Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Rubber or felt?

Got a question about my speaker stands for my M22s: I'm in the process of moving, and the new living room has hardwood floors. Obviously, the carpet spikes will be retired, but my question now is what sort of pad/bumper should go on the bottom of the stands? Do I need to hunt down rubber bumpers, or will the little (maybe 1/2 inch deep) felt bumpers that are meant to go under furniture work just as well? Any thoughts on which would reduce vibration the most? Or does it matter at all?

Thanks in advance.

I would vote for felt... at least it has some damping (energy absorbtion) whereas rubber is... well... elastic.

I rubber AND felter.... OH!

I think some rubber bumpers would work best. They'd do a better job holding the stands in place. Felt wouldn't really couple them to the floor, and a solid foundation is always best.

Purchase the rubber feet that axiom sells.. That is what I did and they work perfect with my stands.

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...the new living room has hardwood floors...

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Here is another option:

http://www.1stsoundoutfitters.com/

These are ideal for wood floors.

thats an interesting idea, but wouldnt like a piece of stick tac do the same thing?

I'm sorry, but some of those claims are ridiculous. If all of a speaker's sound were transmitted through direct mechanical vibration -- speaker vibrates the stand vibrates the floor, etc... -- then I could see it working. But most of a speakers sound is transmitted through the air.

I call bullshit.

Sounded like voodoo to me, too. I think I'm hitting Wal-Mart for some simple rubber bumpers. Thanks for the replies!

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But most of a speakers sound is transmitted through the air.

I call bullshit.

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It is my opinion that they did not word the description of how the speaker floats work correctly. You are correct that most of the sound energy is transmitted through the air.

When a boom-car drives by a house, the vibrations that shake the china are definitely not trasmitted through the ground. They come right through the walls.

Reducing unwanted cabinet vibration transference is one of the reasons why speaker cabinets are built so dense and heavy.

For speakers that are not quite as heavy, the theory has some merit. There are still vibrations that are partially transmitted to the floors which could cause a perceived muddines. Based on typical wood frame construction, particularly of older homes, there can be unwanted vibrations transmitted to the floors. If the floors are built with dense subflooring this is usually not an issue.

For most applications rubber pads are adequate. The Mirage speakers I have came with small rubber pads and that is all that they need for any application. The design of the speaker also helped to reduce cabinet resonances.

Well, unless they're cheaper than a pair of hy-bounce ballz, I'm inclined to agree with Peter.

Bren R.