|
Extracts from First
review of Ringmat concept of
‘soft feet’ under speakers.
Although no mention was made
of Statfeet, each set of
Ringmat Feet incorporates a
Statfoot, and these
therefore formed part of the
evaluation
AUDIO SMORGASBORD
Using The Ringmat Feet and
Domes As Speaker Supports.
Back in the mists of time
the earth was flat – truth.
Why was it true? Because
everybody knew it, and
something that everyone
knows has to be true....
And the purpose of this
preamble? To discuss another
one of those ‘truths’, i.e.
that the only way to make
speakers sound good is to
spike them to the floor (via
a stand in the case of
smaller speakers). Before
you dismiss this as the
ramblings of a demented
idiot, it’s worth noting
that not only is there a
groundswell of designers out
in Europe who are eschewing
the now traditional spiked
approach, but also here in
the UK....
In order to understand this
thinking it is necessary to
wind the clock back to those
flat earth days of yore ...
In those days floorstanding
speakers would have plastic
feet which would rest
directly on your carpet or
floor. You would rarely even
find any adjustment for
levelling. Bookshelf
speakers were just that, and
speaker stands were viewed,
in the main, as a method of
raising the tweeter to ear
height. Speakers atop such
stands would often wobble
about frighteningly at the
merest touch....
Spiking speakers and speaker
stands is a very predictable
way of controlling the
interface between the
speaker and its
environment...
Now it is an immutable fact
in our physical world that
energy cannot be lost. It
can be transmitted and it
can be converted from one
form into another, but not
lost. So these are your two
options when trying to deal
with unwanted energy. In the
case of spiking, the theory
is that it will allow energy
transmission into the
physical structure of the
floor, removing it from the
cabinet and out of harms
way, but energy transmission
is easier said than done,
especially at interface
points such as the contact
point between the spike and
the floor. In fact you are
just as likely to get the
energy reflected back into
the system as transmitted
out of it if you are not
careful. Try hitting a
concrete block with a small
metal hammer to see what I
mean, not only does it
bounce off, but the
resulting feedback will
vibrate up the handle into
your hand and up your arm.
Apply this to a speaker and
you can easily see that the
results are certainly going
to be unfortunate....
The alternative method is to
try and convert the energy
into a less harmful form,
typically heat....
So to sum up, spiking
speakers may stop gross
cabinet movement, but the
solution is not without
problems of its own, and
it’s these problems that the
dissenters are trying to
solve. In the case of the
Ringmat Feet and Domes, the
solution is to couple the
speakers to the stand or
floor using a lossy
mechanism, one that will not
allow energy to be reflected
back into the system,
effectively providing the
speaker with a suspension of
its own....
First up on the system, a
bit of Skunk Anansie and
‘Charlie Big Potato’. ...I
wasn’t too sure what to
expect when I settled back
to listen. ... What I hadn’t
bargained for is that the
Feet and Domes need to be
run in, which in the case of
this application seems to
mean that they need to
settle under the weight of
the speaker cabinets. Left
alone for a couple of days,
and after checking the
speakers were still level, I
tried again. Now the bass
drum had impact aplenty, but
the presentation had
changed. Instead of being
all skin and thud, it now
had weight, timbre, and
decay. In fact it was like
the difference between using
a kick drum with and without
a sandbag inside (sandbags
are often used to deaden
kick drums for live
performances). In fact the
separation between bass drum
and bass guitar was much
more marked, each floating
free, making the rhythm much
less mechanical, and far
more like real musicians
playing together. ...
Elsewhere in the spectrum a
layer of aural grit had been
removed, adding sweetness to
Skin’s voice plus a layer of
acoustic that had gone
previously unnoticed. Also
some of the edginess to the
rhythm guitar had been
removed, which could be
perceived by some as robbing
the track of a little
excitement, but I felt that
the presentation was truer
to the original, and this
kind of false excitement
generated by having a few
rough and ready leading
edges to a system can be
very wearing on a long
listening session.
Moving across to vinyl,
‘Backstreet Slide’ from the
Richard and Linda Thompson
Album Shoot Out The Lights
was an even better
illustration of the benefits
of the de-coupling. On this
track the kick drum is very
weighty, and fairly
prominent in the mix and it
can be overpowering on an
unbalanced system. Add to
that Thompson’s fierce
guitar and Linda’s vocal,
and you have a recipe for a
serious headache. Up til now
my system always felt on the
edge with this song, the
guitar always a little
shrill and course, Linda’s
vocal thin and recessed, the
kick drum thudding out
slightly removed from the
rest of the action. With the
Ringmat products in place,
suddenly there was
coherence. The kick drum
given more depth whilst
being reigned back, letting
it rejoin the rest of the
instruments, Richard’s
guitar was given more depth,
losing its sting without
losing the attack. Linda
stepped forward to take her
place as lead vocalist.
The Ringmat Domes and Feet
come in at around £115 per
complete set (4), and you
will need two sets for a
pair of speakers. Once they
have settled in, no further
adjustment is required. But
bear in mind that the Feet
will only support a maximum
of 22kg*. (* For ideal
results). There is an extra
heavy duty version on the
way though. In the context
of my system, this is an
absolute bargain. Since
using them I have harboured
no desire to go back to the
prior arrangement, so score
another one for the
de-coupling brigade.
To read the full review,
click
here. |
