What materials to use to isolate speakers

[blackiridium]

Hi everyone, I need to place two speakers on top of a cabinet. What material should I use to isolate the speaker from the shelf?

 

[pablolie]

there are plenty. there are esoterically priced things with silly springs in them. Plenty of rubbery isolation feet around (doesn't make a difference how much you pay for them). Or just use some blue tac. just don't spend major $ on it.

 

[Holmz]

Try a rag, or some thin foam rubber. A few sheets of paper towel… etc.
See (hear) if it makes a difference. (It should).

Then you’ll have a baseline, and you’ll either stop there, or use something more stylish.

 

[DMill]

If you are driving them hard enough they are moving consider a speaker stand. Blue tac is likely all you need.

 

[blackiridium]

So speakers are going inside of a cabinet. A speaker stand wouldn't work. I need some kind of foam or isolation material to try to isolate them from the wood of the cabinet.

 

[kyuu]

I need some kind of foam or isolation material to try to isolate them from the wood of the cabinet.

Why do you think you need foam?

I would just use something like this.

 

[Holmz]

Why do you think you need foam?

I would just use something like this.

I think that the foam might be more compliant than the rubber.

 

[gaz]

Last installation I used a white tack, at least three layers.
I didn't want the blue colour, black was preferred, but difficult to find and very expensive.
I think one layer is too little, more is better, within reason.
There are tests around that show tack is effective, but I don't know if they compared thicknesses.

 

[Rednaxela]

How about squash balls cut in half?

In any case you need before and after measurements to really know what works and what doesn’t.

 

[jaakkopetteri]

Look for sylomer pads that are rated for specific loads. Most "isolation pads" are crap, though crap is probably good enough for most purposes too

 

[FooYatChong]

I've put mine on cork yoga blocks. Works fine.

 

[goat76]

As @jaakkopetteri says, Sylomer pads work great as an isolation material. I use damping feet made by Sonic Design, they are fairly cheap at about €25 for an 8-pack suited for a pair of speakers. They are weight-dependent so they come in different versions depending on the weight of the speakers in use.

The following link is to a store in Sweden, but they sell to other EU countries if you contact them:

Bilstereo, Hemmabio, Hifi. Brett sortiment till rätt priser - BRL

BRL erbjuder ett stort sortiment av billjud, hemmaljud, marint ljud och LED-belysning till rätt pris. Fynda bilstereo, subwoofer, slutsteg och hemmabio.

www.brl.se

The thing with damping materials is that if the loudspeakers are too lightweight, the material will mostly act as a hard surface. The same problem occurs if the loudspeakers are too heavy, squeezing the damping material too much which will also make it act as a hard surface.

Sonic Design uses a Sylomer material made by Getzner, so you can probably find a local store that sells them as whole sheets. Here is a link to Getzner and if you scroll down the page you can download detailed spec sheets of the different Sylomer materials suited for different weights. https://www.getzner.com/en/products/sylomer

In the picture below is my speaker with the Sylomer feet. As you can probably see, the material is squeezed just enough to hold the weight of the speakers but still keeps the "spring-like behavior" which is important to serve as a damping material.

 

[Waxx]

I just use rubber feet that i screw into the cabinets (that are diy), they do the job and cost about 1€ a piece.

 

[jaakkopetteri]

The following link is to a store in Sweden, but they sell to other EU countries if you contact them

FWIW Amazon DE has a decent selection under names like Sylomer SVP and PolySound Sylo. US Amazon seems to lack similar ones

 

[Berwhale]

I think putting the speakers inside a cabinet is going to have a much greater impact on the sound than the difference between coupling or not coupling them to the shelf.

 

[goat76]

I think putting the speakers inside a cabinet is going to have a much greater impact on the sound than the difference between coupling or not coupling them to the shelf.

I think you misread the first post by OP. The speakers are on top of a cabinet, not inside the cabinet.

 

[Berwhale]

I think you misread the first post by OP. The speakers are on top of a cabinet, not inside the cabinet.

I think you should read the OPs 2nd post...

So speakers are going inside of a cabinet. A speaker stand wouldn't work. I need some kind of foam or isolation material to try to isolate them from the wood of the cabinet.

 

[goat76]

I think you should read the OPs 2nd post...

I think OP should make up his mind.

 

[Brian Hall]

Hi everyone, I need to place two speakers on top of a cabinet. What material should I use to isolate the speaker from the shelf?

Old folded up towels would work.

 

[pjug]

Sorbothane hemispheres are effective and not very expensive, and from a real vibration control company with good customer support. You just need to load them properly. The larger ones work better so that will probably mean you add weight -- put a board or concrete/stone platform under the speaker, then the hemispheres under that. The sorbothane otherwise leaves a mark on the speaker cabinet so a platform prevents that as well.

So, for example, if you use 4 of the 1.25" 50 durometer, you want to load them to about 7 lbs. each, so your total weight per speaker need to be about 28 lbs (or about 21 lbs if you just use 3 hemispheres).

https://www.sorbothane.com/wp-content/uploads/sorbothane-spg-hemispheres.pdf

I have a box of some of these for work I could send some but they are for heavier stuff probably you would need to add more weight than what is practical.