How do people feel about outriggers on speakers?

[DonR]

I have a pair of Energy RC-50 towers that I have owned for at least 12 years. I purchased a set of outriggers for them but never installed them. What are people's impressions of outriggers? Do they improve stability? Does it make it easier to clean underneath? Subjective impressions on appearance?

 

[Multicore]

I don't know what they are.

 

[DonR]

I don't know what they are.

 

[Deleted member 21219]

I had a set on Acoustic Energy towers. On carpeting, they helped with stability. On hard surfaces, I deemed them to have no benefit.

Of the people I know, the ones with kids like them most.

Jim

 

[DonR]

I had a set on Acoustic Energy towers. On carpeting, they helped with stability. On hard surfaces, I deemed them to have no benefit.

Of the people I know, the ones with kids like them most.

Jim

Well, that tilts things in one direction. Kids are grown and left the nest, floors are wood.

 

[Doodski]

Well, that tilts things in one direction. Kids are grown and left the nest, floors are wood.

bare speakers on the wood floor is better than aggressive spikes for sure. If the floors are a mirror finish i would use some buffer.

 

[ryanosaur]

I’m firmly in the camp of saying they are great if you have carpet and want your speaker to be stable. Ideally, the spikes can be individually adjusted so you can have them level without any tipping or rocking/unevenness.
The key thing in this situation is you need to punch all the way through the carpeting and have the spikes directly on the floorboard.
For those that claim spikes decouple: this is wrong. They do exactly the opposite

Regardless, I like the look of nice outriggers, and use them in a very unique manner:
I have platforms for my speakers and subs mounted with outriggers, punched through the carpeting as described above, then I have isolation feet separating the speaker from the platform.
For me, this is largely because my floor is super spongy like a trampoline and vibrations conduct very easily through my floor. This two part system really does help minimize the transference of vibration.
However, this is something I think is also unique to my situation and isn’t necessarily going to translate to everybody.

For solid flooring, rubber feet or isolation feet are probably best.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

The Monoprice towers I just bought have outriggers. I kind of like them. They do make the speakers a bit more stable. One is in a place where it's easy to bump into. The room constrains where I can put them.

 

[DonR]

I have cups for the spikes so floor damage is not an issue. If I get a chance I might install it on one speaker, unfortunately to install it I need to remove the speaker's plinth.

 

[sergeauckland]

My view is that if you need outriggers your 'speakers aren't wide enough...

S

 

[DonR]

Here is an image with the speaker's spikes installed (I never installed mine). You can see the plinth at the bottom.

 

[DonR]

My view is that if you need outriggers your 'speakers aren't wide enough...

S

Yes, mine were made at the height of the "point source" era in the late noughties.

 

[pseudoid]

Excuse me if a previous reply asked this question:

Will three (3) legs [outriggers?] provide more "stability" than four (4) legs?

... especially on carpeted floors that will employ speaker spikes?
Geometry101 stuff may indicate that four legs would have to be perfectly adjusted to prevent wobbles and/or worse...

Consider the fourth one as a "spare"!
If you are truly an audio-cheapskate; you can grind machine-screw tips to a point, then whack their heads off.

 

[DMill]

I had a set on Acoustic Energy towers. On carpeting, they helped with stability. On hard surfaces, I deemed them to have no benefit.

Of the people I know, the ones with kids like them most.

Jim

Kids and pets. I can see a use for them in a room that has a lot of traffic from either. I had a tower speaker pretty badly damaged by a cat that used to like to jump on top of them. I don’t have the cat or the speaker any more.

 

[MattHooper]

My loudspeakers (Joseph Audio Perspectives) are narrow enough to require the supplied outriggers to keep them stable and not easily knocked over. In principle, it also makes trying different footers, coupling spikes, or maybe decoupling footers, easier to swap in and out to try.

 

[Anton D]

My view is that if you need outriggers your 'speakers aren't wide enough...

S

I like 'em, my toes hate 'em.

My other view is that if you need stands, your speakers aren't tall enough.

 

[Chrispy]

If the speaker can benefit from the additional stability, works for me. The ones that came with my JBL 590/580s don't make it easy to get under them for cleaning, tho. I don't think they are particularly aesthetically important one way or the other, tho.

 

[Looneybomber]

I like the looks of them. On hardwood, I use thin hard foam under my speakers. No need to clean under them if nothing gets under them. With outriggers, you can get dirt/dust under them so you’ll have to clean.

 

[DMill]

I like the looks of them. On hardwood, I use thin hard foam under my speakers. No need to clean under them if nothing gets under them. With outriggers, you can get dirt/dust under them so you’ll have to clean.

A trick I used for years was to put nickels under my spiked floorstanders on my hardwoods. Then somebody told me they‘d sound better with quarters.

 

[fpitas]

Mine have outriggers, but mainly because that was the style of adjustable foot I could find on Amazon.