wackiest idea to date

leftwinger57

When most suggested I raise my 2Bs from the floor w/ spikes, I at 1st of course did not jump. I wanted multiple opinions then I had the problem of having 2 beat shoulders so I couldn't man handle them at all. I finally did install them and I'll be darned, they coupled the floor where I don't get that bass thump through the floor joyces to my couch. Now because I have light white oak floors that do scratch I do not want to move them ever again.
What if someone like Toolfan Larry invented casters that were operational when moving around for what ever reason and then when set on your position they retracted back into the 2B or other model cabinet. There is nothing on the floor of the cabinet or nothing even close. How one would do this and still be air tight I haven't the slightest idea. Think of it, an easily movable heavy speaker w/ the ability to roll then go back to it's spiked position.
Nutty idea I know.
I can just hear you dudes saying, this Lew guy has way to much time on his hands..lol lol

littlewoodboats

A framework with spikes and retracting rollers could be done. The mechanism could be built into an isolation block easy enough but would be cost prohibitive.

mhardy6647

I've got my Duplexes sitting atop hockey pucks -- just sayin'.

Schurkey

Rolling scaffolds are fitted with spring-loaded casters that have springs stiff enough to allow the casters to extend and the scaffold rolls freely. With the weight of a person on the scaffold, the springs compress, allowing rubber "feet" to secure the scaffold.

Similar system with speakers, the springs would be stiff enough to take almost the weight of the speaker, the human would have to lift the speaker to roll it--but most of the weight would be absorbed by the springs. For example, a 100 lb. speaker would have springs supporting ~80 lbs, leaving the human to lift 20 lbs for rolling the speaker somewhere else. Without the human supporting the extra 20 lbs, the springs compress allowing the spikes to couple to the floor.

Overall: complex, likely hugely expensive. Someone would have to go to Monster to "invent" audiophile, gold-plated casters with Teflon wheels and ceramic roller bearings. The springs would have to be conical-wound to prevent music-frequency resonance in the spring coils. And of course, you'd need some sort of spring pockets in the speaker cabinets--or outboard "feet"--because the springs/casters are going to be several inches tall. The wheels would have to be large, to roll on carpet, and since speaker placement has to be accurate to a RCH, I'm not sure how you're going to get the casters to swivel and roll perfectly. The scaffolds can be placed within an inch or so of where you want them--until they get beat-up, in which case they go within about three inches of "perfect", and then the thing won't settle on the rubber pads very well without moving out-of-position.

By the time the company pays for advertising with a sea-shell logo or some other crap, they'll be a thousand dollars for the spring-loaded speaker platform.

I'd rather just cram a hand-truck under the speakers for movement, and forget the permanently-attached wheels.

leftwinger57

And here I thought I just run down to my patent office , scribble an A,B,C,D drawing w/ dots and arrows and viola we have moveable and recessing set of casters built into speakers at the same time. lol I couldn't get past how to keep all air tight but I was thinking of something in the vane of a wheel well of a car only more concealing and deep enough to except the caster.
Oh well, this goes in the same dept. as a guy over at AK who wanted to re manufacture JBL Monitors (he was shot down w/o mercy) or people here who wanted to re start the SDA line on their own and we know what happened to that idea.
I was looking at my DCM Time Frame 350s and as a steadying device they have only this one piece of wood that swings out from the bottom to lay perpendicular to the speaker and it holds it steady and upright. If a simple thing like that is used ,maybe my idea needs to be looked at.
Guitar players add casters to their Fender Twins and other amps that were not original for ease of transport. Call it a crash and burn idea.
I think the hand truck it is for the time being.
I found a set of Infinite Slope Speakers w/ casters.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?26828-JSE-Speakers

tonyb

That Lew guy has way too much time on his hands.

Dude, just get some discs for under the speaker spikes and forgetaboutit. Put felt under the disks if you want to slide them around. You don't have to re-invent the wheel or spend next weeks grocery money.

oldrocker

Great to see that innovation. Keep at it. You never know what you might come up with.

FYI, my grandfather who only completed the 5th grade, they were very poor and he had to stay home to help on the family farm, invented a machine called the Pave Saver.

