After a bit of a wait, I finally found the time to install the Monacor spikes onto the Visaton Clou loudspeakers...so was it worth while, did it make a difference? You bet yer sweet daddio it did!

Before I bit the bullet & installed the Monacor loudspeaker spikes, I did a quick trawl on the interweb to do a little research to make sure that speaker spikes are actually a worth while upgrade. It seems that there are a few contradicting thought processes behind what they actually achieve...regardless of the theory, most people see them as a positive addition.

A common misconception seems to be that they reduce sound transfer into the surrounding environment ie sound transfer into/through floors & walls...however this is not the case.

Combining my experience & what I have read, I think the result is this. Before the spikes were installed, the base of the loud speakers where sitting on a fairly thick carpet. As the drivers move creating the sound that we hear, the loudspeaker cabinet rocks backwards and forwards ever so slightly (think Newton - every action has an equal & opposite reaction)...this effects the sound as the speaker is not sitting in a stationary position & detail in the sound is lost. So what happens when the spikes are installed? The spikes pierce the carpet, and in my case sit on a concrete base under the carpet - this gives the loudspeakers a much more solid grounding and no more rocking when the drivers are moving in the cabinet.

So is there any audible difference with the spikes?...oh yes - and its  a big one, much bigger than I was expecting!

Now the bass/bottom end has tightened up really nicely - any hint of the previous woofing boom has gone & I'm left with a really nice tight, warm bottom end (& who doesn't like a warm bottom?). The top end has also opened right up giving me much more air on top of reverbs & strings....and if all that wasn't enough, the detail in the stereo image has improved dramatically - stereo placement is clear, detailed & very, very full.

The side effect of this is that sound transfer to neighboring rooms & the rest of the house is that there is less bass transfer. I don't think that the spikes have reduced the transfer of sound from the loudspeaker cabinets to the floor and walls - I think that its the removal of the bottom end boom that has improved the situation significantly.

So if you have a set of floor standing loudspeakers that are sitting on carpet, I would seriously suggest installing a set of loudspeaker spikes as the benefit far out weighs the cost.

The loudspeaker spikes that I have installed are dark chrome Monacor spikes.