Should we put weights on speakers

[holyman772]

This works wonders for small footprint/high output subwoofers (I have 2 Velodyne DD-10s - about a 12 inch cube). It prevents the cabinet from vibrating/rocking. Haven't found an attractive solution though. Tried it with bags of cement but it looked like hell. Still looking for a permanent solution.

 

[cramej]

Don't tell Clearaudio about speaker weights - they just might start marketing some at $5k/each...





But hey, on the upside, you may hear 'earth-shattering gains, with better treble extension, sweeter vocals, less sibilance, rounder bass, more air and a marked difference in sparkle, shimmer and air.'

 

[toxcrusadr]

Sand and/or lead shot is put into stands mostly to make them inert, not necessarily to make them weigh more.

I submit that they become inert because they weigh more.

 

[JoeESP9]

so filling with sand is advisable all the time? and, would you put weights on speakers?

It depends on the speakers.

I submit that they become inert because they weigh more.

Of course they will weigh more. However, weight in and of itself has nothing to do with sound damping. If you use solid metal (steel) cylinders (very heavy) they may still ring. Think of a tuning fork. You need something that's non resonant to damp ringing.

Candle wax which is relatively low mass and low weight will work fine for damping resonance in metal tubes. It's just a PITA melting and pouring that much wax into a pair of stands. Actually, I wonder how well a coating of Flex Seal liquid rubber would work.

 

[darkblue94]

I submit that they become inert because they weigh more.

Well look at it this way, church bells weigh a whole lot yet they still manage to be able to ring like hell.

 

[interalian]

Mine are spiked and the spikes sit in the heads of 3 #12 flathead screws that are driven nearly flush into the subfloor. This takes commitment as I needed to be pretty sure of my placement before setting the screws. I crept the speakers out to the limit of WAF before doing it.

The tweeter towers weigh about 45 pounds so these are a bit top heavy, but that gives the weight up high where it does a lot of good. And yes, the chair gets moved to the sweet spot during 'critical listening' sessions.

 

[goodolpg]

thanks for all the responses thus far. would like to hear from people who have actually put weights on speakers: what's your verdict?

I bought some patio pavers ( 8"X16" 2 inches thick) and placed them on my stands on the cross braces. I also wrapped them in towels and placed them on top of my large "bookshelf" speakers.
Did they make a difference, I don't know.
It didn't hurt anything.

If my current speakers (large floorstanders so I'm not using stands now) had a suitable place to place them I would still be using them
because....um.....errrr........well, just because.

 

[woodj]

Methinks that the OP is too general.
The question was about weight/mass on top of the speaker.
Something not addressed is the rocking (sometimes more, sometimes inconsequential) motion of the enclosures induced by some drivers in some speakers. One of my questions would be: how much weight/mass could be added to some speaker sets without affecting inertia associated with driver induced rocking.

 

[interalian]

Methinks that the OP is too general.
The question was about weight/mass on top of the speaker.
Something not addressed is the rocking (sometimes more, sometimes inconsequential) motion of the enclosures induced by some drivers in some speakers. One of my questions would be: how much weight/mass could be added to some speaker sets without affecting inertia associated with driver induced rocking.

Rocking on a speaker as tall as mine can induce a doppler effect as the ribbon tower moves fore and aft during woofer excitation. When I had them just sitting on the carpet the effect was quite noticeable. Wife won't let me tie the tops of the towers to the wall with braces, so this is the best I can do. But if our Rottweilers ever do succeed in knocking one over, that bracing will become a 'told ya so' moment.

 

[WillVT]

I imagine weights would have a similar affect, at least theoretically, as spikes. It would limit movements of the cabinet, microscopic as they may be, thus giving more movement and accuracy to the moving cones.
If you imagine trying to hammer a nail into a board that is hanging in midair from a rope, the movement of the board will take away most of the energy from the hammer, leaving little to actually drive the nail. Now if you put a weight behind the board, it will move much less, and more energy will be transferred to the nail.
I guess in this analogy, the board is the cabinet, the nail is the cone, and the hammer is the signal. So, the less the cabinet moves, the more energy is produced by the cone, since it is not being expended moving the cabinet.

This is of course all theory made up in my head, but it does seem that in general, higher end speakers are heavier than those little flimsy speakers from cheap all-in-one systems.

 

[toxcrusadr]

It depends on the speakers.

Of course they will weigh more. However, weight in and of itself has nothing to do with sound damping. If you use solid metal (steel) cylinders (very heavy) they may still ring. Think of a tuning fork. You need something that's non resonant to damp ringing.

Candle wax which is relatively low mass and low weight will work fine for damping resonance in metal tubes. It's just a PITA melting and pouring that much wax into a pair of stands. Actually, I wonder how well a coating of Flex Seal liquid rubber would work.

Well look at it this way, church bells weigh a whole lot yet they still manage to be able to ring like hell.

Agreed!

 

[E-Stat]

empire and dynaco speaker weights ! (technically wrong, I know)

"So, always place the turntable where it conducts the most vibration. Wait a sec. Maybe that should have been never place the turntable..."

Really a similar situation exists with tube amps as the tubes can quickly become microphonic when shaken, not stirred.

 

[dosmalo]

I'm running four of these subs in my system for distributed bass. Yes, I'm mass-loading them - to a point.

 

[gizzyman47]

My Sonus faber bookshelf speakers sat on shot filled stands. I also would place some 3/4" thick metal plates on top of the speakers. I don't know if the plates made any difference or not, but I like trying different tweeks. Hey, they're free!

 

[superlew]

I once bought a set of speakers out of the back of a van in a parking lot. They already had weights in them.
There were bricks glued to the bottom of the cabinets.

...I have nothing constructive to add to this thread. Sorry.
I enjoyed reading it, though.

 

[nstereo]

Can`t remember the speaker or the reviewer but I remember he put a small bag of lead shot on top of each speaker and claimed to hear a difference. Better ears than I, me thinks..

 

[Audiovet]

What makes a difference is the mass of the loudspeaker proper. Thus if an added weight is firmly coupled to the loudspeaker it will reduce any (low) frequency resonance the loudspeaker proper might have with whatever else. The spike thing is often overrated. The wrong mechanical logic predicts that things should be better, ergo ....

Doppler effect is a function of the amplitude of the source movement. Thus I doubt that 'steadying' a loudspeaker cabinet will have any audible effect thataway unless it was rocking about on springs to begin with. If a change was heard it did not have to do with Doppler effect.

 

[travellersol]

What ever happened in their experience is not likely to translate into your experience. (Different speakers, different amps, different room, etc.)

Put some weight on your speakers and see for yourself if it makes any difference, good or bad.

i'm new to this hobby, just bought a vintage amp and two pairs of speakers, having gotten stands for them. I will get for them.

 

[travellersol]

Methinks that the OP is too general.
The question was about weight/mass on top of the speaker.
Something not addressed is the rocking (sometimes more, sometimes inconsequential) motion of the enclosures induced by some drivers in some speakers. One of my questions would be: how much weight/mass could be added to some speaker sets without affecting inertia associated with driver induced rocking.

you put it best–that's a better question!

 

[JoeESP9]

For adding weight to speakers, molded concrete paving stones can be effective. They come in a variety of sizes thicknesses and colors.