So being in an apartment, I am wary of how much vibration my speakers and my sub especially put out to the neighbors. I haven’t had any complaints and only play music during waking hours so I feel I have been okay. I currently have the sub on its included spikes. But I also ordered some anti-vibration pads to try to lessen some of that vibration since I definitely feel the floor vibrate as well as my desk. So I will put the pads under each corner of my speakers and sub. While my speakers are set, I am worried about my sub. I imagine with a 50 lb. subwoofer, if I put it on the spikes on top of the pads, it may pierce the pads. So I plan on switching back to its included rubber feet.
But I also read about spike cones that people place under their spikes. (Example: https://www.amazon.com/Speaker-Spikes-Protectors-Isolation-Turntable/dp/B075Y9R91S/) A lot of people in other forums claim these provide the best isolation. So my question is, if I have the subwoofer on the spikes and the spikes on the spike cones. Then that on top of the anti-vibration pads, would that increase the amount of isolation or is it negligible?
Oddly specific question I know, but wondering if anyone has more experience with this.
Sadly, my current apartment does not have concrete flooring for the second floor. Which is unfortunate, because my previous apartment did have it for every floor. Both apartments have carpeted flooring though, which is why I am using the spikes rather than the rubber feet.
I originally had the rubber feet on the carpet, but this transferred all the vibrations straight to the carpet. The spikes lessened the vibrations somewhat. But with these pads coming in, I am hoping most of the vibrations will be deadened since they’re used for HVAC systems. Maybe getting some hardwood or something below the pads might help.
I used to live in an apartment too. I used these and somehow never got complaints from the downstairs neighbors:
Now, I never actually talked to the downstairs neighbors, so I can’t say if it’s because of these rubber feet or if they were just extremely tolerant. The former helps me sleep better at night
Haha, I’ve never gotten any complaints either, but it’s just a precaution. I think because even if it was loud that i play during normal hours rather than late at night, it’s never a big deal. Not for more than 2 hours or so at a time either. The sub did come with some nice rubber feet.
After using the anti-vibration pads, I definitely notice an improvement in terms of vibrations. It’s doesn’t get rid of it all, but it’s significantly lower than before. Sound wise, I feel like there is a definite improvement, but I feel that I am subject to bias as I know it should sound better and will automatically perceive it that way. I may get something hard to put under the pads to further help isolation. Does anyone have any suggestions? Like tile or something? I feel like wood would be no different than the desk itself.
These are the ones I got. Apparently they outperform the cork model that they also sell. They currently do reduce the vibrations quite a bit. Not completely though. I think a hard material below the pad might do the trick, but I am happy with the current performance of them. It cost me around $13/$14 total for 12 of them.
