Sonic inpact of spike/floor protectors


Just wondering:

We all know about the sonic benefits of using spikes under our speakers. But doesn't putting those little puck-like floor protectors between the spikes and the floor negate the benefits of using the spikes? Since the idea behind the spikes is to mechanically ground the speakers by concentrating the contact point of the speaker/floor interface, it seems to me that by using the floor protectors we are defeating the benefits. Why not skip the spikes altogether, if damaging the floor is out of the question? What am I missing here? Thoughts please.
frogman
You can couple with spikes or decouple with isolation (Bearings/Sistrum)

You option is to Float the speakers I have great success using Aurio Pro's. I float both of my subs this way and it beats the stock footers.

I used Sistrum SP4 stands also with the spike protector and there was still a huge difference but their brass protectors are still meant to help. I have also tried it without spikes directly on my carpet and the bass is muddier because the speaker is so low and it is not de-coupled or coupled.

Chris
I have found just the opposite to be true when speakers are placed directly on a suspended wood floor without any rug or carpet in between the spike and the wood flooring. Well designed pucks do a great job of preventing vibrations inherent in the speaker cabinet from being passed through to a suspended wood floor, which in turn lessens the extent to which the floor vibrates and muddles the sound in the listening room. I use Sound Anchors Conecoasters, which markedly improved the tightness and tunefulness of my bass reproduction as compared to the sound before their installation.
Frogman, you are correct that the goal is to mechanically ground or couple the speakers to the floor.

The coupling discs will compromise the sonics but they should not negate them.

Unless, you plan on dragging the speakers across the floor, I would not worry about the 3 tiny dimples that the points would put into the floor.

The goal here is transfer the vibrations away from the speakers and into the sub-flooring system as expeditiously as possible. Anything between the point and the floor, including a coupling disc, will compromise that transfer to one degree or another.

-IMO