Should I Use Speaker Spikes?

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By: JANNAS (South Africa)

What is your impression of speaker spikes? Is there any benefit fitting them?

I have old big Celestion cabinets on a wooden floor, do you think there might be any improvement in sound quality by fitting them?

Regards

Jannas

Comments for Should I Use Speaker Spikes:

Hi

The theory behind speaker spikes is that they allow the speakers (or speaker stands) to be fixed securely to the floor.

What we are trying to achieve is to make sure the speaker doesn’t move when it is reproducing sound, as this will allow the speaker to correctly reproduce sound as it was designed to do.

Therefore, as long a the speaker spikes are on a hard, solid surface, then it should help the sound of the speaker.

However, if the speaker is on a surface that isn’t so solid, then sometimes the spikes can make it worse. The firm connection to a floor that can resonate or move can just transfer the sound out of the room (and into your neighbors!).

In this case, you may need to isolate the speakers from the floor. Sometimes this can be done by using rubber feet instead of spikes, or some people get a hard slab of stone or wood to put the speakers on (maybe with rubber underneath).

The large mass underneath the speaker should help to stop the sound from being transferred to the floor – and create the solid base we are looking for.

So spikes can be useful and help the sound if your floor is solid – but may not be the best option if the floor can move or resonate.

As with most things in this field, the best thing is to try it out in your room and see if you think the spikes help the sound of the speakers or not.

Hope that helps.

Paul (Site Editor)

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About The Author

Paul started the Home Cinema Guide to help less-experienced users get the most out of today's audio-visual technology. He has been a sound, lighting and audio-visual engineer for around 20 years. At home, he has spent more time than is probably healthy installing, configuring, testing, de-rigging, fixing, tweaking, re-installing again (and sometimes using) various pieces of hi-fi and home cinema equipment. You can find out more here.

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