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Will adding Marble tops improve speaker performance?

hjames said:
And after a shopping trip, I came home, changed, layed out the speakers face down,
did my large measurements, glued down the Tan ceramic tiles,
did my small measurements, and glued down the black Granite tiles.
Now, give them 2 days to dry, then silicon edge around the edges, and done.

View attachment 1148049
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Heather those speakers are going to look awesome with the thick black speckled granite tops. I bet they'll sound even better. :)
Kudos. :trebon:
 
Just came from the local stone shop - wholesalers ... I want to get 2 stone slabs 18 x 24 inch and the stone he sells for countertops is 1.25 thick - apparently thats the standard.
The AbsoluteBlack granite would be $330 - There was a lesser priced stone, also a very deep finish and rich texture called UbaTuba - in that stone it would be $222.
Rounding and edge polishing is free.

I might consider dropping $90-150 for the stone, but over $200 is not in my current budget.


So I'm gonna have to think about that - its a few bucks more than I wanted to go, and 1.25 seems to be the standard thickness for countertops -
tho perhaps someone might have 0.60 or 0.75 thick stone for a lesser price
(with the understanding of fragility in thinner cuts).
Considering the box of 5 12 x 12 tiles of the Absolute Black granite was $25,
perhaps 2 tiles side by side would do some good and not hurt my budget so badly!
 
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Have you tried Sisler's in Falls Church to see what they have? They're more of a landscaping type place but they might have something.
 
hjames said:
Just came from the local stone shop - wholesalers ... I want to get 2 stone slabs 18 x 24 inch and the stone he sells for countertops is 1.25 thick - apparently thats the standard.
The AbsoluteBlack granite would be $330 - There was a lesser priced stone, also a very deep finish and rich texture called UbaTuba - in that stone it would be $222.

So I'm gonna have to think about that - its a few bucks more than I wanted to go, and 1.25 seems to be the standard thickness for countertops -
tho perhaps someone might have 0.75 thick stone for a lesser price.
(considering the box of 5 12 x 12 tiles of the Absolute Black granite was $25)
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Both thickness here in quartzstone. They sell "samples" so you don't need to buy a slab.

https://icestoneusa.com/products/quartzstone/
 
What about a countertop maker that could let you get a couple of sink cutouts. Maybe not exact size but maybe closely matched in color.
 
Djcoolray said:
Hobby shops might be a good source....
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The idea is to weigh down the speakers with a massive slab of stone on top.
I'll probably do better with countertop and cabinet makers than with hobby shops.

The shop gave me a sample of the ubatuba stone, polished on top but rough cut on the sides and bottom.
Surprisingly, I wiped the sides down with Howard's Orange oil and got "almost" as nice a finish oiled as the polished top.

So - next step is getting some custom interior materials, the crossover parts, and swapping my stock drivers for his customized (spare) ones in 2 weeks.
Then doing the work to install all that!
I'll look into slab options after that - but frankly, I may just buy another $25 box of 12 x 12 tiles and put them side by side on top.
 
hjames said:
The idea is to weigh down the speakers with a massive slab of stone on top.
I'll probably do better with countertop and cabinet makers than with hobby shops.

The shop gave me a sample of the ubatuba stone, polished on top but rough cut on the sides and bottom.
Surprisingly, I wiped the sides down with Howard's Orange oil and got "almost" as nice a finish oiled as the polished top.

So - next step is getting some custom interior materials, the crossover parts, and swapping my stock drivers for his customized (spare) ones in 2 weeks.
Then doing the work to install all that!
I'll look into slab options after that - but frankly, I may just buy another $25 box of 12 x 12 tiles and put them side by side on top.
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I’m glad you found what you wanted, but dedicated hobby shops have a larger selection to choose from because of people in the arts that utilize their services, which means any stone it is cut and polished to an exact size....my sister is an artist. Then since the material is not involved in home improvement the cost is allot less....supply and demand.

I love what you are doing....
 
hjames said:
The idea is to weigh down the speakers with a massive slab of stone on top.
I'll probably do better with countertop and cabinet makers than with hobby shops.
[snip]
I'll look into slab options after that - but frankly, I may just buy another $25 box of 12 x 12 tiles and put them side by side on top.
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If the idea is to add weight (mass) to the top of your speakers, using tiles will result in about 1/4 of the weight of marble slabs. Granite tile is generally 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. A slab will be 1 to 1-1/4 inch thick. That is a substantial weight difference just from the difference in thickness. Factor in that the 12x12 tiles will not completely cover your 18" x 24" space, your total weight will be even less.

I suggest visiting construction material recycling centers or contacting construction companies. My in-laws repurposed the marble used in a public building that was torn down. They got the marble from a construction material recycler and had it cut to fit their tables.
 
Do you have any Habitat For Humanity stores in your area? I have seen large pieces in some of the stores here in Oregon. You would have to pay a stonecutter for labor to cut and polish the recycled countertop but it should be a lot less than $330.
 
elcoholic said:
Cast and polished concrete slabs would provide the weight at a very low cost. If turntables can be cast concrete, why not speaker toppers?
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Terrazzo would be nice.
Terrazzo-Floors-Innovation.jpg
 
RTally said:
If the idea is to add weight (mass) to the top of your speakers, using tiles will result in about 1/4 of the weight of marble slabs. Granite tile is generally 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. A slab will be 1 to 1-1/4 inch thick. That is a substantial weight difference just from the difference in thickness. Factor in that the 12x12 tiles will not completely cover your 18" x 24" space, your total weight will be even less.
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Sure - but if it requires an excessive cost to follow that route, over, say, glass tops as I've used on cabinets in the past, (primarily for protection, not the mass) I'll simply skip that stage until a cheaper alternative presents itself.

Yesterday was the first visit to a stone shop and the beginnings of my education in potential materials. The shop I was in only uses 1.25 thickness stone in their work. But I have googled and found Granite countertop material is also available an 0.75 inch thickness, (as well as the thinner tile format), which should be some savings over the 1.25 thickness, while still maintaining acceptable mass characteristics.

elcoholic said:
Cast and polished concrete slabs would provide the weight at a very low cost.
If turntables can be cast concrete, why not speaker toppers?
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Because frankly, I don't want concrete, or the mess of such, but thanks.
I am looking for something with more style than that, thus - granite, marble, or perhaps some synthetics (Toddalin's Quartzite ?) - tho synthetics may have a "ring" I'd prefer to avoid.
 
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Thanks. I have heard a pair of Heath AS-101 speakers, once identical to mine, in an untreated home with remarkable sound.
I bought the same model of speaker, and am applying the same techniques that owner used to get the performance he got with his, to my speakers.
I expect it to be a repeatable phenomena, as does my guru friend
The mods include treatment of the woofer cone and tweeter diaphragm, crossover rebuild including russian teflon caps and the stock transformers,
certain esoteric cabinet modifications, including the addition of the constraint layer I have published in another thread, and supplemental cabinet dampening/tuning techniques.
I will continue to document these changes as best I can.

I have already improved the speaker low-end response by increasing the amount of polyfill within the cabinets, described in another post.

Adding the top mass will be an improvement - I just need to manage my budget doing so, yet still maintain an acceptable aesthetic.

restorer-john said:
Measure the low end response of the speaker in your room. That is your baseline.
Place a mass on top of the speaker and measure again.
Is there a measurable improvement?
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My avatar since 2002 on AK up until only recently, was my father's Empire 9000m speakers which had Portugese marble on the top. He swore (in a good way) that they sounded considerably better with the marble on, rather than off.

They also looked a lot better too. :)

9000m.JPG (internet pic)

Go marble!
 
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