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RE: Sporadic thoughts.

Posted by Herbie on January 25, 2015 at 16:31:41

In Reply to: RE: Sporadic thoughts. posted by stehno on January 25, 2015 at 10:36:55:

Okay, I'll take a stab. Your responses to my quotes contain some misconceptions. First of all, Herbie's Audio Lab does not make conventional, completely rigid spikes, nor do we make any kind of spikes that are intended to be used together with Gliders. Our decoupling spikes feature exclusive dBNeutralizer isolation material, providing a barrier from vibration passing from one surface to another, thus "decoupling" within the vibrational environment they are dealing with. The spikes themselves certainly "couple" to the floor or shelf they are used on, and also couple insofar as being an intermediary interface. I don't see any need to argue about or parse these definitions though, as they are intimately inter-related and subject to varied interpretation.

Herbie's Audio Lab's Decoupling Spikes are intended only for free-standing use in specialized circumstances, not for use with our Gliders. Our Cone/Spike Decoupling Gliders are for use with a loudspeaker or rack's stock spikes or spikes that you already have (we also make Threaded Stud Gliders for use in place of spikes altogether).

Spiking to the floor is of course better than nothing and more than sufficient for most music lovers. A loudspeaker cabinet just sitting on a bare floor or carpet with nothing in-between is relatively unconstrained, free to wobble and vibrate from its own energies. Placing speakers on rubbery resonating materials like rubber or Sorbothane causes all kinds of anomalies like loss of dynamic vitality and linearity. Spiking, even with its drawbacks, holds the speaker more firmly and more stable. Because spikes don't drain all of a cabinet's vibration though, a non-resonant decoupling approach often works even better. This has been proven thousands of times with dBNeutralizer-based products replacing spikes for an audibly superior result--scarcely ever the other way around.

"Three points defines a plane" has little to do with vibration isolation other than accommodating the problem of surfaces not being perfectly parallel. Having to use three points instead of four is sometimes detrimental rather than a bonus. With footers having just a little "give" or compliance, three points defining a plane is usually not an issue. With four feet, you have better lateral stability, more latitude with placement of the footers, more physical "beef" to accomplish the task, and most importantly you'll usually get an audibly superior result.

A speaker on points inserted in Gliders can be more vibration free, not because they are gliders, but because of the dBNeutralizer material imbedded in the Glider. This is the material that absorbs vibration and prevents the transfer of vibration through the material. Much of the vibration that causes glare and distortion, even sonic dis-linearity in deep bass, is very high-frequency, acute micro-vibration that dBNeutralizer tames very effectively. Spikes, on the other hand, often react to some of these vibrations with resonance, introducing some sonic "character" or coloration into the music (in such a case, fewer can be better).

With a careful re-reading of the phrase, "you'll have floorborne reverberations shooting right back up the spikes," you'll see this refers to vibrations going back to the speaker cabinets from where they came (right back up the spikes). It's primarily loudspeaker-generated vibrations that shoot back up the spikes. Speaker-generated floorborne vibrations can also affect sensitive electronics in rack components. Floorborne vibrations from other sources can also adversely affect speakers spiked to the floor. Subwoofers coupled to the floor generate floorborne vibrations detrimental to floorstanding full-range speakers, and vice-versa. It's a mistake to dismiss concrete (or hardwood)floorborne vibrations as nonexistent, miniscule or inconsequential. Though concrete floors vary in their capacity to convey micro-vibrations, they are structures of steel/concrete that transmit aggressive, acute micro-vibrations readily, as most rigid materials do. Concrete floors all have a natural frequency and reverberant tendencies. Simply walking on a concrete floor induces vibration. Hospitals know this, and that is why they must specially treat concrete floors to minimize vibrations in labs where sensitive equipment like optical scanners are used. Several optical scanning laboratories use Herbie's Audio Lab products to isolate (and decouple) equipment from vibration, including concrete floorborne vibrations.

I believe most loudspeakers are every bit as sensitive as optical scanning equipment. Floorborne vibrations do not have the inertia necessary to cause a dead-still loudspeaker driver to exert an audible sound. Though miniscule compared to the energies a loudspeaker driver generates, floorborne vibrations have plenty of acute energy to influence the movement of moving drivers. Speaker drivers produce myriad musical frequencies simultaneously, some extremely low-amplitude and nuanced, some having less inertia than external vibrations they are competing with, many below the RFI noise level. Most of these extremely low-amplitude musical signals help to define the ambience and real-life presence of the original recorded event. Though it's perhaps David versus Goliath, floorborne vibrations cause audible anomalies in the music.

The main benefit of Herbie's Audio Lab's Gliders is the sonic benefit they bring. Protecting the floor and easy mobility of the speakers are secondary. In some cases, it's virtually essential to be able to move speakers a little this way or that to bring in the best soundstage and imaging and best interaction with room acoustics.

Whatever the method applied, minimizing the effects of floorborne vibrations on loudspeakers and subwoofers is audibly beneficial and substantially worthwhile.

Sure, it's impossible to completely isolate components; many laws of physics are at play, not just one or two. Taming vibration to a degree that substantially brings out more of a component's inherent potential is possible and has been done, though. Not only by Herbie's Audio Lab but by many others as well. Some approaches are more system-dependent, others less so. No one product or approach is ideal and perfect in every audio system, though many are highly effective in most cases, even though different approaches to the same solution may be employed.

Steve
Herbie's Audio Lab

Edits: 01/25/15

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