Hi sometimes I read about people putting acoustic feet or spikes under amplifiers. Or putting the stuff on wooden boards and stuff. Is that really beneficial for sound or is that one big psychological thing? Has anyone cared to measure such things?
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Spikes under amp: measurable?
- Thread starter sjeesjie
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Nope. Complete BS.
Yep. 100%.
Usually, people don't want to waste their time to measure claims, especially when these are too good to be true. It would be very easy to measure, tho. Just run the battery of tests of an amp with AP, first with spikes, then without.
I think our host is actually a little bit too busy to "measures" this kind of audiophile tweaks.
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Unless your amp is microphonic, in which case you should repair it, the amp does not need to be on
any sort of special stand. The exception to this is an amp that runs hot and is cooled by convection.
You need to place it for good air circulation and not put it over something else that runs hot or under
something that would block the airflow. The owners manual will tell you if any special cautions apply.
any sort of special stand. The exception to this is an amp that runs hot and is cooled by convection.
You need to place it for good air circulation and not put it over something else that runs hot or under
something that would block the airflow. The owners manual will tell you if any special cautions apply.
Measurements?
My spikes raise the mains about an inch off the concrete slab.
The "tripod" arrangement allows adjustment of the tilt of the speakers.
I have not measured the audible consequences of having good vs poor alignment. Alignment is just part of the initial setup.
They're six feet tall, so a small difference in the vertical angle can result in a couple of inches misalignment at the top.
Without the spikes the speakers are a bit wobbly on the carpet, and, being over-weighted toward the front, a bit prone to fall on their face when using flexible speaker cables.
They are set to lean forward a little, to put the top and bottom of the panel equidistant to the ear at the listening position.
The rest of the gear is on glass shelves, the glass isolated from the metal rack by little blobs of silicone (?), with each piece of gear resting on its stock feet, some items stack on top of another, and the preamp sits on the Equitech which sits on a pair of bricks for aesthetic reasons, raising the top of the preamp the same level as the tops of the amplifiers, making a dense looking "power block" there.
Oh, one item with no feet sits on a pair of Home Depot Wooden Paint Stirs... ***highly recommended***
My spikes raise the mains about an inch off the concrete slab.
The "tripod" arrangement allows adjustment of the tilt of the speakers.
I have not measured the audible consequences of having good vs poor alignment. Alignment is just part of the initial setup.
They're six feet tall, so a small difference in the vertical angle can result in a couple of inches misalignment at the top.
Without the spikes the speakers are a bit wobbly on the carpet, and, being over-weighted toward the front, a bit prone to fall on their face when using flexible speaker cables.
They are set to lean forward a little, to put the top and bottom of the panel equidistant to the ear at the listening position.
The rest of the gear is on glass shelves, the glass isolated from the metal rack by little blobs of silicone (?), with each piece of gear resting on its stock feet, some items stack on top of another, and the preamp sits on the Equitech which sits on a pair of bricks for aesthetic reasons, raising the top of the preamp the same level as the tops of the amplifiers, making a dense looking "power block" there.
Oh, one item with no feet sits on a pair of Home Depot Wooden Paint Stirs... ***highly recommended***
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Your amps are six feet tall? Wow.
But speaking of speakers and vibration control devices to put under them....there is this http://ethanwiner.com/speaker_isolation.htm. Think Bill FitzMaurice did something similar....
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Obviously your recommendation of paint stirs indicates your preference for colored sound!
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Spikes no. All you need is a good chair:
http://matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm
http://matrixhifi.com/ENG_contenedor_ppec.htm
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Lol true! Especially for yourself to sit on!
Looks like a nice group by the way. Too bad it’s in Spain otherwise I’d be happy to join such thing!
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Pics? Sounds cool.
Speedskater
Major Contributor
Easy to test with a DIY 'shaker table' and a hi-tech cell-phone. But the results will be no difference.
Expectation bias?
Seriously, all components, even the PCB are susceptible to vibration as they are immersed in the earth's magnetic field, so if the amp is vibrated vertically, the magnetic field will vary and therefore will induce a voltage into any conductor.
However, the variation will be so small (depending on the amplitude of the vibration) that I would be surprised it would be measurable by anything other than LIGO. It certainly wouldn't be audible.
However, it's a great thing for any purveyor of Foo to latch on to.
Buy our wonder vibration isolator, even LIGO can't measure it, but we can hear it!
S.
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