Addis pads - probably the greatest single upgrade ever…in the world!

[windhoek]

Where the hifi lives I have an engineered wood floor. I use a granite chopping blocks from Tesco with soft pads on the corners to sit my spiked floorstanders on. The idea (at least in my head) is the granite couples with the floor to some degree but the spikes then isolate the speakers.

If I go the B&M route with the little clear domes will I not be coupling everything with the floor and exciting it more?

Maybe my thinking is flawed ? Maybe I should try it anyway. But I’d rather have an indication it’s going to help rather than hinder before lots of messing about with heavy speakers and spikes.

I think it all goes in the direction of decoupling. By placing pads+bumpers beneath the granite you'll introduce an absorbing material; the bumpers in this scenario can be thought of as saddles rather than absorbers per se, even though they do have some absorbing property.

That said, you could probably dispense with spikes and granite altogether and just have pads+bumpers beneath your speakers. That might turn out to be the best option unless you need to use spikes to level the speakers. Either way, you'll never know unless you give it a go so I say give it a go

 

[Chris]

Where the hifi lives I have an engineered wood floor. I use a granite chopping blocks from Tesco with soft pads on the corners to sit my spiked floorstanders on. The idea (at least in my head) is the granite couples with the floor to some degree but the spikes then isolate the speakers.

If I go the B&M route with the little clear domes will I not be coupling everything with the floor and exciting it more?

Maybe my thinking is flawed ? Maybe I should try it anyway. But I’d rather have an indication it’s going to help rather than hinder before lots of messing about with heavy speakers and spikes.

Isn’t it the other way round ? Your soft pads isolate the granite from the floor and your spikes couple the speakers to the granite ?

Whichever. I like to think of the bumps in terms of the “lands” on some cartridges - maybe they make for far better, concentrating contact points than the virtual but unreal flatness of the granite against that of the floor.

 

[Alex S]

I've spent £7.50 in Addis mats FFS

So you have 900 magic discs. Maybe spare your wife a few. They make good coasters, and probably sink mats should anyone need such a thing.

 

[clownfish]

I think it all goes in the direction of decoupling. By placing pads+bumpers beneath the granite you'll introduce an absorbing material; the bumpers in this scenario can be thought of as saddles rather than absorbers per se, even though they do have some absorbing property.

That said, you could probably dispense with spikes and granite altogether and just have pads+bumpers beneath your speakers. That might turn out to be the best option unless you need to use spikes to level the speakers. Either way, you'll never know unless you give it a go so I say give it a go

Interesting. I was thinking of replacing the spikes with them but keeping the granite. Probably makes more sense your way.

Should have plenty of little discs to try all possibilities

 

[a.palfreyman]

How many spikes do you have per speaker?
Hopefully 3. 4 is no good as you will never get even distribution of weight (through a rigid coupling) leaving a tendency to rock, even if only minutely. Tripods have three legs for a reason.
Edit: I should qualify the above. 3 points of support for rigid coupling eg spikes, bearings/cups etc.
You can get away with 4 points of support using soft isolating devices that squash as they will naturally find a level like your car suspension does.

 

[windhoek]

So you have 900 magic discs. Maybe spare your wife a few. They make good coasters, and probably sink mats should anyone need such a thing.

And I might be buying another one! The clear mat I bought doesn't look right on my 1210GR (it doesn't sit flat either as I had to roll it up to fit it in my backpack, but that's another story) so I might just buy another grey one. Unfortunately I've tore off pieces from the length of the mats so neither of the two grey ones I've got can cover the platter. Another £2.50? I'll survive

 

[Chris]

I have now got 12 Addis pads in my system A mate sent me 16 from UK to the Canaries on Sunday last via a holidaymaker comingout to start a cruise so no longer an Addis-free zone.
First four between Mana glass and Linn plinth edge replacing deformed 3M bump-ons. sounded “ better”. I didn’t bother trying to define anything. Couldn’t even if I tried. Understood Fagen’s diction and crazy lyrics better than before. Rim shots sounded less metallic, more wooden. More forceful bass. Positive. Wait a few days.
Just placed the other 8 between my speakers and granite, in place of thick felt feet. Still not trying to define anything. Again listening to Gaucho. Comes to my mind that as each different instrument comes in, it’s as if it takes one step forward and has more space around it, more time to appreciate keyboard tone modulations in the background and those female voices and each guitar sounds different. Weird. Mind you, I have taken 1 Ibuprofen for oncoming gout-like pain in foot. Is this Derek’s transdimensional wotsit ?
Needless to say, another 300 discs on their way, end of April. Holiday-maker sister this time !

