Bunnings Door stops - Cheap speaker feet/isolation.

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  altomic on 03/03/2019 - 15:26

  you can buy these silicone pads for US$0.25 each delivered rom aliexpress

  they use double sided tape so no drilling required.

  • 

    thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 15:31

    +1

    Prefer not to use any adhesive.
    Also I am not recommending you ‘attach’ these to speakers just sit them on top.
    Those silicon pads you linked provide no height at all.
    Actual isolation provides minute gains, unless in a treated (studio) environment you will barely notice improvements.
    Bigger perceivable differences in sound are achieved through speakers placement in the room, and height (stands to raise to ear level, or raised from reflective surfaces).

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  SBOB on 03/03/2019 - 15:47

  not sure what benefit you're going to see raising your bookshelf speakers up 5cm..

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 03/03/2019 - 15:54

    +1

    The way a speaker driver works is the diaphragm moves back and forth. Moving forth projects sound forward and moving back is the necessary but unwanted sound moving backwards (and out of phase).

    The housing of the driver either reflects the sound back in phase, or deadens it entirely. If the box is not isolated from the base, you may get a unwanted noise from these materials vibrating.

    • 

      SBOB on 03/03/2019 - 16:39

      i know how speakers work
      many a year in a previous job selling hi-fi gear

      have to be pretty ideal listening conditions (or a pretty poor setup where your current surface is vibrating) that you'd pick the difference in a blind test

      if you need it for vibration dampening, fine.. but the OP posted they got these for better placement

      Anyway, still way better than 'hi-fi' branded equivalent snake oil versions ;)

      • 

        [Deactivated] on 03/03/2019 - 17:26

        But snake oil versions look so pretty. I buy them sometimes just for the cosmetic appeal.

        But you're spot on. I used to be very into high end audio and the number of times I've been to a new-install meet where there is $100,000++ equipment and $0.00 in room surface treatments was… frequent.

        At least the canapes always made the meets worth it.

        • 

          thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 17:48

          @[Deactivated]: I’ve had a look at the isoacoustics product and here is my opinion.
          The product has this isolating feet mechanism which two levels . Now function with the doorstops and isoacoustics when in the lowest height is quite similar.
          Where I think their patented technology comes in is when the isoacoustics stands are used in their maximum height (with the long poles that are included).
          In this case (extra height) it is far more difficult to isolate/control movement of the speaker sitting above.
          Now for bookshelf sized speakers, I f you need proper height buy stands, if you need moderate height you can consider the isoacoustics (which i still consider improve sound with height rather than isolation on solid surfaces).
          If you just need to clear up the sound with a tiny increase in height.
          These doorstops do just fine.

      • 

        thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 17:28

        I was just going to comment, that if the surface (desk cabinet) you have your speakers on is particularly resonant and/or just simply not a solid surface, you may see benefits from some isolation. But if this is the case I would seriously consider putting the speakers somewhere else.
        I am using the tallest 5cm doorstops on a fairly low cabinet to raise the speakers up to head level when I am sitting down.
        Also there is a noticeable affect on the low frequencies by raising the speakers even slightly from a flat surface.
        If you have the woofer sitting too close to a flat surface there is going to be smearing of the sound (boominess/loose low frequencies). And in the case of some speakers who produce mid and low frequencies from the woofer, you can end up with smearing of the mids too.
        Some people may like this as most consumer audio gear sounds this way.
        But I am looking for tight controlled bass with none of this boominess/innacuracy and nice and clear open mids.

        I do not claim to be a professional audio technician. But I have found this concept works on large 5-way HiFi speakers too, only you do not need to raise them as much as the speakers are quite large & usually the 12-inch woofer is taking care of only low frequencies.

        • 

          bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 19:22

          +1

          @thebadmachine:

          But I am looking for tight controlled bass with none of this boominess/innacuracy and nice and clear open mids.

          Years ago, a few of us were trying to find the most effective (and hopefully inexpensive) material for speaker isolation for floor-standing speakers. We tried with a number of materials – including sorbothane, hard rubber (kind of like the door stops), sheets of polystyrene, small pieces of hard wood and speaker cones (borrowed).

