Tony L
Administrator
‘Rigid’ is a fascinating word in audio. I’m not suggesting I understand it fully, but I’m convinced many that think they do are just hopelessly wrong. One has to step far beyond what ones hands, eyes, instincts etc tell us and think about how materials function at audio frequencies. To my thinking the ‘more rigid’ something appears in the hand etc the more likely its resonant frequency is going to fall in the audio band. As an example if one bangs a paving stone with a spanner or whatever there is a very distinct ‘ping’. It is ‘rigid’, but it also resinates at quite a high frequency. If I wanted to design a ‘hi-fi floor’ I’d probably go with suspended wood, but I’d very loosely screw the boards to the joists rather than nail them, i.e. apply BBC thin-wall/‘broken bell’ thinking. I think this would keep the resonant frequency very low indeed and below the audio band. It wouldn’t be great for footfall at all, but that only worries certain turntables on certain supports.
Obviously there are many construction techniques with concrete so it is hard to generalise/apply a universal theory, but my instinct is that if I had one I’d probably want to float a wood floor or other layer above it. I’d certainly not spike speakers stands or racks to it. I’d want to isolate the kit from it. A concrete floor and Townsend style isolation may be a very logical approach.