A machine that pours concrete curbs in a curve. It was used for many many years.

tonyb

Lew, I got your answer. Instead of putting the speakers on wheels, buy yourself some roller skates . That way, you can roll around to where the sound suits you instead of moving the speakers.

See, thinking outside the box.

oldrocker

Lets push this a bit more.

I can't do the skates, heck I'd be over 7 feet tall then and if I slipped and fell over at my age, I'd darn sure break a hip..

Dennis Gardner

If someone is serious, look into casters that are on pro audio bass bins. This has been an issue for huge speakers for years and the simplest ideas are the best. Casters could be mounted to felt covered angle iron that cradled an edge and allowed tilt to raise the spikes off the floor for moving. Lots of ways to achieve this without leaving a permanent contraption on the speakers to become a source of rattles. Think moving truck/dolly/casters.

HzTweaker

Just an idea but, what about something like this: http://www.globalindustrial.com/g/material-handling/casters/floor-locks/adjustable-height-floor-locks . And have a way to interchange your spikes with casters??

HzTweaker

Just an idea but, what about something like this: http://www.globalindustrial.com/g/material-handling/casters/floor-locks/adjustable-height-floor-locks . And have a way to interchange your spikes for casters?

HzTweaker

Just an idea but, what about something like this: http://www.globalindustrial.com/g/material-handling/casters/floor-locks/adjustable-height-floor-locks . And have a way to interchange your spikes for casters.

HzTweaker

Just an idea but, what about something like this: http://www.globalindustrial.com/g/material-handling/casters/floor-locks/adjustable-height-floor-locks . And have a way to interchange your spikes for casters.

HzTweaker

Sorry guys for the quad post. . I thought that there was something going on with my browser not allowing me to post... So I did the most logical thing in my mind at the time and that was keep posting till it stuck before I realized it was going to be "reviewed" first before posting. First time I'd witnessed this.

leftwinger57

Tony, I LIKE IT.. Brilliant idea, take some house sound P.A. and like you said have me face it when I want to. Trouble is it would ALWAYS remind me of the Cream revolving stage concert I saw at the Spectrum in Philly and as posted many times was the worst sounding concert ever to be produced and used in every major city and to top it off someone said Blind Faith did the same thing. To cram as many people into the arena and the sound hits you for that fleeting minute or so and then sounds like a run away train as it leaves your view. If you missed it, GOOD. If you had the misfortune to see this nightmare you would never forget it. Like I always said, I've heard over bearing, tinny, muddy,feeding back, overly loud or not loud enough but BY FAR a revolving stage P.A. system is the worst. When the Dead's WOS came around and was really dialed in it was a marvel to behold and the clarity was unsurpassed. Tony thanks for thinking of me dude...lol lol lol lol---A real knee slapper.

Is that Tweaker dude living up to his screen name ????

---

Oh what a good laugh I got from this post.

halo71

I've never understood the reasoning behind putting a spiked speaker on top of a disc, pad, plinth, slab of stone etc. To me that defeats the purpose of having spikes at all. At that point they are no longer coupled to the floor.

tonyb

Because those with nicely finished wood floors would be sleeping in the tool shed if they spiked them directly to that floor.....and that's best case scenario.

Otherwise, you better hope Extended stay America will take your Airline miles.

gimpod

tonyb wrote: »

Because those with nicely finished wood floors would be sleeping in the tool shed if they spiked them directly to that floor.....and that's best case scenario.

Otherwise, you better hope Extended stay America will take your Airline miles.

Of course you could always sell the wife/girlfriend to pay for putting the caster thing on your SDA's, problem solved.






This may be a really bad idea.

txcoastal1

gimpod wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

Because those with nicely finished wood floors would be sleeping in the tool shed if they spiked them directly to that floor.....and that's best case scenario.

Otherwise, you better hope Extended stay America will take your Airline miles.

Of course you could always sell the wife/girlfriend to pay for putting the caster thing on your SDA's, problem solved.


This may be a really bad idea.

Depends who you hand it too

TennMan

halo71 wrote: »

I've never understood the reasoning behind putting a spiked speaker on top of a disc, pad, plinth, slab of stone etc. To me that defeats the purpose of having spikes at all. At that point they are no longer coupled to the floor.