          Based on listening tests – to the same tracks/setup, and swapping the materials one after another, we tried to determine what worked. Except for the speaker cones, in our opinion, the rest did not perform very well in terms of sound. They produced a more muffled sound (especially in the bass frequencies), compared with the cones which provided the greatest clarity. In the end, settled for some modestly-priced cones. Fortunately, it was just a once-off purchase that would last a lifetime.

          Even if you are happy with the door stops, this is a fun experiment to do, if you are so inclined – just to see how different materials affect the sound. Before the exercise, we were expecting the sorbothane to do a modestly good job – but the listening tests proved otherwise. Found the exercise to be very interesting overall.

          • 

            thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 19:31

            @bluesky: I have no data to back this up, but I think just adding some small feet to the bottom of your speakers and having them at the correct height, is much more effective than just plonking your speakers on some books or foam composites (like sorbothane or yoga blocks).
            Some people think that placing thin mats of foam or sorbothane under the speakers will improve the sound. I think what you need to do is to separate them from the reflective surface.
            I also read up on a very comprehensive test like yours on bookshelf speakers. The conclusion was do not worry too much about isolation materials and products. Height and placement is key and what affects the sound the most.

            Edit: sorry I just re-read your comment. My reply above is referring to bookshelf/large speakers with woofer on the bottom.

            You mention floor standing. I would think that the reflective surface of the floor is far enough away from the woofers to smear the sound as much as bookshelf-type speakers. Unless you have a hard wood floor, I would think floorstanding speakers would have less issues.

            • 

              bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 19:42

              @thebadmachine: Yes, we also tried the feet method - with small uniform pieces of rubber, and hardwood that were approx 2cm high, 20cent coin size. They did not sound very good compared to the cones.

              • 

                thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 19:56

                @bluesky: When you say modestly priced cones. How much?
                And just to clarify these doorstops (more so the cheap ones) are extremely hard rubber. I cannot make them deform. They are doorstops after all built to withstand a life time of door stuff. I would have gone for the smaller sizes but I needed the height.

                • 

                  bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 20:05

                  @thebadmachine: IIRC it was about $140 for 8 cones. But that was more than 2 decades ago.
                  Back then, there was no Ebay. Nowadays you can get this for so much cheaper.
                  E.g. this ebay set of 4. Or this set of 8. I did not do a proper search, pretty sure can get even cheaper. You can just place the speakers on top of these.

                  • 

                    thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 20:13

                    @bluesky: Interesting, I would consider giving them a try in the future (hopefully your perspective was not affected by the price back then).
                    But for now Ill spend $18.

                    • 

                      bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 20:22

                      @thebadmachine:

                      hopefully your perspective was not affected by the price).

                      Do you think I would bother with the experiments with cheaper material – if I am so easily dazzled by pricey stuff? :-)

                      • 

                        thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 20:26

                        @bluesky: Yeah I just stand by the importance of height, whether it be the height relative to your ears, or separating the speakers from surfaces with height (no matter how little). Never even gave a thought to just other materials(foam/books) placed under a speaker.

                        • 

                          bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 20:27

                          @thebadmachine: Positioning of speakers already goes without saying.

                  • 

                    thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 20:20

                    @bluesky: Also the doorstops I got have a indent in the top, so I was actually planning on trying them out with metal ball-bearings placed in the indents well.
                    I think this may be a similar concept to the spikes.

                    • 

                      bluesky on 03/03/2019 - 20:24

                      @thebadmachine: Well, try different things. It will be interesting!

                      • 

                        thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 20:28

                        @bluesky: Yeah. I’ll just let you know I am willing to make compromises. I don’t claim to have golden ears. I just find what works for me from experiences, and yes I will definitely give the ball-bearings a try.
                        I think it should work this way for everyone, we will perceive things differently, and in the end the only person who will discover what’s best is yourself.

        • 

          thebadmachine on 03/03/2019 - 20:53

          @thebadmachine: I think most consumers consider big/boomy bass as good bass.
          Sorry bluesky this is not directed at you, just wanted to add an annotation to my original comment and it got a bit messy.

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  bloom on 03/03/2019 - 17:13

  I find a whoopie cushion gives my speakers the optimal treble

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  magic8ballgag on 04/03/2019 - 08:52

  This website has some cheap options for speaker/amp feet, relatively inexpensive to ship to Australia also.

  • 

    thebadmachine on 04/03/2019 - 10:14

    Yes single item price is cheap, but it may be worth buying an 4/8-pack from Amazon for their return policy.