Setup Questions

[Charlie1]

1. With stands on a wood floor. What sort of pressure do you apply? Let the spikes rest on the wood, rock the speaker to bed it in a little, or stand on each corner of the stand for maximum rigidity?

2. What's more important? Ensuring components are dead centre on each rack tier, or moving them sideways / backwards so that dangling cables don't contact one another or the rack?

3. How important is it that speakers are exactly the same distance from side walls? Based on today, i think the answer is, 'not as important as the distance between each speaker.'

[Hermann]

Since my system was on a wooden floor, I had some stone slabs cut to support the whole layout. The stone slabs (approx. 50x50cm) were coupled to the floor with Bluetack, which seemed particularly useful with movable floorboards. Previously I had put pennys under the spikes, also with a small ball of Bluetack. Ultimately, a solid stone floor is the best choice.
Since I'm using mana racks, it's important that nothing touches them. In this respect, the devices are pushed back in the rack so far that the cables do not touch anything. However, I did not notice a difference whether the devices are in the middle or offset to the back or to the side.
I always tried to position the speakers in the middle of a wall. In the previous room and the current room it doesn't matter, the gaps are quite large. I have always found that the distance between the two speakers is of great importance. Currently I took my time to position the briks perfectly and built two trolleys exactly at the level of the listening position. With these, it was easy to determine the position and distance between them for perfect listening.

[Defender]

1 stands on a wooden floor

I usually use pennies like Hermann or washers which come with the spike (no hole in the middle but a centration dip)
no blue tack for me … as direct connection as possible but that can make the loudspeakers/stands rock out of position so I fixate the washer with some thicker tape around the washer.
anyway if your stand position is found out and you dont mind the holes in the wood I think your solution creates an even more direct connection

3. position of loudspeakers

distance to the wall is in my system more important to the distance between the speakers but I finetune one loudspeaker after another and if one ends up 1-2mm more close to the wall than so be it.
same with distance to the side walls - I dont worry much about it I only optimize the distance between the speakers - it might be that one ends up closer to the side wall than the other but that is also fine with me

[Charlie1]

Thanks gents. That is helpful.

I should have said that the wooden floor is carpeted - I didn't consider those with just wooden floor wouldn't spike directly.

[Hermann]

I had pushed it so far (was my laminate floor) that the exact position was determined and then short wood screws were screwed through the laminate to the stone floor. The pre-drilled holes were thicker than the screws. Thus the position was independent of the floating laminate. If it is possible to cut the carpet in a circle, pieces of coins would be quite good.

[Charlie1]

Thanks Hermann, but no, not really. Dread to think how many holes there would be in the carpet by now if I'd gone that route :)

[Hermann]

Another option would be to swap out the downward-pointing spikes for bullets. Tried that with 12mm steel and ceramic balls on carpet. I liked steel a little better. Based on this, place a suitable nut under the ball.

Maybe that's a way.

[Charlie1]

Never heard of bullets - is it this sort of thing...
https://www.aliexpress.com/i/32912981215.html

And you've reminded me, I should try Skeets again really.

[Hermann]

I mean this:

https://www.kugel-winnie.de/epages/6213 ... 02067-0001

and

https://www.kugel-winnie.de/epages/6213 ... 20mm%29%22

I put those under the opening instead of the spikes.

[tokenbrit]

I put those under the opening instead of the spikes.

Interesting - how do you make sure there's even pressure at each corner, and level speakers or stand on balls instead of spikes?

[Hermann]

It can be leveled with spikes pointing upwards.

We had been experimenting with square bar racks for over 40 years. These had 8mm spikes at the top and bottom and the floor was sanctuary... So a ball and possibly a nut underneath for stability. Laminated chipboard on top as a support. The first table (which I still own) was intended for the LP12 and was only exchanged for a better one about 18 years ago. Ensured quiet in the apartment at the time, as the floor was not "damaged".

Of course, the stability was a little lacking, but it still sounded very good.

Incidentally, Naim has also developed a ball principle for their racks. The idea came from a user from Canada (posted under the name Vuk). He presented his rack idea, which was obviously accepted.

[markiteight]

And you've reminded me, I should try Skeets again really.

I've found that Skeets improve the musical performance, even on carpet. The only issue with Skeets on carpet is they need time to settle in, much like Tom and Fredrik's experience at the show. This can make finding the optimum position a bit tricky as any new position won't sound its best for a while. My carpet has a fairly stiff and short pile so it can take some time for everything to settle in. A carpet with a loose pile, and a heavier speaker, could potentially settle in fairly quickly.

I too have wondered about a component's position on the rack, especially with smaller chassis like Kikkin, but I haven't explored it yet.

Recently I experimented with finding the optimum position for each speaker completely independent of the other. I actually removed the speaker not under test from the room, found what I thought was the best spot for t'other, and then repeated the process on the other channel. It didn't work. I ended up with the speakers too far a part and too far out from the wall. Re-evaluating their positions using Fredrik's recommended procedure resulted in their current position, much closer together and about as close as I can get them to the wall, where they really sing. Their distance from the wall behind them is the same, down to ~5mm, but distance to the side walls is not symmetrical.

[Charlie1]

Thanks gents.