Yoga mat under bookshelf speakers

[greendream]

This is my setup. As is evident this is a 6 ft long table with 2ft depth.
The table has a wooden top and to protect the inlay work on topside a 5 mm glass covers the top completely.
Earlier I put 1 inch foam sheet under the speakers to isolate. Now after placing an yoga mat to cover the entire glass top, the sound has improved dramatically.
What would you all advise for the material of yoga mat to procure? EVA,TPE and NBR yoga mats are available on Amazon.
Any others suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Why not simply rubber feet under the speakers?

 

[Analogous]

Pull the whole cabinet (with the speakers and all) little by little out into the room till you find the best sounding position.

 

[Shammi Dang]

Speaker isolation can be done in many ways. One of the method that I have seen in a video is putting thin sheet of cork below speakers (same size as speaker bottom), others can be rubber feet (4 per speaker) these are available for very reasonable price at doogesound website. I also use speaker isolation to isolate speakers on the speaker stands but that isolation had come along with speakers, small silicon material pods that are flat on one side and round on the other and the flat side has sticking tape to stick to the speaker bottom. Putting yoga mat or anything made of rubber below the amplifier is not a good idea as the model of NAD integrated amp in the pic the heat sinks are placed in way that it generates lot of heat both on top & below the amplifier. I have used similar model for almost 15 years and I can say the heat generation is very high. So take care of that and save your equipment.

Note - In case u want to check cork sheets then it is available at Mr. D.I.Y store in round table placemat shape. That also can be used below speakers.

 

[Phew]

@greendream you can use atacama isolation gel pads or bostik blu tack

 

[panditji]

Cork Yoga mat.. Cork yoga blocks for heavier equipment..

 

[MaSh]

Try this

Sound Addicted Subble Isolationsfüße mit Klebstoff, geeignet für 7,5 - 12,7 cm große Lautsprecher, die Halbkugel-Stoßstange verhindert Vibrationen und verbessert den Klang Ihrer Monitore, 8 Stück https://amzn.in/d/gQ8uhAb

There are a number of variants available on Amazon.

MaSh

 

[greendream]

Thank you all for your assistance. To give a clearer idea,the table is like this without any equipment. Please notice 5mm glass from end to end on top.


I place a 1 inch foam under each speaker. The low end/bass is tight. The distance from rear wall is 25cm.The image below explains that.


Overall the stereo imaging is good. My problem is that the reflections off the exposed portion of glass all around the speakers seem to diminish the overall sound quality.

Kindly observe the following images.


Am certain there are many unwanted reflections off the exposed glass.

Pull the whole cabinet (with the speakers and all) little by little out into the room till you find the best sounding position.

Am actually happy with the imaging. The bass is tight. When multiple instruments are present say rock music, that's when I feel some improvement is needed. This I feel is because of glass. When I used the yoga mat clarity when multiple instruments are present was observed.

Speaker isolation can be done in many ways. One of the method that I have seen in a video is putting thin sheet of cork below speakers (same size as speaker bottom), others can be rubber feet (4 per speaker) these are available for very reasonable price at doogesound website. I also use speaker isolation to isolate speakers on the speaker stands but that isolation had come along with speakers, small silicon material pods that are flat on one side and round on the other and the flat side has sticking tape to stick to the speaker bottom. Putting yoga mat or anything made of rubber below the amplifier is not a good idea as the model of NAD integrated amp in the pic the heat sinks are placed in way that it generates lot of heat both on top & below the amplifier. I have used similar model for almost 15 years and I can say the heat generation is very high. So take care of that and save your equipment.

Note - In case u want to check cork sheets then it is available at Mr. D.I.Y store in round table placemat shape. That also can be used below speakers.

Thanks a lot for your observation regarding the NAD amplifier. It usually is warm but after my yoga mat experiment it was very warm last evening. Shall place nothing beneath the amplifier.

Thank you all. For the time being, I placed the foam under the speakers. I shall procure proper isolation based on all of your suggestions.

Kindly advise/correct me as to how effectively I can reduce the sound reflections off the glass top.

 

[Analogous]

That’s a beautiful wood inlay art work on the cabinet!
Pity you have to cover it up with rubber mats and electronic boxes and electromechanical boxes

 

[Shammi Dang]

Beautiful wood unit with such nice hand Kraft work. Looks like it is made of sheesham wood. Now about the glass which I think is a necessity to protect the top platform. Try to make a platform of some good wood little elevated from the glass and place it below the amp. If you are aware of a brand called "sound foundation" mumbai based which is mentioned a lot of times in this forum they do not make any audio storage unit with glass, they only use wood or acrylic sheet and there must be some very good reasons for it.

In reality glass below anything like amp, other audio equipment or speakers is not a very good idea. You have to experiment and see as it seems glass on the top is the only option you have. Try experimenting without the glass for a day or two and if results are favourable then discard the glass. Finally it is audio satisfaction that is more important then the aesthetics.

Regarding economical ways of speaker isolation already written in my last reply.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Thank you all for your assistance. To give a clearer idea,the table is like this without any equipment. Please notice 5mm glass from end to end on top.
View attachment 86133

I place a 1 inch foam under each speaker. The low end/bass is tight. The distance from rear wall is 25cm.The image below explains that.
View attachment 86134

Overall the stereo imaging is good. My problem is that the reflections off the exposed portion of glass all around the speakers seem to diminish the overall sound quality.

Kindly observe the following images.
View attachment 86135
View attachment 86136
Am certain there are many unwanted reflections off the exposed glass.


Am actually happy with the imaging. The bass is tight. When multiple instruments are present say rock music, that's when I feel some improvement is needed. This I feel is because of glass. When I used the yoga mat clarity when multiple instruments are present was observed.

Thanks a lot for your observation regarding the NAD amplifier. It usually is warm but after my yoga mat experiment it was very warm last evening. Shall place nothing beneath the amplifier.

Thank you all. For the time being, I placed the foam under the speakers. I shall procure proper isolation based on all of your suggestions.

Kindly advise/correct me as to how effectively I can reduce the sound reflections off the glass top.

Such a beautiful inlaid work that! It’s a shame it has to be covered with foam and mats and not be seen. If the room allows, you might want go move this lovely cabinet to another wall and instead buy yourself a narrower equipment stand and pair of speaker stands so you can have a proper audiophile arrangement here. Both the above together, if you don’t want to go for anything fancy might be available around 20k in local stores/IKEA.

Both your audio rig and that cabinet deserve it. They don’t go well together, functionally or aesthetically. Pardon my bluntness.

 

[Mayasandra_l]

Oh God! Seeing such a beautiful table top with wonderful inlay covered, is distressing. Could you look to any alternative to house your system (speaker stands and equipment rack)? Or you can sell that wonderful piece for good price to a person, who would appreciate the inlay and the carving efforts. I am sorry if I sounded harsh but it is a real pity to see the beautiful cabinet reduced to this.

 

[Analogous]

If you are still against buying stands for your speakers you might want to consider removing the top of the cabinet with the inlays (represents several weeks of skilled work) and using it as a wall hanging (partial room treatment too) and replacing it with a 10mm plywood cut to size and put rubber mats etc

 

[Yogesh]

You could use...

https://www.amazon.in/YGM-Acoustic-Monitor-Isolation-High-Density/dp/B07YTQGYWF/ref=asc_df_B07YTQGYWF/

 

[Sopra]

get a good speaker stand made..looks good and good isolation as well..not a fan of janky solutions