Subwoofer Vibration

[Exterous]

With our new setup, my subwoofer is on top of a cabinet and vibrates the hell out of it. Unfortunately I had to make the deal that it would go where ever my wife said it would in order to not die after buying it

So - how do I reduce the vibration transisiton between the sub and the cabinet. Would some rubber disks work?

 

[EvilYoda]

bluetac...although I've never used it on a subwoofer, only main speakers.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Phonebooks work pretty well, too....

 

[spidey07]

Upgrade the wife?

Try spikes. The cabinet is basically a speaker so try to not put the cabinet vibrations into this large "speaker".

If it HAS to go there, you could build a shelf from the wall to decouple the sub from the cabinet.

 

[montypythizzle]

Towel?!?

I actually have rubber dampeners on my sub bottom because of our wood floors and sometimes the floor and subwoofer bottom does not match up and it vibrates.

 

[emfiend]

If its the contact vibration thats bothersome (rattling between two surfaces in contact), probably some soft feltpaper would do the trick.

If the cabinet vibration is caused by the acoustic waves travelling through it, then isn't that what a subwoofer is supposed to do?

 

[Tiamat]

If it is mechanical vibration caused by contact, try an auralex subdude. If it is vibrating due to the resonant frequency of the cabinet getting excited, you are out of luck. You would have to mass dampen the cabinet which may or may not be possible.

 

[Exterous]

Thanks for the suggestions guys! The cabinet is vibrating due to the contact with the sub, not the sound waves so I will try some of those solutions out

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Exterous
Thanks for the suggestions guys! The cabinet is vibrating due to the contact with the sub, not the sound waves so I will try some of those solutions out

Cheapest method is a bunch of scrap bath towels underneath the subwoofer. If you notice it starting to help, but dont want to spend 50$ on auralex subdude, a sandwich of towels, woodplanks, styrofoam, may get the job done.

 

[herm0016]

i have bubble wrap under my TT and preamp. it seems to work well to get rid of the vibration in my rack from the computer HD and fans. maybe try that?

 

[biggestmuff]

Hockey pucks.

The real solution would be to move the sub to a location in the room where it sounds best at your viewing position. Put your foot down.

 

[Oyeve]

A few rubber mouse pads work great for my sub, and they are cheap.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Hockey pucks.

The real solution would be to move the sub to a location in the room where it sounds best at your viewing position. Put your foot down.

that, or turn the sub volume up so that you no longer hear the vibration.

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Hockey pucks.

The real solution would be to move the sub to a location in the room where it sounds best at your viewing position. Put your foot down.

that, or turn the sub volume up so that you no longer hear the vibration.

I wasn't paying attention to my wife's obsessive decorating and she put a glass candle holder on top of the cabinet. It vibrated right off of it and shattered on the floor.

Actually here is a pic of the setup now:
http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2793/img3801dv9.jpg

I don't have this problem with the Infinity PS8 that the sony is replacing temporarily (down for repairs) just the sony. Towels are a no no (call me whipped but she lets me spend lots of $ on electronics and put the mini-fridge between the couch and loveseat as a beer fridge )
I'll try the rubber mouse pads (upside down of course) and maybe move on to the rubber dampeners

 

[montypythizzle]

LOL, that Sony is vibrating?!?!?!

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
LOL, that Sony is vibrating?!?!?!

better subwoofers are more inert, so I think it makes sense. While my subwoofer is pumping 100dB at 20-30hz, the exterior is perfectly still. The driver is undergoing excursion, but the cabinet is inert. The only troublesome thing I have is when the natural resonance gets excited in my floor (23hz).

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
LOL, that Sony is vibrating?!?!?!

Im sure its a plastic cabinet. That would vibrate like mad, powerful or not. My JBL Sub250 is solid wood on metal spike, while I can feel the bass on my chest, nothing vibrates when it is on top of the sub. I even put a glass of water on it and it barely rippled even at pounding levels.

 

[montypythizzle]

Yeah, I need to get some spikes, these little rubber pads aren't helping, I think they are too hard, I think they are just so stuff doesn't slide, not really vibration dampening.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Oyeve

Originally posted by: montypythizzle
LOL, that Sony is vibrating?!?!?!

Im sure its a plastic cabinet. That would vibrate like mad, powerful or not. My JBL Sub250 is solid wood on metal spike, while I can feel the bass on my chest, nothing vibrates when it is on top of the sub. I even put a glass of water on it and it barely rippled even at pounding levels.

No, in fact it is wood. It's just built with .5" thick particle board instead of the more accepted 3/4" or 1" MDF.

 

[cheesehead]

Brace the box, and you'll have a better sounding sub, too.

Step 1: Remove subwoofer driver.
Step 2: Glue in three dowel rods: One from top to bottom of box, one from side to side, and one from the back to the back plate of the woofer.
Step 3: Put some pillow fluff inside the box. They usually do this all wrong at the factory.

You can also kill vibration by putting a small square of carpet under the sub.