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Stone blocks under speakers.

piece-it pete

piece-it pete

What, me worry?
Howdy all!

My neighbor lent me 4 each 2" x 12" x 12" sandstone blocks a few days ago, which is great, because we NEED excuses to play with stereos.

The spikes on my Gallos are 14" apart back to front so I used 2 blocks per side.

Placed the blocks where my best speaker placement is and set the speaks on them.

They do make a difference! Bass was much tighter and cleaner. The mids and highs seemed clearer too, but there is the fact that they were raised a bit, which with my short speakers probably made a difference too.

After jamming for a while I broke it all down and put the speaks back, as there is no way I could keep the blocks out into the living room without stubbing or breaking toes a coupla times a day.

Then my life went back to un-stoned normal. But the pleasant memory remains.

Pete
 
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Cut the blocks to size paint them, and put felt on the bottom to protect the floor. I did this with my SubTwo and it worked great! Wife hardly noticed!
Regards,
Jim
 
Is one to infer that the tightening of the bass and clearing of the mids and highs is due to the composition of the sandstone blocks? As a lowly, broke grad student I have my speakers up from the floor on rather low-brow milk crates and could describe benefits similar to yours.
Have you had your speakers off the floor with other objects and now, with the sandstone blocks, find these benefits in sound further refined? I ask this because it would seem that getting your hands on sandstone blocks could be far more cost efficient than some of the items advertised and sold for BIG money in audiophile mags and the like. Thanks.
 
Does it really have to be 2" thick though.

You can go to Home Depot, Lowes, or other home supply stores and buy larger 14"x14" or 16"x16" tile made of marble or granite. They are not cheap; I would guess US$10 to $20 each. You could set them on the floor and it would be great; just the right size. Or you could epoxy glue one on top of another, if you can afford it; that would make them about 3/4" thick. It all depends on how much you want to spend.

You can occasionally get 12"x12" stone tiles on sale. Right now the local Home Depot has grey granite, a rose-ish tan marble, and yellowish tan sandstone for only $2 a piece. If 12" x 14" would do it for you, you could have them cut at 7" each, and Epoxy glue them together to make 14" x12".

I don't know how well it would work, but you can get ceramic tile for $2 to $3 per tile and it also comes oversize at 14" or 16". The only thing is, the edges aren't finished, so you would have to paint them.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard
 
The denser the material, the less vibration absorbstion it has. Tap a piece of tile of ceramic or marble with a hammer, and the ceramic will almost ring and the marble will not be as loud, but do the same to a concrete tile, and all you get is a thud. The concrete absorbs most of the noise of the inpact while the tile, marble transmit it. I use 1 inch thick concrete slabs under my NHT SubTwo Subwoofer, and it made a huge difference.
Jim
 
Ehoove,

Indeed concrete is dense, but what does it look like?

I have some speaker stands which are made from 12"x12"x4" patio or beauty blocks (concrete). But I covered them with cheap vinyl tile with a white marble finish. They look great and weigh a 'ton', and the soft vinyl protects the speaker's finish. I place them vertically and use two per speaker.

That doesn't necessarily apply to the 'spike' on stone idea, but you could dress up concrete blocks with either granite, marble, ceramic tile or fake vinyl tile and make them more appealing.

Hey...it was just a thought.
 
Great idea! Mine painted in white look fine!
Jim
 
My HPM-900's are on cinder blocks... looks like crap... sounds like heaven.

Any boom in the bass was gone... nothing but tight and punchy now.

I'm going to DIY some stands with spikes on the bottom "plate", 2 chrome plated PVC "risers" filled with sand, and a top "plate."

I hope they sound as good as the cinder blocks do!
 
dmusgrave said:
My HPM-900's are on cinder blocks... looks like crap... sounds like heaven.

Any boom in the bass was gone... nothing but tight and punchy now.

I'm going to DIY some stands with spikes on the bottom "plate", 2 chrome plated PVC "risers" filled with sand, and a top "plate."

I hope they sound as good as the cinder blocks do!
Click to expand...

How are you going to affix the PVC risers to the plates?
 
Right now I have each of my large Advents sitting on a pair of concrete masonry units (cmu's) covered with a little rug I picked up at Target.

I just had this conversation with a friend at work and he corrected me when I said "cinder block".:D

Eventually, I would like to get some nice steel stands, but right now I thought concrete block was a cheap and effective solution.
 
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archie2 said:
How are you going to affix the PVC risers to the plates?
Click to expand...

I'm no engineer, but, I'm thinking I'll make the plates fairly thick, possibly layers of MDF. I could then route out recesses in the top of the bottom plate and the bottom of the top plate to recess the PVC about 1/2" into the plates and seal them with silicone to avoid sand leakage. I also plan to run a threaded rod through each PVC pipe and attatch a washer and nut on both ends (of course recessed into the plates.)

