Downward firing Sub on suspended wood floors

Originally posted by yogus (From the Rel website):

Whether REL are right or wrong about using spikes, slabs, rubber grommets or baked apples, I don't believe that they can be right when they say that spikes decouple the woofer from the floor. Spikes decouple from the floor in the same way that the needle on a wind-up gramophone decouples the little brass horn from the shellac, in other words not much.

As an experiment, those who are able to switch between spikes and decoupling/isolating devices can place their finger-tips on the floor one foot away from the speakers and see which way causes the floor to vibrate more.

 

Yogus,

The spikes are supplied with the subs, so you dont even have to buy them to test, so do it, and keep what you like most... :MILD:

 

The Focal JMLabs SW33a sub I have solved the problem of bass response changing because of the spike height. The sub stands of four legs to which is attached a large MDF plate which acts as a foot and a false floor.

Spikes attach to the underside of the foot, so the distance between the 13" downward facing driver and the foot is constant whether spikes are used or not. Bass timing and definition improves a lot using spikes. My room has a suspended wooden floor.

I haven't yet tried spikes with my REL Stadium II

 

This is b@ll@x is it not?

 

They are using the word "decouple" to mean "limiting physical contact", rather than the mechanical notion of isolation (which would need some vibration absorbant material.)

There are benfits to not having the whole base of the subwoofer "coupled" (in contact with) the floor - when the floor is uneven or carpeted.

The other "trick" is to put the (spiked) sub on something that doesn't vibrate like a heavy stone/marble/concrete slab. That works well if the floor is floorboards which can't take the hammering that sub's dish out, the typical side effect being that the vibration gives away the subs position by generating distortion above 150Hz.

[ 7_V check your private messages ]

 

Why not just buy a proper sub that has a forward facing drive unit, then you don't get the problem?

I've never been attracted by anything that goes down all the time and has a port big enough to fit your whole bloody arm in.

 

I also don't like ports on subwoofers, but downfiring subs have advantages, IMHO, beeing safer with kids and cleaners, and look nicer, other than that they work the same... :JPS: