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Cheap speaker tweak

I was going to post this under " misc audio " but since I did only tweak my speakers I thought I would place it here. I have speakers that come with spikes from the factory, I'm sure many of you have encounter this situation. But I also have carpet in my listening room. When I initially bought my speakers I read the manual, which suggested I let the spikes go right into my carpet. What???!!! Not a chance I thought, I just put in new carpet.

So I purchased some of those carpet saver pads, you know the ones you use to put under sofa feet. I set my speakers on these but the spikes were always causing the pads to lean one way or the other. Then one day surfing somewhere on a audio site I saw a maple board ( that's right just a board ) for sale. The claim of course guaranteed to give your piece of equipment guaranteed " superior sound " I knowing a few things about wood also knew that this was merely a $2.00 piece of maple that someone had routed an edge on, selling for $70! Yikes what will be believe next? So I got to thinking " hey I think I'll go to the local Home Depot and buy a couple of pieces of wood to place my speakers on, then they won't lean "

Well to make a long story short ( I know too late ) I couldn't find any wood the right size. So I went over to the ceramic tiles and began looking. Eventually I found a 12X12 tile that was visibly expectable. I bought a pair @ 99 cents each and took them home and put them under my speakers. I only wanted to provide my speakers with a more stable base, but I got more than that. The first time I listened to my system I thought wow! Everything is more transparent, the sound stage is deeper, the highs and mids were smoother and the bass was tighter. So I got to thinking when I was at the Depot I also saw some marble tiles 12x12 @ $5.49 but 3 times as thick, of course I went back and bought a pair. And yes things improved even more, and the appearance isn't bad either. I can see it now someone is going to read this and make a fortune selling these special speaker tiles.

So if your into cheap tweaks and your speakers are under 1 foot square. I would suggest shopping at your local lumber company. If you do post your results, I would be curious to know if it is just my setup. But now that I think about it, and if my ears are not deceiving me. I'll bet their are other things like this that will work under my equipment.
kt_88
rufier
16 posts
 
been doing that for years, also put rubbermaid shelf liner
(rubber?) between speakers and stands. don't forget to
fill the stands with sand, leadshot if you can. i too, use a marble baking slab? under the cd player.

rich
g_m_c
443 posts
 
garys, i am into the concrete patio paver as well. i put a set of arios bearings under the concrete and put my turntable and cd player on top of the concrete units. since my house is all concrete, they look perfect. twisted taste...
harnellt
45 posts
 
Just got back from home depot and bought 2 pc. of marble and WOW!!!!! Thanks Kt_88. Best tweak I have bought in years.
kt_88 OP
242 posts
 
Ok Ok! So I'm not the inverntor of the idea but it was new to me, and I found it purely by accident. I think that is the way the Mississippi river was discovered as well, by accident. So just like me, someone down here was screaming " I found it I found it! When they discovered the river. And God looked down and said. I've know where that was for years.

But none the less it was an exciting tweak for me. The more I learn about this high end stuff, the more I realize how simple ( and inexpensive ) it really is to obtain good sound. Ummm without owning a $30,000 system.
garfish
1,840 posts
 
KT_88; Nice thread, thanks. Cheers. Craig
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