DIY Granite speaker/amp stands Argos special

how did you cut / drill the indentations into the marble? i didn't think a normal drill would be able to make any impression.

 

Scored the point first of all (used a cheap grout removal tool for this but centre punch would also work), then I used an ordinary masonary drill, the granite is afterall just polished concrete, FWIW the "argos" granites are 15mm deep

 

Right got four lovely looking 10mm slates, there are the perfect width but are about 150mm too long, whats the best method for cutting them? I'm planning on using AKs idea and wrapping them with a real wood surround so any I haven't glued them yet but there sitting on 3 Sorbothane feet and looking very nice.

 

I cut some marble a while back

Get a sturdy straight edge, line it up where you want the cut.
use that as a guide for an angle grinder fitted with a stone cutting disc. The first pass is hardest, after that you get a groove so the disc wont wander as easily. between every 2 pass's poor some cold water over the cut, that is important otherwise the marble heats in a localised area and cracks or splits.
Dont put pressure on the disc, allow it to make the cut itself.

 

wow and I thought this was a HiFi forum, thanks andy!

 

I have a mate in the trade
cant get me any marble tho!

 

Is it slate Phillip or granite, slate is a good bit harder to cut, much more brittle, do as Andy says, but get someone to hold a hosepipe with running water over it the whole time you are cutting.

 

Well what do you know! the gf actually liked the look of new bases and said that they were a good fit, therefore no need to cut them to size, cool.

I can glue them tonight and get down to serious listening!

Gonna change the feet to a more stable solution as the rubber ones make the structure slightly wobberly and I'm thinkíng thats probably not the good for a speaker stand.....

 

Philip, here is the feet I used, they come in 2 sizes 12 and 35mm high, they no longer come in black, stopped mine sliding on the carpet.

http://store.securehosting.com/stores/sh204131/shophome.php?itemprcd=tenderf

 

If the slabs are just resting on the carpet , then all your hearing is the "sound "of your carpet and the speaker wobbling around.I would drill holes into the slabs for proper spikes , then use "decoupling" between speaker and granite.You need a solid reference point for decoupling to work.

 

you could just use the existing spikes on the speakers with something like the RDC cone cups... that's what i'm planning on using. (just ordered the cups...)

 

Could you expand on that?

 

well, i'm going to be using 30mm thick granite slabs, and i've ordered michell tenderfeet small cones to couple the slabs with the floor and then the RDC cone cups to (at least partially) isolate the speakers from the slabs... hence the reference point is the floor, with the mass of the slabs and the RDC isolating the speakers from the floor.

 

I'm toying with the idea of sandwiching a bike inner tube between a pair of granite slabs, with a wooden frame round the edge to hold thngs in place... I might get round to trying this over the Christmas break if I'm feeling keen.

 

i have to say the (thick) layer of silicone sounded a much better idea to me....

 

Hmmmm... I'd have thought the compressed air route would offer better damping/isolation? I have a suspended wooden floor if that affects your thinking.

 

i suppose with wooden floors you might want more compliance....

 

Not quite with you there? Partly I think air is going to offer better isolation as there's going to be a greater acoustic impedence mismatch with the granite, than I suspect you'd get using silicone sealent? There will of course also be the rubber of the tyre wall but I'm hoping the air would be dominent (possibly a false assumption). As for it's damping properties I don't really know...

 

Works a treat. I made my DIY seismic sinks as a wooden tray containing two inner tubes, with a 30x30x1cm piece of slate as the top. Speakers sit, via spikes, onto RDC cone cups on the slate.

The 'sinks' then sit on top of concrete slabs, with 1/2 squash balls between the slabs and the floor.

The use of the sinks - as opposed to just the concrete slabs - has virtually eliminated the vibrations passed thru to my suspended wooden floor.

 

Stickman - did you make any attempt to fix the inner tubes in place? I'm guessing it's probably not necessary? Oh, and you say you used two inner tubes; is this as you were worried about one taking all the weight or to give you some control over leveling? All advice gratefully recieved as I'm warming to the idea of giving this a try...