Speaker isolation/spikes/positioning

I have ProAc Studio125 floorstanders spiked to concrete floors. They are closer to walls than ideal and therefore bunged but through tweaking this, that and the other in my system I've found a sound I love for my eclectic tastes in music. I'd still like to ensure that I am getting the very best out of what I have though.

I thought I understood the logic of spiking through to something solid until I reflected on how many people use stand-mount speakers which must surely find it difficult to get the sort of firmness of stance that a floorstander can achieve. Do speakers really need grounding in some way or could they benefit from isolation just like other kit? What's the difference?

I noticed when I first bought the speakers that the demo room carpet was ripped to shreds where different speakers had been hauled in and out. I'd like to experiment with different speaker positions without incurring carpet (and marital relations) damage.... if I put something (suggestions please!) between my speaker spikes and my carpet so I can slide my speakers around to test different positions, what do I risk losing in terms of sound quality?

Naive stuff I guess but we all have to start somewhere...

 

My personal views regarding speaker positioning is to take out the spikes and experiment with positioning until you are happy with the sound before putting the spikes back on. I have my floor standers spiked directly through carpet to concret floor and this is the best isolation posible. When I was experimenting with positioning, I used a tape measure and masking tape so that I know how much I have moved and gives you a guild line. If you have a perfect square or rectangle room, then it makes your life easier, but if your room is irregular, then fine tuning would be needed after the initial positioning. I would strongly recommend you doing a search in google for speaker placement. I did and got alot of ideas and help. In regards to using other materials between carpet and spikes, you can try using welsh slate. It is the best isolation material other than concrete. You can have a piece cut up from fire place makers and cost arround £25 a piece. If you are going this route, I would recommend ditching the spikes and go for some clearlight audio RDC 1 or 2 cones. With the RDC cones, you will get a much warmer mids and punchier bass compared to metal spikes.
Cheers

 

Flash
Try these sites http://www.immediasound.com/Speakersetup.html
http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/speakerplacement.html
http://www.thielaudio.com/THIEL_Web/Pages/faqplacement.html

 

Spikes isolate

 

Thanks for info and further leads, Class A. I'll pursue and let you know how I get on.