Interesting video as always. If you are planning a follow up video on diy options, may I suggest using squash balls or raquet balls in some configuration. They are cheap and available world wide and I know diy people have used them for similar purposes. Also you could think about setting up a patreon account so the community could chip in, as you clearly put a lot of effort in to these videos.
I've been into isolation since 80's Navcom Pucks, Sorbothane, etc. I employ high mass, atop isolation. Sorbothane type iso offerings are plentiful.. what's vital is the Q, ie., weight to product ratio. In the 80's I'd DJ events set atop a Black/Decker Workmate, and float my gear with Sorbothane atop a massive MDF plinth. Those early generation Workmates were killer... just a stout, stable platform. Truly dig your content, no one else is generating content like this. Great stuff.
Thanks for doing this cool test!Very interesting! I’m not too surprised as a rigidly connected speaker cabinet to a concrete (nearly immovable) floor causes cabinet vibrations to reflect off the floor at your rigid blocks and back to the cabinet. That said, there’s no substitute for actual testing and listening. Well done.👍
I bought a set of Gaia 3 after watching this, for use with standmount speakers (Elac ARB -51). I replaced the spikes on the stands with the Gaias and feel noticeably less vibration in both the speakers and stands. It’s too bad they are so expensive; I am unlikely to buy more for the other speakers I have. Rather, I’ll use Sorbothane feet or swap the Gaias around.
I hope you could also test the Soundcare Superspikes (now owned by SEAS). Everest Audio in Canada sells them.. I bought some for my speaker project but haven’t finsihed them completely yet..
I suspect the difference is due to the damping, which removes energy from the subwoofer box. A ringing box is bad news. I also suspect that many cheap damping materials would work too ;)
Unfortunately speaker decoupling is a very complex subject. Most products around like the isoacoustics and spikes don't properly decouple speakers. They all do something but it's never the ideal goal. These are essentially dampening the cabinet and not isolating the speakers. In order to isolate you need the resonant frequency to be below at least an octave below where the speakers roll off. The problem is that for most speakers, this ends up creating a system that's too "springing" and you get bending modes where the speaker is able to wobble around (like you menitoned) which is a bad thing. In order to properly decouple and get rid of these bending modes you need an incredible amount of mass. No matter how hard you push on the speakers they shouldn't move at all yet they can still be decoupled down to 10Hz. The only person I know doing this properly is Thomas from Northward Acoustics. He's the only one who's worked out all of the engineering but his system normally uses steel cables that are highly tensions (several tons) in order to create an equivalent to the mass and then he uses sylomer as the decoupling material. Speakers end up felling like a solid wall yet the cabinet is highly damped (as the isoacoustics seem to help with) and no energy escapes to the rest of the system.
This test is incomplete and not very useful without a control. Please repeat the test with a control, a very cheap partsexpress rubber bumber or any type of rubber decoupler for that matter. You are comparing decoupler vs rigid. You should compare very expensive decoupler vs ultra cheap decoupler to see if the gaia is worth it. Thanks.
Also, Vs the SVS isolation feet. Isolation feet are a great idea, stops vibrations going into your floor. It's just are more expensive versions better, or even worse, etc.? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That would be a great follow up test which I’m already planning to do. A diy solution using foam rubber that is readily available along with guidance of how to determine durometer for a specific application.
Interesting video as always. If you are planning a follow up video on diy options, may I suggest using squash balls or raquet balls in some configuration. They are cheap and available world wide and I know diy people have used them for similar purposes. Also you could think about setting up a patreon account so the community could chip in, as you clearly put a lot of effort in to these videos.
I've been into isolation since 80's Navcom Pucks, Sorbothane, etc.
I employ high mass, atop isolation.
Sorbothane type iso offerings are plentiful.. what's vital is the Q, ie., weight to product ratio.
In the 80's I'd DJ events set atop a Black/Decker Workmate, and float my gear with Sorbothane atop a massive MDF plinth.
Those early generation Workmates were killer... just a stout, stable platform.
Truly dig your content, no one else is generating content like this.
Great stuff.
Thanks for doing this cool test!Very interesting! I’m not too surprised as a rigidly connected speaker cabinet to a concrete (nearly immovable) floor causes cabinet vibrations to reflect off the floor at your rigid blocks and back to the cabinet. That said, there’s no substitute for actual testing and listening. Well done.👍
I bought a set of Gaia 3 after watching this, for use with standmount speakers (Elac ARB -51). I replaced the spikes on the stands with the Gaias and feel noticeably less vibration in both the speakers and stands. It’s too bad they are so expensive; I am unlikely to buy more for the other speakers I have. Rather, I’ll use Sorbothane feet or swap the Gaias around.
I hope you could also test the Soundcare Superspikes (now owned by SEAS). Everest Audio in Canada sells them.. I bought some for my speaker project but haven’t finsihed them completely yet..
Thanks!
I suspect the difference is due to the damping, which removes energy from the subwoofer box. A ringing box is bad news. I also suspect that many cheap damping materials would work too ;)
Yes, that’s what I mention in the video.
Unfortunately speaker decoupling is a very complex subject. Most products around like the isoacoustics and spikes don't properly decouple speakers. They all do something but it's never the ideal goal. These are essentially dampening the cabinet and not isolating the speakers. In order to isolate you need the resonant frequency to be below at least an octave below where the speakers roll off. The problem is that for most speakers, this ends up creating a system that's too "springing" and you get bending modes where the speaker is able to wobble around (like you menitoned) which is a bad thing. In order to properly decouple and get rid of these bending modes you need an incredible amount of mass. No matter how hard you push on the speakers they shouldn't move at all yet they can still be decoupled down to 10Hz. The only person I know doing this properly is Thomas from Northward Acoustics. He's the only one who's worked out all of the engineering but his system normally uses steel cables that are highly tensions (several tons) in order to create an equivalent to the mass and then he uses sylomer as the decoupling material. Speakers end up felling like a solid wall yet the cabinet is highly damped (as the isoacoustics seem to help with) and no energy escapes to the rest of the system.
$50 for a piece of rubber... I can make a copy of this for 1 buck. Even machine vibroisolators are more affordable and possibly even more effective.
Yes, that's what the test should have been. Expensive rubber vs cheap rubber. We all know rubbee vs rigid will make a difference.
That’s would be the next step. McMaster Carr has a variety of materials and bumpers, but they only ship to companies.
This test is incomplete and not very useful without a control. Please repeat the test with a control, a very cheap partsexpress rubber bumber or any type of rubber decoupler for that matter. You are comparing decoupler vs rigid. You should compare very expensive decoupler vs ultra cheap decoupler to see if the gaia is worth it. Thanks.
Also, Vs the SVS isolation feet. Isolation feet are a great idea, stops vibrations going into your floor. It's just are more expensive versions better, or even worse, etc.? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That would be a great follow up test which I’m already planning to do. A diy solution using foam rubber that is readily available along with guidance of how to determine durometer for a specific application.