I figure between those things, and filling with sand, I can get them stable enough. I may wind up going with 3 or 4 PVC risers per stand depending on stability.

I plan to veneer them in the same veneer as I'm going to use when I re-veneer my HPM-900's, and finish them off with some floor spikes, so the whole thing might come out looking and working really nicely. A customer of mine offered to chrome the PVC risers for me at no charge... I think that will look pretty sweet :thmbsp:

Or... it may crash to the ground :lmao: It's going to have to be pretty heavy duty... the speakers ain't no bookshelf jobs!
 
rsfmotoman said:
Right now I have each of my large Advents sitting on a pair of concrete masonry units (cmu's) covered with a little rug I picked up at Target.

I just had this conversation with a friend at work and he corrected me when I said "cinder block".:D

Eventually, I would like to get some nice steel stands, but right now I thought concrete block was a cheap and effective solution.
Click to expand...

Did you notice an improvement in sound with the Advents?

I know the improvement wasn't just my imagination, it sounded "better enough" that my girlfriend let the cinder... err concrete masonry units stay in the house :lmao:

As an aside, a heavy book on top of a flimsy, cheap CD player is a tweak I've seen recommended many times. I tried it with mine... and the air in the highs went away. No cymbal overtones, etc. My girlfriend came in the room and asked me what was wrong with the speakers. I put the book back on the bookshelf, cymbal overtones came back, and she asked me what I did to fix the speakers :D
 
Pete, was that comparison with the speakers in two different places?

In other words, the speakers were tested on the blocks in a different physical location than where they were without being on the blocks?
 
Nothing wrong with saying "cinder block".

Also known as: breeze blocks, clinker blocks, foundation blocks, cement blocks, concrete block, and yes, that rediculously technical sounding name "concrete masonry unit (CMU)"
 
I have slabs of black granite, beautifully veined green marble with molded, curved edges (originally from some kind of furniture or counter top, I assume), and some kind of ugly thick slabs wrapped in nice cloth. All scavenged for free from the leftovers/trash piles discarded from building construction or decoration works.

I put the green ones (the prettiest ones) under various speakers, the speakers up on spikes. These are the lightest of the stone pieces, so they are the easiest to use this way. Keeps the speaker spikes from scratching/damaging linoleum tiles on the floor.

The black granite I put atop MDF as part of a TT base.

The cloth-wrapped blocks I put on top of the rear-projecting woofer boxes of my Infinity RS IIs, to anchor them and keep the bass rock-tight when rockin' (pun intended). This also gives me a little extra "workout", lifting them and carrying them each time I set up the speakers or put them back. [I don't leave the speakers out all the time, as they are too big and visually dominate the living room. I don't mind 'em that way, but it has very low WAF.]

None of these are really necessary, since the floors in my apartment are reinforced concrete with linoleum overlay, which transmit zero audible vibration/noise to gear, but the stone things don't hurt and are fun. Also make the gear look "classier". The slabs on top the speakers do seem to help the sound a little, so they are functional, not just fun.
 
whoaru99 said:
Pete, was that comparison with the speakers in two different places?

In other words, the speakers were tested on the blocks in a different physical location than where they were without being on the blocks?
Click to expand...

I'm not Pete, but I've had mine in two different rooms both with and without the cinder block stands, in exactly the same location and with the same upstream equipment.

I'll echo what he said... "They do make a difference! Bass was much tighter and cleaner. The mids and highs seemed clearer too, but there is the fact that they were raised a bit, which with my short speakers probably made a difference too."

I agree 100 percent. Whatever stand I wind up building, I want it to be HEAVY :D
 
I was talking to a business associate who is into high dollar gear and I asked what would be the best thing to get my Magnepan's off the deck and he without hesitation said to get some cinder blocks, paint them black and place them in a triangle pattern...then place some good hardwood, teak, ebony, etc as the platform....

I'm off to Home Depot tomorrow...I'm hoping they will have some DIY end table tops that would be perfect!!!
 
You might want to consider capping your PVC speaker stands with a PVC floor flange as can be seen in this picture, though there are various types similar to this.

http://www.plumbingsupply.com/images/toiletflange-pvc-stainless-steel.jpg

Note that the flange has screw holes so it can be mounted into the MDF, and the connection between the two would be stable. Also note that this flange is Closed so once in place it would seal off the sand contained in the pipe.

This one is probably a little expensive, but I have seen 3"&4" flange that are all heavy PVC (no metal) for less than $5.00. These particular flanges will work with both 3" and 4" pvc pipe. The 3" fits in the inside of the lower part of the flange and the 4" pipe fits on the outside.

I considered finishing mine (the ones I have planned) with either a faux stone finish or with a hammered metal ( dark copper) finish.

I was planning to put my sand in several ZipLok bags to reduce the mess.

Just a few thoughts.

Steve/bluewizard
 
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