Along with all of DIY audio stuff in my head are some pretty straightforward home improvement projects. My next such project is flooring. I have smallish bookshelf speakers on stands and a single sub right now but hope to step this up soon. One of the popular flooring options is manufactured hardwood which I understand is installed on top of a pad much like carpet. I have carpet now but the spikes on my speakers reach thru to the concrete below and I want to say that they improved the sound. Can't run spikes thru wood. Does anyone have any experience with such floors? do they adversely affect bass? Thanks for any help.
We have a solid concrete, carpeted floor, but because of kids and cats, I had to go from stands to very solid wall mounts on which they sounded very good. However, we are now undergoing some serious work in the room and all the walls have been cleaned back to brick ready to be replastered. Having had walls that looked like swiss cheese from the amount of wall plugs that were in them, we now want no drilling into walls at all. We are also going to have a wooden laminate type floor so I am in a similar situation to yourself. I am going back to stands and I am going to experiment with the feet on these. I am thinking that some sort of rubber may work because my gut feeling is that I wll need to decouple the speakers from the springy floor. Some experimentation is going to be needed though. Unfortunately there is going to have to be some compromise I feel.
I just want to be sure I understand: You want to make home improvement decisions based on how it will make your audio system sound. Correct? OK.
I think you will find the floating engineered wood floor plenty solid for you speakers. The pad does very little vibration damping. It's thin and not at all like carpet. It is there to prevent moisture coming up through cracks in the concrete from reaching the wood, and to allow the wood to slide along the floor as it expands and contracts (due to changes in temperature & humidity). It may allow the sub cabinet to vibrate a little. Obviously the thicker the wood and thinner the pad the less vibrations it will absorb. Also, I don't see why you can't run spikes through wood. Just drill small holes in the wood for your spikes. Of course consult with a flooring expert (and your spouse) before doing this, as I've never heard of this actually done. Be prepared for a big change in room acoustics due to the loss of high-frequency-absorbing carpet. Be prepared to add a large area rug and maybe some tapestries or heavy drapes. I also have opinions about types of engineered wood floor, as I've insalled a few, but that's outside the realm of DIY audio so send me a private message. if your're interested.
I think you will find the floating engineered wood floor plenty solid for you speakers. The pad does very little vibration damping. It's thin and not at all like carpet. It is there to prevent moisture coming up through cracks in the concrete from reaching the wood, and to allow the wood to slide along the floor as it expands and contracts (due to changes in temperature & humidity). It may allow the sub cabinet to vibrate a little. Obviously the thicker the wood and thinner the pad the less vibrations it will absorb. Also, I don't see why you can't run spikes through wood. Just drill small holes in the wood for your spikes. Of course consult with a flooring expert (and your spouse) before doing this, as I've never heard of this actually done. Be prepared for a big change in room acoustics due to the loss of high-frequency-absorbing carpet. Be prepared to add a large area rug and maybe some tapestries or heavy drapes. I also have opinions about types of engineered wood floor, as I've insalled a few, but that's outside the realm of DIY audio so send me a private message. if your're interested.
Hi picowallspeaker, I could suspend my speakers as you suggested. It would work. Reminds me of my swag lamp days. 
Yep, ByronInLawrence, I want to upgrade my flooring but it needs to serve my stereo habit too. I was worried about how soft it might be so thanks for the description. Got chills when you described drilling holes in the new floor for spikes though. To complicate matters, I was also looking at tile flooring and so had area rugs in mind as you mentioned. davecooper, I have experimented with a couple of concrete pavers (1x16x16) from Home Depot under my speakers but on top of the carpet, hoping there would be enough mass and that worked. might be the way to handle the wood floor too. They are kinda raw looking but can be painted. Thanks everyone for the responses!
Yep, ByronInLawrence, I want to upgrade my flooring but it needs to serve my stereo habit too. I was worried about how soft it might be so thanks for the description. Got chills when you described drilling holes in the new floor for spikes though. To complicate matters, I was also looking at tile flooring and so had area rugs in mind as you mentioned. davecooper, I have experimented with a couple of concrete pavers (1x16x16) from Home Depot under my speakers but on top of the carpet, hoping there would be enough mass and that worked. might be the way to handle the wood floor too. They are kinda raw looking but can be painted. Thanks everyone for the responses!
I think it's adequate, in small detail of course. We don't need the complete project...
I like how you start the post,
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