jimification
pfm Member
I've been messing with different supports for a while trying to mitigate the effects of our suspended floor on our floor / stand mounted speakers. After watching some presentations I was very tempted to try some of the Townsend products but thought I'd have a go at making something myself that would do a similar job but cost less and be less visually obtrusive.
As I understand it, the Townsend springs work by having a strong resonant frequency low enough that audio frequencies are unaffected by it (the same principle as the isolation in an LP12 - a low pass filter), so what I wanted was something that would allow my speakers to resonate at around 4hz. Experiments with various inner tube setups had demonstrated that this idea really worked but I found inner tubes quite problematic with stability and the "29er" MTB tubes that I found worked best looked goofy sticking out from under the things.So I was trying to find something small and neat that would duplicate the same effect. I finally came up with what's shown below. It's just a section of bicycle inner tube stretched over a small cup. The spikes in the integrated speaker stands are replaced with M6 coach bolts (to better distribut the load onto the stretched inner tube surfaces).
In the test version I used some aluminium napkin rings but for the full on blow the budget version I bought some copper tealight candle holders from Debenhams online. The copper cup on the left with the coach bolt on shows how they sit in use (so I have 4 under each speaker)
So do they work? Yes - amazingly well actually, when given a gentle push, the speakers rock quite nicely at 4hz, the bass boom is gone, the overall sound is clearer (and, what I didn't expect - quieter) The stereo image, in particular is much, much better defined.
Aesthetically they are almost invisible under the speaker stands expect for a little glint of copper (which goes quite well with the solid maple speaker cabinets) I hope this idea might help some suspended floor sufferers! Cheers!
As I understand it, the Townsend springs work by having a strong resonant frequency low enough that audio frequencies are unaffected by it (the same principle as the isolation in an LP12 - a low pass filter), so what I wanted was something that would allow my speakers to resonate at around 4hz. Experiments with various inner tube setups had demonstrated that this idea really worked but I found inner tubes quite problematic with stability and the "29er" MTB tubes that I found worked best looked goofy sticking out from under the things.So I was trying to find something small and neat that would duplicate the same effect. I finally came up with what's shown below. It's just a section of bicycle inner tube stretched over a small cup. The spikes in the integrated speaker stands are replaced with M6 coach bolts (to better distribut the load onto the stretched inner tube surfaces).
In the test version I used some aluminium napkin rings but for the full on blow the budget version I bought some copper tealight candle holders from Debenhams online. The copper cup on the left with the coach bolt on shows how they sit in use (so I have 4 under each speaker)
So do they work? Yes - amazingly well actually, when given a gentle push, the speakers rock quite nicely at 4hz, the bass boom is gone, the overall sound is clearer (and, what I didn't expect - quieter) The stereo image, in particular is much, much better defined.
Aesthetically they are almost invisible under the speaker stands expect for a little glint of copper (which goes quite well with the solid maple speaker cabinets) I hope this idea might help some suspended floor sufferers! Cheers!