Do we really need to use spikes on floor standing speakers on concrete floor with engineered wood floor laid on top.?
The more isolation the better. If it sounds better then stay with that.
Spikes on wood floors !!!
Either use metal spike protectors or far better are one of the many ‘pad’ designs.
I’m very tempted by some of these for my SBLs as I can’t find their spikes!
The SBLs are actually sat on a concrete/tiled/levelled floor with engineered oak on squares of the foam underlay used under the wood flooring.
All compromises I guess, but still sounds good.
Also need some new foam grilles as mine are disintegrating badly now.
I like them… Best low cost upgrade in my opinion.
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My ATCs are spiked and used on parquet floor which is solid below. I use Quadraspire QX7 floor protectors, mainly for practical reasons. The speakers weigh 36 kg each and getting them seated on floor protectors of Naim chip size without getting a spike through my finger is too tricky for me. The QX7s are larger and much easier to position, at least that’s what I found. Some reckon they sound better but I’ve not experimented enough to find out.
Roger
I have a similar floor to yours (wood/planks on top of concrete). I’ve always used spikes in the past, but am now using the supplied gel pads with my new speakers. I must admit I didn’t actually AB.
If you want to couple use spikes, if you want to isolate use ‘feet’. I’m assuming our floors are able to carry vibrations as they’re (presumably) lying loose on the concrete, so my guess was it would be better to isolate not couple. Directly on the concrete, coupling might be better.
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Thanks for reply I need to get some decent floor spike cups.
The wood blocks of the flooring are firmly attached to the base (which I assume is concrete) not lying loose.
Roger
My floor is concrete, with wood floor laid on top so it is floating on the concrete.
Ok, with mine the planks are attached to each other, but not to the concrete underneath. I.e. floating.
With my speakers these work much better than spikes, resulting in a nice sound upgrade.
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I have a hardwood parquet floor in office and use Linn Skeets under stock metal spikes on the PMC’s there.
I’m pondering trying some Isoacoustic Gaia feet instead as they seem to be mostly well received.
I am looking at the Townshend Seismic Isolation Podiums these are supposed to be the best but very pricey.
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The Gaia III feet are £400 for 8x
I’ve no experience of the Townshend platforms
but they are expensive (£1400 for a pair) and appear to follow the same principle as the Gaia feet.
Depends what you put on them I guess, if you’ve got £30k speakers they’d probably feel like a bargain 
I use Herbie Audio gliders under my very heavy Kudos Titan t88s.
I had previously used Naim Chips
No major sonic differences but the great thing about the Herbie gliders is they support speakers which protects hardwood floor AND I can easily slide my speakers to adjust position of the speakers without floor damage and with little effort.
Also, the gliders are cheap around $25 per glider.
Highly recommended
David
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Yes you need to do that.
I bought a pair of thick granite tiles in the best quality available and put my speakers with spikes on top of that. Total cost €200 if my memory serves me well. Huge difference. You will never get your system to sound as it should if you don’t decouple it from the wooden floor. FYI, my situation was the same as yours,laminate floor on concrete. Put some self-adhesive felt under the tiles and you can easily optimize your speaker position.
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Gaia 1 are 1200 for focal sopra 2 55kg. Gaia 111 are to small.
I have a plywood suspended floor over garage with wall to wall carpet not very solid.
I now have the Sopras spiked through the carpet into the plywood
Would the Herbie sliders be a better option?
Little confused regarding coupling versus decoupling
Would prefer not to have to buy and install the Gaia feet
I put these under my Apogee Scintillas, and difference was quite audible. Had no isolation or spikes before. The Townshend Podiums are one of the best upgrades I made. Got them ex demo on the bay.
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