Re: Speaker Stand Article [message #74116 is a reply to message #74113] |
Fri, 12 October 2012 17:13 |
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Wayne Parham
Messages: 18791 Registered: January 2001
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Illuminati (33rd Degree) |
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I consider the loudspeaker position and its amount of panel vibration separately.
Loudspeaker position and direction determines the orientation of the forward lobe, and it also sets the position of the node that energizes room modes. This is true even if the loudspeaker were a perfect case where all energy transfer was through the air and no energy was transferred into the floor through the cabinet.
About "coupling", what we're talking about is how to deal with panel vibrations. The more well damped the cabinet is, the less it vibrates. So it seems to me cabinet damping might be more effective than isolation, although I suppose this isn't an option unless one is willing to build a new cabinet. But they can buy stands or spikes off the shelf.
When a loudspeaker is acoustically measured to obtain a response curve, this captures the total sound it makes, which includes the sound radiated by the cabinet. One can argue it isn't wanted, but if it is at such a low level it can't be heard, then it doesn't matter. In that case, the argument of isolation verses coupling is made moot.
At any rate, I think it is important to consider loudspeaker position/orientation separately from the matter of isolation versus coupling. They're two differnt things. I would probably suggest buying a stand purely for its ability to postion the loudspesker where you want it. Of course, I want a sturdy stand, but I don't think I would put a lot of emphasis on its mechanical coupling. If you want to focus on that, do it separately. You can always put the stand on spikes to couple the energy, or on an absorbent cushion, if you want. Or fill it with sand or lead, if you want to add mass for damping.
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