Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

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cheezdotville
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Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:27 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia.

Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

Post by cheezdotville »

Hello all,

I am looking to make some DIY speaker stands and was wondering what the best type of stand would be for concrete floors. I know that there are some designs just using cinder blocks and some using sand-filled tubes. Which of these (if any) would be best? Also, how much de-coupling would I need?

Thanks a bunch in advance!
regards,
matt
Soundman2020
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Re: Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

Post by Soundman2020 »

It doesn't really matter what type you use, as long as it is massive and doesn't resonate much itself.

As regards decoupling: as much as you can get! :) It depends somewhat on the speakers you are using, but the very best method seems to be to place a Sorbathane pad on top of the stand, and put your speaker on top of that.

- Stuart -
cheezdotville
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:27 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia.

Re: Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

Post by cheezdotville »

Soundman2020 wrote:It doesn't really matter what type you use, as long as it is massive and doesn't resonate much itself.

As regards decoupling: as much as you can get! :) It depends somewhat on the speakers you are using, but the very best method seems to be to place a Sorbathane pad on top of the stand, and put your speaker on top of that.

- Stuart -
Do you think four small pads for each speaker is enough or is one large pad the only real way to do it? Also, Making a massive cinder block stand seems easy enough, but are there any special way to make a massive pipe/sand stand? Maybe some links you could send me? I've spent a while trying to find some myself but i'm never sure which of the other website to trust because none of them seem to be talking much about decoupling etc.

thanks again!
cheezdotville
Posts: 9
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2011 4:27 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia.

Re: Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

Post by cheezdotville »

rs4playpis wrote:The building Lord really invincible, thought very have routines.
Food for thought
Soundman2020
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Re: Best speaker stand for concrete floor?

Post by Soundman2020 »

The basic principle of decoupling with resilient pads is that the material needs to be compressed enough to be in the middle of the range where they act as a spring. That depends on the type of pad you use type of rubber or foam), but as a general rule of thumb, the pad needs to be compressed by about 10% to 20% of its thickness (more for some materials, less for others). So if your pads are 2cm thick, then they should end up about 16mm to 18mm thick when the speakers are sitting on them. But the optimum deflection depends on the type of rubber, so it's important to find out what that is.

There are two approaches to figuring out how big the pads should be: 1) Check the manufacturer's specs to find out what loading is needed to cause optimum deflection (how many kg/cm2, or lbs/in2 you need to compress the rubber the right amount), then weigh your speaker (find out how many kg or lbs they are), and cut the pads to the right size (cm2 or in2): Or 2) "trial and error", meaning start out with some big pieces of rubber, put the speaker on top, and if it doesn't deflect enough then cut them into smaller pieces, then smaller again, until you get the right deflection. Personally, I reckon it makes sense to do the math up front, and calculate the right size, but other people like to experiment...

- Stuart -
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