Advice on speaker feet

[HumdrumPenguin]

I've got a pair of KEF R3 a week ago, and it has been standing on my desk so far. I want to get some speaker feet for it to absorb the vibrations of the sound. Could anyone recommend something that is not a small fortune (like the Isoacoustic Gaia series) and has a good size for the R3?

 

Speaker dimensions without considering the grills and the connectors on the back (just the box itself):

Height: 42cm

Width:20cm

Depth: 31.2cm

 

So far, I've come across 2 options that I liked a lot, but are quite expensive for what they are, and another one that doesn't cost much but the width would be a bit too big.

 

Rockville Iso-8: CAD75

Auralex ProPAD: CAD195 (perfect size, but pricey)

Isoacoustic Iso Pucks: CAD320 for 8 un (fits whatever size since these are pucks, but even pricier)

 

I'm almost biting the bullet on the ProPAD, but would like to see if someone here or in other forums has something to say first.

 

Thanks

[Ahoy Hoy]

Would something like acoustic foam stands work for you?
If you google speaker acoustic foam stand you will find these kind of things normally about twenty quid so very cheap. Will reduce the vibrations between the speaker and the desk.

[HumdrumPenguin]

42 minutes ago, Ahoy Hoy said:

Would something like acoustic foam stands work for you?
If you google speaker acoustic foam stand you will find these kind of things normally about twenty quid so very cheap. Will reduce the vibrations between the speaker and the desk.

The Auralex I mentione in my post is a foam based platform, with some wood and rubber in it. I ended up buying it already in a local store because they had only one in stock, and my city is going in Lockdown in 2 days. They were sold out on Amazon as well...

[The Flying Sloth]

1 hour ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

The Auralex I mentione in my post is a foam based platform, with some wood and rubber in it. I ended up buying it already in a local store because they had only one in stock, and my city is going in Lockdown in 2 days. They were sold out on Amazon as well...

I would suggest just getting the generic option, it's what I use for my studio monitors and it was only like 10 bucks or something.

[HumdrumPenguin]

52 minutes ago, The Flying Sloth said:

I would suggest just getting the generic option, it's what I use for my studio monitors and it was only like 10 bucks or something.

I looked a lot on many foams in amazon.ca and couldn't find one with the right measurements. The Auralex was the only one that had it right for what I have. I'd have to go with pucks instead of foam otherwise. Well, they do feel solid at least.

[Dr0y]

what about spikes ? I like speakers spikes, they look neat but you have to remove the dust under the speaker from time to time. 

[anothertom]

43 minutes ago, Dr0y said:

what about spikes ? I like speakers spikes, they look neat but you have to remove the dust under the speaker from time to time. 

Spikes are not what you want to use if you are trying to remove vibrations. Spikes couple, due to the very small contact area and very solid contact. Foam, where there is a cushioning interface spread over a larger area, is what you want to remove vibrations.

[HumdrumPenguin]

47 minutes ago, anothertom said:

Spikes are not what you want to use if you are trying to remove vibrations. Spikes couple, due to the very small contact area and very solid contact. Foam, where there is a cushioning interface spread over a larger area, is what you want to remove vibrations.

Well, that’s good to know. I looked first at spikes before changing my mind.

[anothertom]

9 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

Well, that’s good to know. I looked first at spikes before changing my mind.

Think of it like this: If i put a knife against your chest, and repeatedly pushed it very gently, you're going to know about it. If i do the same with a block of soft foam, then you wouldn't feel a thing.

 

For isolating something you want foam hard enough that can hold the weight of the item without fully compressing, but not so hard that it transmits the vibrations.

[The Flying Sloth]

8 hours ago, anothertom said:

For isolating something you want foam hard enough that can hold the weight of the item without fully compressing, but not so hard that it transmits the vibrations.

Speaker spikes are 'couplers' while foam pads are 'decouplers' both reduce vibrations in different ways, spikes by solidly connecting the speakers to the floor, effectively increasing their mass thereby decreasing vibrations and resonances within the speaker box while foam pads allow the speaker box to resonate while isolating it from the floor. They are both perfectly valid choices in different situations.

[Derkoli]

Just gonna add some more info to what @The Flying Slothsaid about Spikes VS. Pads.

 

What option you pick depends on a few things.

 

What surface are the Speakers being situated on?

 

If the Speaker is on a lively surface, such as a suspended wooden floor, desk, unstable floorboards etc. then you want to isolate the hell out of them. Do not couple speakers to a surface that will resonate, vibrate or act like anything other than a completely solid, stable, high mass surface.

 

As my listening room has floating/semi-suspended flooring for acoustic reasons, all of my speakers get isolated. This stops the entire floor from acting like a large, crude Gong of sorts.

 

What are the frequency response/type of speakers?

 

I tend to find that spikes improves the bass response of many Speakers and that pads accenuate treble peaks. I find most types of both kill 200-250Hz slightly however. (literally a 1dBZ difference, it's negligible)

 

For Studio Monitors, I highly, highly recommend isolation pads/feet. A Studio Monitor is designed to be neutral and isolation helps with this. You don't want to accenuate anything with a Studio Monitor.

 

How much do your speakers weigh?

 

Spikes tend to have a much higher weight limit than pads. You can get spikes that will happily hold 1 metric tonne, but the highest capacity pads I can think of are the pads I currently use for my MBL Subwoofers. Each sub has 4 IsoAcoustics Gaia Titan Cronos pads, with a weight limit of 280KG~ each.

 

Ideally, you want to sit roughly in the middle of the Pad/Spikes weight limit, this will allow sufficient "squish" so the pad is doing it's job, but not enough weight to make the pad go solid.