I have always felt the same way. Spikes are installed to concentrate the weight of the speaker on to a pinpoint sized area on the floor, which results in a huge increase in pounds per square inch on the floor. Then discs are inserted under the pinpoint of the spike that spreads out the load on the floor again reducing the PSI applied to the floor.

I can't deny that spikes with discs help to improve the sound but it seems to me like the disc defeats the purpose of having the sharp pointed spike under the speaker. I realize the disc is needed to protect the floor but wouldn't a disc screwed into the bottom of the speaker do the same thing?

Some people say the spikes couple the speaker to the floor (which makes sense to me) and others say spikes uncouple the speaker from the floor. Spikes seem to be part of the equation when searching for better sound. I can understand it when used on carpeted floors without the discs underneath them. Not so much when used on hardwood with discs under the tip of the spike...

leftwinger57

Tony w/ the Gimpod boards not the crazy one from Chicago. By far the best idea to rid the planet of morons. They would look at it and gleefully say THIS IS FOR ME. Holy sh&t not only did I get some ideas I got great refreshing ideas to keep on inventing. A mind is a terrible thing to waste (as the famous psa said) and lord knows 3/4s of mine is down the drain already.
I also thought spikes coupled from the floor and Dave set me straight on that one.

westmassguy

Spikes couple, vibration isolators/dampeners de-couple. If the slab of stone or other material is perfectly flat, and floor beneath is as well, then the spiked speaker sitting on top will be coupled. Same applies to disks or pucks, if they're perfectly flat, and floor beneath is, they will couple. It's only when the mating surfaces aren't perfectly smooth and flat, that you can have problems.

mikeyb128

I use spike shoes with felt underneath, makes it easy peasy to slide them around for positioning. I've tried spikes directly onto the floor, ebony spike shoes, aluminum, and graphite/aluminum... I can't tell the difference in sound at all. They do transfer bass to the floor with all of the above applications.

westmassguy

mikeyb128 wrote: »

I use spike shoes with felt underneath, makes it easy peasy to slide them around for positioning. I've tried spikes directly onto the floor, ebony spike shoes, aluminum, and graphite/aluminum... I can't tell the difference in sound at all. They do transfer bass to the floor with all of the above applications.

If you have a wood frame structure, the floor will flex/vibrate, mine does with my 2As and SVS Sub. If you're on a slab, shouldn't feel anything.

mikeyb128

Yup, when my system was upstairs on the main level. In the basement on a cement slab, there still is a considerable amount of bass energy down here, you can feel it on the back of the couch, I believe these to be mostly air born vibrations.

HzTweaker

westmassguy wrote: »

Spikes couple, vibration isolators/dampeners de-couple. If the slab of stone or other material is perfectly flat, and floor beneath is as well, then the spiked speaker sitting on top will be coupled. Same applies to disks or pucks, if they're perfectly flat, and floor beneath is, they will couple. It's only when the mating surfaces aren't perfectly smooth and flat, that you can have problems.

I totally agree with using materials that have level surfaces. I personally would choose stone under my spikes. Its my understanding that the more dense materials are the faster frequencies travel through them. & the contrast difference between the speaker, floor and stone could be a cool looking effect.

@leftwinger57 "Is that Tweaker dude living up to his screen name ???? "

Naa, was posting during the first third of my shift (while the boss is in the office). I got a little impatient when I didn't see the post admittedly. I just wanted it to stick before I got distracted by something else work related and forget my idea.

steveinaz

westmassguy wrote: »

Spikes couple, vibration isolators/dampeners de-couple. If the slab of stone or other material is perfectly flat, and floor beneath is as well, then the spiked speaker sitting on top will be coupled. Same applies to disks or pucks, if they're perfectly flat, and floor beneath is, they will couple. It's only when the mating surfaces aren't perfectly smooth and flat, that you can have problems.

Exactly. There's not a thing wrong with brass discs that accept your spikes on a hard floor.

steveinaz

I use these with great success for years. I don't think the spike cares if it lands on brass or your beautiful wood floor:

HzTweaker

Brass disks. . Also a great ideal imo

steveinaz

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