Hi all, my music room is in a part of the house which is 100 years old (made from rammed earth). The floor is carpeted but sits in old wonky floor boards which I assume is on top of concrete.
I tried Gaia’s under my Focal Kanta’s and I just couldn’t get them to work - base sounded muddy…. I have reverted back to the Focal spikes and it is much improved. However, the floor is wonky and whilst I can get the speakers level, they aren’t rock steady stable.
I placed some sand stone paving slabs underneath (had them spare)as an experiment and whilst the sound is no worse the speakers are very stable.
Given my circumstances what would you recommend sitting the speakers on? Open to experiment with a diy job e.g. granite tiles, piece of marble etc. or an audio solution.
Make two low boxes that are slightly larger than your spikes to cast two concrete low slabs. You can make these from 18 or 22mm ply.
Lay baking paper down oiled with olive oil over the floor or other releasing agent.
Cut out a square of thick chicken wire as reinforcement and lay into the ply box after a pour of concrete so that it sits roughly in the middle. Then pour in the rest to the desired thickness to form a slab. The weight of the concrete should flatted out the base to the desired form of the uneaven surface.
Once dry, sand down a little and seal or paint and seal. Then place your speakers on the flat slabs.
You would obviously mark out on the floor your desired location for the moulds and apply releasing agents to the base material and ply boxes.
It’s a process and may or may not be successful at the end, but I think it’s what I would try first.
Good luck.
P.s. the slabs would not be fixed to the floor but be able to simply be placed on the specific location.
You should also seal the base of the boxes before pouring.
If these are original floorboards they would not normally be laid direct on a solid ground floor. Back then there were no effective damp proof membranes so floorboards would always be fixed to joists with a ventilated air space beneath to prevent damp and rot.
If this is what you have, the first thing I would do is check that the boards are firmly fixed down with no movement and nail or screw any that show even the slightest movement.