alternative to speaker stand spikes?

You have your opinion, Stan. Others have theirs.

Yes Tom; we live in a great country. :-)

I did a .357 caliber upgrade to my stands for use on a hard wood floor. (Get rid of those skinny needle type screw-in spikes - whatever you do.)

SeriousIy I epoxied .357 caliber bullets onto the bottom of my metal stands. Good ol' lead has long been an audiophile favorite - its very dead - no ringing. And very soft - will not likely mark your floor at all. I used something called a semi-wadcutter, which is ammo used for target shooting - it has a flat end instead of round or pointy - tapers just a little.

BTW - I used just the bullet/lead portion, not the entire cartidge with the brass and gunpowder. Bullets (as opposed to complete cartridges) are sold for reloading ammo. I supposed I could sell a handful for a couple bucks plus shipping - otherwise you gotta buy several hundred at a time - but they could be used for balast in stands or anywhere else you need a little lead.

www.superspikes.com

Try gluing carpet all over a paving stone or cinder block. Then you can put the speakers on top of them, and spikes under the speakers. Works great for me, and your floor is safe!

Recently bought a secondhand, good as new pair of Cerwin Vega Floorstanders. Pondered for a week how to lift them off wooden floor in our home. No threaded bushes on speaker bases to attach spikes.MMMMM,I wonder if rubber mallets cut in half would do the trick. Then araldite each one onto a square piece of plywood 7mm thick with approx 13mm to edge on each side. This I did. Made 4 for each speaker and works great. Using velcro on plywood and speaker bases to secure without doing to much (glue damage)if I have to remove these in the future for reselling.This is the first time I have owned a pair of floorstanders and is my first attempt to reduce resonance and vibration from wooden floors.Each rubber mallet I used is the smaller size. Approx 65mm in diameter and when cut in half is approx 40mm in height with smaller end touching floor.Cost,$15.00.to elevate the 2 speakers.Weight of each speaker is 23kgs, 3way system with 12inch woofers.Yes,12 inch woofers.