Speaker and stand acoustic isolation

[GregoriusM]

I thought I'd put this in a separate thread from my Apartment Acoustics thread.

I've been under the impression that when you have bookshelf speakers on a good solid steel stand, even weighted in the tubes with sand, that they should be on spikes to stand them on the floor and "isolate" them from the floor itself.

I was also told that the speakers should be solidly placed on top of the stands.

However, I find HERE Acoustic Isolation mounts for bookshelf speakers to isolate them from the stand for better sound.

Any comments on which is better?

Thanks.

Greg

[ThomasW]

There are 2 approaches to this issue, isolation or coupling. Standard speaker stands 'spike' the speakers, this couples them to the floor. The acoustic foam or similar products isolate the speakers. I haven't done a lot of comparing. Both approaches make the SQ better. If you're trying to avoid hassles with the neighbors then isolation is a better choice.