Do I need to use speakers spikes on Ceramic Floor ?
The speakers ( 70Kg each ) have rubber round feet .
as a theory describe :
**spikes are supplied to use on carpet/rug, as explained in your manual. **
**You want your speakers to have a strong base, to be anchored in your floor. **
**Look at the base of the speakers, it’s flat, heavy and has rubber in the bottom. It’s perfect on hard floor. **
**On carpet tho, you need the spikes to stop the speakers from slipping. **
If you use the spikes on hard floor, you do the exact opposite to what they are designed for, since spikes will glide on hard floor.
I don’t use spikes at all. Spikes will couple the speaker cabinet to the floor but I am not convinced that is the correct solution.
I have found that isolation from the floor is the best sound for me but both of my systems are on hardwood or floating quasi-wood floors over a basement.
I don’t have any experience with concrete floors and speakers although someday I may move one system to the basement. I am thinking that I will still want the speakers isolated from the floor.
4 Likes
I’ve come to detest spikes on anything other than carpet. Even then, I have yet to be convinced using spikes has any true positive impact on speaker SQ I haven’t conned myself into through confirmation bias. I have my standmounts on casters and my floorstanders on casters as well for my wood floor. Lockable, so when I’ve positioned my speakers where I want them I engage the lock and they stay put. With zero deleterious sonic impact. Makes my audiophile life so much easier.
4 Likes
I’ve had speakers on concrete, and currently you have some on wood. Spikes have been the worst sounding solution. Rubber “dots” have always sounded better, and IsoAcoustics Gaia feet the best by a long margin. The most coherent and balanced sound, with the best imaging.
4 Likes
I used Hockey Pucks and those cheap slotted vibration dampening blocks that are used everywhere.
1 Like
IsoAcoustic Gaia feet are sadly, extremely obvious when used. I did not want to believe but …….
6 Likes
And now for a different opinion … I was at a local audio store last night and Richard Vandersteen was there talking about the Kento speaker, the replacement for the Model 5. He minced no words in his dislike for “squishy feet”. In his experience spikes are best since they give the most rigid connection to the floor (ideally concrete) and therefore, the most accurate high frequency reproduction. When “squishy feet” are used the high frequency energy is reduced. In Vandersteen speakers that’s a bad thing, but with other speakers with excessive high frequencies and/or not time aligned and in-phase drivers, the reduction in high frequency energy can be a “good” thing. One aside, when the speakers are on a suspended floor (e.g., a wood floor won joists) the springiness should be minimized by bracing the floor, not by using “squishy feet”.
So, that’s his thoughts. Can’t say I totally agree with them, but I do like my Model 5 speakers!
Thanks for the interesting information. Bracing the suspend floor, eh? Sounds expensive! I’m lucky I have concrete and don’t need to worry about exciting floor resonances and transferring quite so much bass energy.
Did he happen to talk about squishy feet and imaging? The two biggest changes for me when I first used IsoAcoustics Gaia were a substantial increase in stage depth and heaps more ambient information presented. I thought would more detail was coming through with less distortion? Admittedly that’s with conventional cone & dome box speakers.
I put the squishy feet on and it had no downside. None.
1 Like
A friend got a smokin’ deal on used Wilson Sabrina 1st gen. The seller also gave him a set of Gaias, which he installed as soon as he got them home.
Later, he bought a set of Wilson “Diodes” which we installed. Crazy, crazy price ($3200) but a massive improvement in every way.
Go figure.
1 Like
FWIW, in my experience, these matters have proven to be equipment and room dependent.
So many factors and things in the room and system can affect micro-phonics, resonances and vibrations; and materials of construction can be influential as well.
As a result, it is really difficult to identify any absolutes regarding deployment of spikes, feet, dampening materials, etc.
So, you have to experiment with different options and methods and determine what sounds best.
For example, in my case, I did not prefer the sound of IsoAcoustic Gaias between the floor and my make-shift speaker stands (4” solid maple “butcher block” cutting boards) when I replaced the cone-spikes that were sunk directly into the carpet. (There was a discernible loss of cohesion and a general “muddying up” of the sound.)
However, when I put the cone-spikes back where they were and replaced the OEM feet on the speakers (a combination of steel, pointed feet resting on dimpled pucks sitting on top of the butcher blocks) with the Gaias, the negatives were reversed and I perceived a bit of an improvement in the overall resolution capability of the system - a subtle but preferred difference.
But I did not stop there. I repurposed the OEM pucks and placed them under cone-spikes on the bottom of the butcher blocks. This seemed to tighten up everything a bit more.
“Long story short” (too late! 
), I believe vibrations travel in both directions when you couple speakers to a carpeted, wooden floor with spikes and, depending on your kit and room construction, coupling the speaker system to the floor may not be beneficial; and dissipating vibrations with things like the Gaias can be better - but you have to experiment.
Cheers.
1 Like
Richard didn’t say anything specific about imaging, just high frequency energy. I probably should have said every system is different and, if possible, try as many footers as possible. I don’t totally agree with Richard but he’s been doing this for over 40 years and has a pretty good track record so his opinion is worth sharing. This hobby can be quite maddening …
2 Likes
I am in the squishy camp. Mentally, physically, and with speakers.
5 Likes
With ya, brother! High end audio couch potato and proud of it. 
1 Like
Wide cork bungs.
Work a treat for me and cheap as chips
1 Like
In my rooms (carpet over wood floors, pier and beam house) isolating the speaker works better than coupling. I use VooDoo Cable Iso-Pods.
3 Likes
What’s best for carpet and pad over a concrete slab? Currently using the spikes that came with the speakers, and things are sounding pretty awesome. Has anyone found that Gaias improve the sound in the carpet over slab scenario?
1 Like
My experience is that yes the Gaia helps on carpet, but if it’s got any thickness to it at all you’ll want to use the dedicated carpet spikes.
1 Like
I have that same situation and I used the Gaias with their optional carpet cups which spike through the carpet and pad and straight to the concrete. It worked really well.
3 Likes
Do you currently use them on your Vivid’s?