Spikes are they worth it?

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  • wettou
    Ultra Senior Member
    • May 2006
    • 3389

    Spikes are they worth it?

    Spikes do they make a difference?

    I just received five boxes of Spikes from B&W and am wondering if I should install them on the 802Ds

    Anyone with experience listening to music with and without would be greatly appreciated
    Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."Dwight D. Eisenhower
  • Relentless
    Senior Member
    • Jul 2007
    • 317

    #2
    They have been known to tighten the bass and are a great tool for leveling or aiming the tweeter. I say go for it, because I spike everything to try to cut down on unwanted vibrations getting into the source.
    I refuse to tip-toe through life only to arrive safely at death...
    Lou

    Comment

    • wettou
      Ultra Senior Member
      • May 2006
      • 3389

      #3
      Originally posted by Relentless
      They have been known to tighten the bass and are a great tool for leveling or aiming the tweeter. I say go for it, because I spike everything to try to cut down on unwanted vibrations getting into the source.
      Even if the speakers are on tile!
      Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."Dwight D. Eisenhower

      Comment

      • alebonau
        Moderator Emeritus
        • Oct 2005
        • 992

        #4
        Originally posted by wettou
        Even if the speakers are on tile!
        dont the 802d come with roller balls as standard. that would be a point load too on tile so I would say no difference between using the standard roller balls vs spike on tile.

        for other speakers though I would use some form of coupling to the floor - spikes seem the simplest easiest means.
        "Technology is a drug. We can't get enough of it."

        Comment

        • Relentless
          Senior Member
          • Jul 2007
          • 317

          #5
          Originally posted by wettou
          Even if the speakers are on tile!
          On tile you can use the other side of the spike(I believe they are double sided) but I would be afraid you may crack the floor. I only have experience using spikes on hard wood floors covered with carpet. It has been a while but I have seen some spike threads here awhile back, if you search they may show up and have a better answer for you than I have.
          I refuse to tip-toe through life only to arrive safely at death...
          Lou

          Comment

          • Oddiophile
            Senior Member
            • Jul 2008
            • 173

            #6
            Wettou,

            I have my spikes for my floorstanding B&Ws installed on a berber carpet with a concrete base. I found that this helped considerably. I had to make sure that they were level so that they would not wobble and this took a bit of time.

            The exception is my (relatively) new 800Ds. It would be too much of a pain to install them and I am not sure I could manoeuvre them exactly where I wanted them. They are so massive that they are not going anywhere anyway (besides, now that I think about it, I never did get the spike kit for them yet).

            What surface will your speakers be on?

            Jim

            Comment

            • windshear
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2004
              • 243

              #7
              The B&W spikes i have are reversable and have rubber feet on the other side for sensitve surfaces. Spikes for carpet and rubber for hard surface, ie wood or tiles.

              Comment

              • htsteve
                Super Senior Member
                • Sep 2004
                • 1216

                #8
                wettou,

                Last fall I put the spikes on my 802D's. Definitely a good idea. The spikes are free(!) from your dealer, and they improve the performance. Bass is a bit more defined. Midrange and soundstage improved. Even my neighbor who helped me put the spikes on, noticed the improvements.

                It's a two person job. And make sure you like the position they'll be in. They do not move after putting them in place.

                Yes, the spikes are also reversible. There is a rubber end to it for surfaces like tile.

                Here is how installed them:

                -Taking the casters off and putting the spikes on wasn't hard at all. It was getting to them that I took my time figuring out.

                -I taped off the base of the 802D's so I know where to put them back to.

                -I then took seat cushons (two or three are needed depending on thickness) and laid them on the floor in front of the speaker. We then tiltled forward the speaker unto the cushons. The cushons were against the main body of the speaker. The marlin head/tweeter were not touching anything. In this position, the 802D wants to roll to one side or the other. So I put a pillow under one side of the cushons and rolled the speaker to that side. The 802D was down, not moving and the base was exposed. Changing the casters out was easy.

                -Finally, the hardest part was at hand. We rolled the 802D back to vertical on the cushions, and then tilted up, lifted up the 802D and put it pack in place. Repeated this for the other speaker and we were done.



                Hope this helps.

