Isolation pads worth it?

[gorb]

Greetings. I recently ordered a pair of Energy RC-10s for my computer, and I was wondering if isolation pads would make a noticeable difference. All the reviews on the shop website suggest they do, but I'd rather hear it from you folks. These are the pads in question:
http://www.auralex.com/sound_isolation_mopad/sound_isolation_mopad.asp

My desk is a 6' folding plastic table (I would have linked to a manufacturer page, but I couldn't find the table on their site):
http://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-White-Granite-Utility-Folding/dp/B000GF2WZ0

Speakers:
http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en/products/rc-10-overview/

Thanks

 

[astrallite]

Well if you are using them on your desk (which looks like a pretty light folding table that Costco carries) it might be a good idea since the speakers are pretty light and the table is likely to vibrate from the speaker playback and in turn it will affect the sound of the speakers. Still, those things are ugly as hell and I wouldn't be caught dead using one. Seems to me if you have room to buy speaker stands, it would be a more decor conscious choice than two chunks of foam.

Although it really makes me wonder if this is any different than stacking a couple of mouse pads under your speakers.

 

[audio thug]

I'm the kind of guy that hates snake oil, but the Auralex pads have gotten some nice feedback at AVS. I wouldn't be afraid of trying them out.

 

[Solstice]

I made my own isolation pads for my floorstanding speakers, my listening room has a wooden flooring and I could feel the bass frequencies resonating through the boards.

Tidied it up by taking two perfectly square 12"x12" solid granite food chopping boards and attaching some silicon feet onto the bottoms of them.
Total cost: < €15, very attractive looking and yes it did work.

However I'm skeptical if isolation padding of any kind could make a real difference on smaller bookshelf speakers sitting on a desk.
Try the DIY approach if you're really curious to avoid yourself wasting too much money.

 

[gorb]

Alrighty, thanks for the feedback. I'll see how they sound as they are, and then I'll try doing something on my own and seeing if it makes a difference. I may end up just getting them anyway because I'm kind of lazy and I don't think the pads look all that bad.

 

[Mr. B]

These seem popular on Head-Fi. Personally I think elevating the speakers so the tweeters are at eye level would yield more improvement than the virtue of padded isolation.

 

[Sycraft]

They can be extremely useful. That doesn't mean they always will be, but there are three problems they solve quite nicely:

1) If your speakers need to be raised a little bit. Ideally, you want tweeters at ear level. That gives you the best stereo image. If your speakers are just a little low, these can raise them up enough to be the right height.

2) If your speakers need angling. In some cases, you can't have the speakers at ear level. In that case, the best solution is to angle them to aim at your ears. The mopads do this well, they've got foam wedges you can use to angle them up and down. I use them on my centre speaker for that reason. It has to be above me to get over the monitor, so I use them to point it down.

3) To isolate your speakers from the desk/floor they sit on. Speakers will transmit vibrations, and you don't want that, doesn't sound good. Now how useful this is depends on the speakers and the surface. Some speakers are extremely well decoupled by themselves and thus it doesn't help. Also some surfaces really don't resonate much (like carpet) and thus it doesn't matter. However for small speakers on a desk, ya is a good idea.

You probably have your speakers sitting flat bottom on the desk surface which is ideal for transmitting sound and thus not what you want. The mopads should do a good job fixing that.

 

[ryken]

Go to home depot and plop down for some cheap foam. Play with it and see if you notice anything. If you do, then spring for the real deal, or make do with the DIY.

 

[EPS Sniper]

I have the Auralex Mopads for my set up and I like them. I could initially tell a difference in sound, as it seemed a bit more focused being isolated from the desk. My main reason for buying them, though, was because I wanted my speakers elevated and the Mopads offer 4 or 8 degrees of elevation, in addition to lifting them an inch or two off of the desk. I would say I got more benefit out of having the speakers elevated than isolated, but the isolation aspect is a neat concept and for the $30 I paid I don't have any complaints

 

[gorb]

not really an ideal setup, but here they are

thanks again for the help

 

[SYN ACK]

are those the pads or DIY?

 

[gorb]

they're the pads, i was too lazy to go to the store. the pads work out great actually, got the speakers slightly angled up and the tweeters are ear level

apparently i'm a little too close to the wall but i don't really have anywhere else to put my desk and stuff

 

[astrallite]

Could you pull the table a little back? Maybe even wall mount the speakers.

I hope your right ear is most sensitive than your left coz the left speaker is gonna be louder in your setup

Those speakers are pretty far apart...typically the golden ratio is 0.73 speaker distance vs sitting distance but it's hard to do that on a desk, and your dual monitor setup does hinder that a bit.

 

[gorb]

well directly behind my computer chair is my bed, so i can't really pull the table any more forward. and yeah, i know they're too far apart :/

i might move the right monitor to be perpendicular or something because i generally use it for irc only and it doesnt matter to me that much so then i could have the other speaker in a more proper position.

about wall mounting - the speakers are rear ported and everywhere i've read suggests having at least 2 feet of clearance behind the speakers. they do come with foam inserts for the ports for wall mounting/near wall applications but then they sound meh