 

[clownfish]

How many spikes do you have per speaker?
Hopefully 3. 4 is no good as you will never get even distribution of weight (through a rigid coupling) leaving a tendency to rock, even if only minutely. Tripods have three legs for a reason.
Edit: I should qualify the above. 3 points of support for rigid coupling eg spikes, bearings/cups etc.
You can get away with 4 points of support using soft isolating devices that squash as they will naturally find a level like your car suspension does.

4 spikes per speaker - one per corner and it drives me mad. I spend ages getting them perfectly level and with no rocking. Then play a few hours of music and there is miaicule rocking again.

I’ve been considering moving to felt pads to see if the sound is acceptable. Thiis madcap B&M approach seems more promising. Would be great if I could lose the spikes forever.

I’ll be keeping the granite as it protects the speakers from careless vacuuming!!

 

[a.palfreyman]

Not good that. Frustrating as h3ll.
Go for it, nothing to loose. Reckon anything that improves stability has to be a good thing.

 

[m7rso]

Should I tell the missus to hang-fire at B and M....?

B and m may have it also

 

[windhoek]

Here's a quick rundown of what these Addis pads (pads+bumpers) are all about:

There's a tremendous sense of separation of sound from the speakers. It's like the speakers aren't there. They're obviously there and they're obviously producing the sound but it doesn't seem like they're the source of sound at all. Music sounds decidedly detached from the speakers!

Soundstage is solid and wide and remarkably deep as well. Sometimes you feel as though you can just lean forward with outstretched hands and you can touch the music. Sometimes it seems like music is coming from farther away the wall behind the speakers.

Instrument separation is simply outstanding!

Instrument decay is simply outstanding! A cymbal splash can go on for a real sweet time.

Instrument timbre is much more believable.

Atmosphere of recording is uncanny. Different albums sound quite different in this regard. Kind of Blue sounds like it was recorded in 1959. Diamond Life sounds like it was recorded in the '80s, and so on.

My room agrees with the bass. For a lot of the time since I've had my Tannoys, it's seemed as though my speakers and room have been at war with each other in the bass department. Now it's like my room and speakers have emphatically announced Yes, that's us finally working in harmony as one! Plus, the amount of energy going into the floor has reduced and bass is now firmly planted within the soundstage.

Sonic cohesions is simply outstanding as well. I've heard about the Sumiko speaker setup method whereby if and once you get it right then everything just snaps into place. That's what it's like with these pads. Clarity, focus and detail are simply outstanding!

I think when you put all this together, especially the part about sound being detached from the speakers (as it begs the question, if music isn't coming from the speakers then where on eath is it coming from?) and the strong presence of atmosphere, that's why it seems as though there's an interdimensional thing going on.

 

[Amormusic]

There's a tremendous sense of separation of sound from the speakers. It's like the speakers aren't there. They're obviously there and they're obviously producing the sound but it doesn't seem like they're the source of sound at all. Music sounds decidedly detached from the speakers!

Soundstage is solid and wide and remarkably deep as well. Sometimes you feel as though you can just lean forward with outstretched hands and you can touch the music. Sometimes it seems like music is coming from farther away the wall behind the speakers.

Instrument separation is simply outstanding!

Forgot about this. But you've just described my speakers, perfectly. So I must be in for a treat then .

I'll head to B&M tomorrow and pick some up.

 

[windhoek]

Oh, there's just one more thing to add about these pads: the end sound is so satisfying it's quite potentially end-game, to borrow the pink fish phrase of the moment. I mean, music sounds extremely satisfying as it is so there's that. But more to the point, it's hard to see how changing anything upstream will make a significant difference.