                Comment

                • aarsoe
                  Senior Member
                  • May 2004
                  • 795

                  #9
                  Sorry, but what do you mean by the spikes are free?? Everywhere else they charge around $ 600 for them..

                  Comment

                  • wettou
                    Ultra Senior Member
                    • May 2006
                    • 3389

                    #10
                    Originally posted by aarsoe
                    Sorry, but what do you mean by the spikes are free?? Everywhere else they charge around $ 600 for them..
                    Yes they are give them your serial numbers and they will send them free of charge :B
                    Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."Dwight D. Eisenhower

                    Comment

                    • htsteve
                      Super Senior Member
                      • Sep 2004
                      • 1216

                      #11
                      Originally posted by wettou
                      Yes they are give them your serial numbers and they will send them free of charge :B

                      Correct. My dealer sent the serial numbers plus proof of purchase. And B&W sent them directly to me.
                      Last edited by htsteve; 28 February 2010, 19:27 Sunday.

                      Comment

                      • aarsoe
                        Senior Member
                        • May 2004
                        • 795

                        #12
                        Have never heard that before. Will check with B&W Monday to see if this also applies to Europe..

                        Comment

                        • Hallett
                          Senior Member
                          • Jun 2006
                          • 102

                          #13
                          That's what i did had no problem i have yet to put them on.
                          will do it someday.
                          Classe ssp-600
                          Classe CA-M400 Monoblocks
                          Classe CDP-100
                          B&W 802D :T ;x(
                          Velodyne DD-18 :T

                          Comment

                          • wettou
                            Ultra Senior Member
                            • May 2006
                            • 3389

                            #14
                            Originally posted by aarsoe
                            Have never heard that before. Will check with B&W Monday to see if this also applies to Europe..
                            May be in Europe they charge for them
                            Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."Dwight D. Eisenhower

                            Comment

                            • JustinGN
                              Senior Member
                              • May 2009
                              • 105

                              #15
                              I use spikes on my 684s. Practically mandatory to reduce vibrations through the floor into neighboring rooms, so I can't really speak to the benefits of them. If you're in a house or acoustically dampened room, try them out and see what works best. Otherwise, whichever annoys your neighbors the least is better usually.

                              Comment

                              • emig5m
                                Senior Member
                                • Aug 2008
                                • 646

                                #16
                                I started using spikes with my 683 and now 804S mainly because it makes them sit more stable on the carpet. Can't say I really noticed a difference in sound from them sitting directly on the carpet vs spikes. Then again, I wasn't trying them for a difference in sound, just more stability, so I wasn't even listening for anything directly related to using spikes. Maybe they made the bass a 'lil' tighter, maybe not... nothing major that drew my attention without trying hard to listen for a difference...

                                My sub really needs spikes... it likes to move around and re-position itself when pushed! :B

                                Comment

                                • wettou
                                  Ultra Senior Member
                                  • May 2006
                                  • 3389

                                  #17
                                  Originally posted by emig5m
                                  My sub really needs spikes... it likes to move around and re-position itself when pushed! :B
                                  My Fathom F113 never moves I guess 150lb helps, my worries about spikes is that you can't move the speakers afterward!
                                  Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field."Dwight D. Eisenhower

                                  Comment

                                  • emig5m
                                    Senior Member
                                    • Aug 2008
                                    • 646

                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by wettou
                                    My Fathom F113 never moves I guess 150lb helps, my worries about spikes is that you can't move the speakers afterward!
                                    Yea, Sunfire subs where known to dance around when pushed hard. The smaller ones I remember when playing around with them at a dealer where real bad, heh, and it was actually dropping surround speakers off the side wall - they must not of had them attached very well! :E It's just small (13½" cube) and light (only 53lbs), but very powerful at the same time (goes down to 16Hz, max output of 116dB, with a 2700 watt peak amp). I think spiking it would totally cure it, but it's only when I push it to full tilt which I rarely do unless I'm showing off the system to someone or playing a movie with a lot of real low LFE loudly - subsonic bass really gets the thing going crazy, lol. I bought it used and it has the rubber style feet installed on the bottom. I'm unsure if I where to peel them off if there is threaded screw holes for using carpet spikes underneath - I would have to look in the manual...

                                    Comment

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