neither very quiet not very noisy), e.g. a computer or an external hard-drive. After turning on the component, place your elbows on the table and a finger in each of your ear and listen to the vibrations generated by the fan that travel through the table. Then, place a cushion between your elbow and the table and listen again.

I predict the following outcome:

1) When resting on the table using your elbows you will hear very clearly and loudly these vibrations. (There is a decently strong coupling between our ears and the medium conducting the vibrations.)

2) When placing a cushion between your elbows and the table you will hear these vibrations significantly less. (The coupling has been significantly reduce in this situation.)

3) When removing your elbows from the table you will hear the fan but not the vibration generated by the fan that travel through the table. (There is no coupling in this situation).

Obviously, in the experiment suggested above the elbows play the same role the spikes play in an audio system.

The simple experiment suggested above should illustrate to everyone that spikes do not isolate. On the contrary, spikes increase the coupling between the spiked audio component and the surface on which this audio component rests. (In fact, even poor spikes like our elbows provide a decent amount of coupling!)

It is important to note, however, that this is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, increasing the coupling can be beneficial for subwoofers or speakers with large bass drivers. The large mass of the floor and the strong coupling between the floor and speaker provides a very strong foundation for the bass drivers, viz. the movements of the driver are less likely to induce movements of the cabinet of the speaker/subwoofer. (The strong coupling between floor and speaker will also change the spectrum of resonant frequencies of the floor and also of the speaker - because of the added mass and the change in geometry. Depending on the situation and also on the listener this may affect the sound positively, negatively or not at all.)

The problem with most spikes is that they allow vibrations to go in both directions. That is, not only from the speakers into the floor but also from the floor into the speakers. This effect is not desirable. The reason is that one wants to hear the music reproduced by the speakers, i.e. not the music produced by the speaker and modulated by spectrum of resonant frequencies of the floor.

The problem with most spikes is that they allow vibrations to go in both directions. That is, not only from the speakers into the floor but also from the floor into the speakers. This effect is not desirable.

The easiest way to test that hypothesis would be to do what John Atkinson at Stereophile did many moons ago. Attach an accelerometer to the speaker cabinet and see what happens with and without your grounding device of choice.