Revel Salon2 measurably and ABX audibly improved by $5 silicone pads

[Chromatischism]

Thanks for the comments everyone. It sounds like sorbothane is the people's choice candidate for an improvement over silicone. I'll get some to compare.

I'm not sure what kind of sorbothane is available for a heavy tower speaker - usually they are used for standmounts and you'll use 4-5 of them. You'll likely need the highest Duro rating there is and it will need to be a pad that the whole speaker sits on to get the ideal 20% compression or so. As for stability, I'm not sure how to ensure that on such a pad of squishy stuff.

 

[abdo123]

@deni Can they put the Revel Salon 2 on two of your isolation platform or physics don't work that way?

I think all the other options are more or less useless for something of this size. you're not going to isolate a 150 lb beast with layer of sorbathane or some silly foot pads.

 

[Jdunk54nl]

Or maybe buy a set of these and check.

SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System

Reduce rattle and improve subwoofer bass with the SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System. Universal pad feet work with any brand or model.

www.svsound.com

 

[Sancus]

You think it costs $27 to build a pair of our isolation platforms? lol

30x markup was maybe a bit unfair, but the springs shouldn't be expensive, and using individual ones means you can probably get closer to the right deflection.

Either way, $800 does seem pretty unreasonable to me, sorry. ~$200 for the pair would be a lot easier to swallow. If that's infeasible for some reason then I guess it goes in the pile of products that I don't think are actually worth selling(there's tons in audio, certainly).

The RTM10 is very cool, btw

 

[dasdoing]

Thanks for the comments everyone. It sounds like sorbothane is the people's choice candidate for an improvement over silicone. I'll get some to compare.

Did you get it?

 

[neutralguy]

I did try Sorbothane. The short answer is the differences were minor. First, it turns out the pads I was calling "silicone" above was actually polyurethane. I subsequently got some actual silicone pads, and the results were very similar. They both absorbed the big peak around 115hz but differed slightly in where they allowed vibrations of their own lower down in frequency, below about 60hz. Sorbothane did not show these lower frequency vibrations but it also reduced vibrations around 115hz slightly less:

I'm less concerned about 40-60hz since I use a sub, and vibrations down an octave transfer less to the air by 6db, so it seems about a wash to me.

 

[Berwhale]

That's Incredible Sorbothane...​

.

Checkout the 06:40 mark where Dr. Maurice Hiles shows 'how it's really done' (hitting your hand very hard with a wooden mallet)

My understanding was that Mission Electronics had exclusive use of Sorbothane for audio applications when it first became available (in the UK at least).

 

[Axo1989]

I recall the earlier thread on the subject also. My speakers sit on magnetic levitation feet (44 kg floor standers, the feet do up to 140 kg) offered by the manufacturer. My simple test was to turn them all the way up (so >100 dB) and place fingers on the feet. The top section attached to the speaker had a real buzz going, the bottom section on the floor was serene as a sleeping cat.

 

[neutralguy]

There is a cheaper device than the C411 that can get indicative results. I got these results using a $17 guitar pickup attached to the top of my Revel M105 speakers in a separate experiment:

Here "bolts" means the speakers stood on bolts screwed into the mounting holes at the bottom of the speaker. Their poor performance here was what led me to believe that spikes on Salon2 will be no better than flat, if not worse.

 

[Head_Unit]

Or maybe buy a set of these and check.

SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System

Reduce rattle and improve subwoofer bass with the SVS SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System. Universal pad feet work with any brand or model.

www.svsound.com

We have those and like them, I forget on what basis as it's been a while. Probably we felt it sounded better. Also beat the hell out of having the sub just sitting on the floor.

 

[izeek]

not the least an expert but my trials began with cork.
jbl l890s and l8400p. on carpeted wood floor, third floor. lots of floor resonance naked on floor.
1. rubber/cork pads-somewhat less boom. bass was a tad smeared maybe.
2. rubber/sorbothane-mushed up upper bass, low mids.
3. 3/4" horsestall mat-first positive move. lessened floor resonance enough to be noticed. bass a bit more detailed. mids sweetened a lil. highs dialed down a stitch.
4. horsestall mat, 3/4" hardwood board, naked feet. tighter bass. less resonance. i tried the pads in between the feet and boards here also but it was a step in the wrong direction.
5. horsestall mat, paver, naked feet.
boom. a big drop in floor resonance.
much tighter bass and detail. wasnt expecting the mids to shine more but its sounds great. the highs smoothed some which is ok because the l890s can be taut on some material.
the subs are on iso2000 substands on pavers.
this is where ive stayed for about a year.
is it the best and scientific, nope? but im definitely happy with how it sounds. with the benefit that it might not be as loud to my neighbors now.