Beyond these pads, I reckon all I'm left to play with are nuances and flavours. I could put my pre-Cirkus LP12 back in and take my 1210GR out and that would probably give me a different flavour when it comes to playing records. Or I could drop in a different DAC and perhaps that would give me a different nuance on the digital side of things. But these sorts of changes would be akin to shuffling around to the left or right of what I've got in place already. I just can't imagine changing anything and thinking that's an UPgrade in the way that the pads have UPgraded my system. It's very early to say for sure, but it feels like these pads are end-game... the bow tie... the cherry on top!

 

[Rick_F]

4 spikes per speaker - one per corner and it drives me mad. I spend ages getting them perfectly level and with no rocking. Then play a few hours of music and there is miaicule rocking again.

I’ve been considering moving to felt pads to see if the sound is acceptable. Thiis madcap B&M approach seems more promising. Would be great if I could lose the spikes forever.

I’ll be keeping the granite as it protects the speakers from careless vacuuming!!

I'd suggest making sure the spikes are all tightly fixed to the speakers so they can't loosen up (no loose nuts to rattle etc). This will also help couple them to the granite slab. Put the pads under each spike so that it prevents wobble as they dig in, this should at least improve sound stage. There may be other benefits but I don't want to give you expectation bias.

 

[robs]

I guess it is April 1st!!

 

[windhoek]

I guess it is April 1st!!

And the joke... is on all the doubters

 

[Chris]

I don’t think the Addisses have got anything in common with the use of spikes. They do something quite different and in my opinion much greater than alevelling or creating a firm stance. Fortunately, I don’t feel the need to know why or how. I could guess that isolation from some sort of universal micro vibrations or resonances are being addressed by pure coincidence. Thanks Derek for sharing it with us all. With these discs in place between stands and speakers, or speakers and floor, under turntables, definitely with and maybe also without the bumpons ( between Mana glass and Lp12 plinth sans feet) we are before most certainly the cheapest and most impressive “tweak”, I have witnessed to my system, easily comparable to when I fixed the cupboard shelf holding my Dual Cs1249 deck to the wall with two right angle supports underneath bought from an ironmongers in 1978 for 5 pesetas. Relative to inflation etc. the Addises are even cheaper. And to think people believe there are differences between bananas or spades or barewire connections ……….. Guys, you ain’t heard nuffink.

 

[windhoek]

Yeah, when it comes to usage, I think the pads (with or without a bumper on top) need to be on a solid flat surface. I've no idea how it would go if you sat spikes directly on the pad, although I'm guessing that unless the spikes have rounded tips then the spikes will completely penetrate the pads. I reckon spike cups are essential if spikes are a must and there's no intermediary platform in situ between spikes and the floor.

I guess I've been lucky in having big bookshelf speakers that need to be lifted high off the floor to be at ear height as I use 4 levels of mana as the solid flat base (coupled to the floor with spikes) and then the pads+bumpers sit on the top level of glass and my speakers sit on that.

Oh, I've thought of another word that describes what's going on with the pads: immersive. The pads produce an incredibly immersive listening experience. I watched Captain Philips last night and I was gripped from start to finish. It's hardly among the best films ever made but the sound is so immersive, you feel as though you're somehow connected to the film, on the set even. I don't know if this is what typically happens when you decouple your speakers efficiently, but it makes everything seem so real and compelling. Again, it's somewhat hard to describe. You have to experience it for yourself.

And all for the price of a coffee

 

[Amormusic]

I went into B&M today. Bought two Addis sink jobbies. What's the other thing I need to buy. Link please @windhoek

I will then have a play on Friday day off. I will be surprised if it makes much odds but for a few quid I am very happy to be wrong about that.

 

[windhoek]

I went into B&M today. Bought two Addis sink jobbies. What's the other thing I need to buy. Link please @windhoek

I will then have a play on Friday day off. I will be surprised if it makes much odds but for a few quid I am very happy to be wrong about that.

I've been popping into hardware shops and poundshops etc over the last week or so but I haven't seen the same sort of pads I bought years ago which I'm now using with the Addis pads. In the end, I've now ordered these bumpers and these bumpers to see if either of those will do. I'm optimistic both options will work, but I can't be sure until I give them a go. I reckon the smaller the better as I know that large rubber feet somehow dampen the music. I should have the bumpers here on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest and I'll report my findings. If you don't mind buying some anyway then by all means it's up to you. Either way, well done on taking the plunge. As long as your speakers are on a flat solid surface the pads+bumpers will work their magic