question about spikes

[akhter]

My N804 came with spikes. Are the really necessary? I feel the speakers are a little unstable on them, as opposed to flat on the floor (I have wood floor). Do they serve and sonic purpose? It seems that if I were to place the speakers on carpet, then the spikes would make them more stable. Also when I look at the pictures on the B&W brochure, they don't seem to use the spikes either.

[ZX10 Guy]

Spikes help decouple the speakers from the floor. I always use spikes when it is an option. If you are worried about using spikes on wood floors, you can get metal pucks that fit between the floor and speaker spikes. I've used these metal pucks with good results.

[Rags]

or the simple solution would be to use small coins between the spikes and the floor.

[Stoney]

I always thought the main reason for spikes were to provide a stable surface if you had the speakers on carpet. Setting the speakers directly on the carpet and they will "float". The cabinet will not be rigid, large cone movement will be damped slightly because the frame/cabinet is not fixed. Spikes punch through the carpet and couple directly with the stable (hopefully) floor surface. The spikes need to be adjusted to make sure they all contact the surface (no wobble) and the speaker is level.
If you are on a hardwood or tile floor, the spikes would be unnecessary, but as is mentioned above, some acoustic de-coupling can be helpfull. A piece of a spongy shelf liner cut slightly smaller than the base of the speaker is an easy budget solution. There are also some after market stabilizers/platforms, or adaptors for the spikes that can be used, but imho they are not necessary.

[Mitchell]

The spikes should help isolate the speaker from the floor and reduce noise through walls and floors. It also may help make the sound more articulate.
You can buy small round isolaters that can go between the spikes and the floor that will protect the floor and further isolate the speaker andthe floor.
I bought a whole stand for my 703's so that I could help reduce sound to a downstairs neighbor and I found that the sound improved dramatically.
Check out a company called Sound Anchors.
I hope thise is helpful.

[chinets]

I have N803 and N804 and Including the huge Sub ASW 850 ( My B&W /Rotel dealer gave me this idea as he has all the speakers in his show room this way). I had a carpenter cut a 1 inch thick base that fits Taylored exactly under the speakers and sub that he cut out from the stirofoam that was in the box that my speakers and sub came in. I don't use spikes as they will damge your wood floor and if you have a Mrs. or mistress they will kill you so try my solution and it gives great stability and great sound without damaging or scratching the bottom of your speaker too if it slips or moves and protects the floor too and gives great sound...Cheap to do and effective!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stantheman2]

IMHO:

When you add spikes, you are not actually physically "decoupling" the speaker from the floor - some insulating/dampening material is required to "decouple" two objects. Metal spikes don't decouple" in an engineering sense, but spikes DO improve the sound:

1. speakers directly on a hardwood floor, and speakers on spikes on a hardwood floor, are both directly "coupled" to the floor - in both cases, there is a solid, rigid connection between the speaker and the floor. The spikes do make it harder for the vibrations (sound waves) to propogate from the speaker through the spikes to the floor, which is why the sound seems "cleaner" with spikes.

2. Putting speakers on a styrofoam block (as per the previous post) "decouples" the speaker from the floor, in that the syrofoam damps out the vibrations. That will also clean up the sound.

If your speakers are on carpet, using spikes to punch through the carpet to the underlying wood or concrete is actually "coupling" the speaker to the wood or concrete. The carpet, and pad, if any, will act to dampen and decouple the speaker from the floor. However, the spikes reduce or eliminate the vibrations the speaker induces in the floor when when the speaker is sitting on carpet, which also cleans up the sound.