Custom Speaker stands

[astrostar59]

I was thinking. We discussed hard spikes as a support. My take on those is they would raise the resonance (frequency in hz) rather than lower it as a solid support. They may suit on a carpet to wooden floor situation? On a concrete floor (totally solid mass, no under floor or void) a spike may work well. But on most floors or in my case my marble plinths, there will be some resonance as various frequencies.

 

So, going soft rubber may reduce those resonances to lower than say 10hz which is good. But what about total levitation. The MagLev train in Japan uses it to great effect.

I found some of these feet at hifi collective. They are not crazy money and look well made. My only worry may be stray magnetic fields as the structure looks open.

 

Others are available but more money, more than I would pay. Has anyone tried a Mag Lev support for their gear?

 

These on Ebay are cheap. I would need 5 per speaker.

Clear Audio feet, but only take 4K per feet. Not enough for speakers.

Edited November 2, 2016 by astrostar59

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah , I would totally be interested in an answer to this as well . 

[Craig Sawyers]

I've certainly toyed with the idea before. The problem is that you cannot passively magnetically levitate something (actually not true - see below), so all the audio feet have a tie-wire or guide rod to maintain stability. Which adds a bit of friction, so it is never truly maglev.

The Japanese train uses dynamic control to keep it stable in the air - and you have to be darned sure of the control systems!

The not true bit is that there is a bewildering property of superconductors called the Meissner effect. A piece of superconductor excludes external magnetic fields, the net effect being that the superconductor levitates above the magnets. Around 20 years ago I demonstrated this to my young kids. I brought home a magnet, a small dewar of liquid nitrogen and a piece of high temperature superconductor (or HTSC, which just looks like a small piece of coal). Cool the supeconductor in the liquid nitrogen and put it on top of the magnet - and it just pops into the air.

You tube is your friend. This demo does the opposite thing - levitation of a magnet above a disc of HTSC

 

Edited November 2, 2016 by Craig Sawyers