Spiked 20.7s

[Rayooo]

Maybe this should be in the DIY section... NA

All the talk about stiffness, spikes etc. relating to Magnepans, got me thinking about maybe going part way....

My 20.7s came with the new oval shaped feet, which seem fine overall...I did buy a pair of the old style just in case I hated the ovals. The old style are pure Magnepan, functional, and nothing more. Hollow square upright, and what feels even like a hollow foot 1/2" X 2" no spikes of course.

So I ordered some 6061 flat, 5/8" X 2' for the feet, 1 1/4" square solid for the uprights...and proceeded to hack up some new feet.
My old trusty hobby metal supplier (MetalsDepot) sent me the aluminum, unlike typical, the received metal was pretty poor, not scratches, but lots of gouges. Fortunately they responded immediately and are replacing the gouged pieces. In the mean time I had a chance to whip up some prototypes using the gouged metal (prototype in this case really means "practice" pieces)

Anyway below is one of the 4 "practice" pieces. Not fully finished yet, needs speaker mount holes drilled and the upright cut to length, then polished up a bit. But real soon now I'll have a set of 20.7s with adjustable spiked feet.

[bzr]

Way to go, well done!!!

[timm]

That is awesome.... what is the weight difference between the two would you say?I really like the stainless look.... Also, why not spike the ovals? I have not seen these oval bases live yet -- what are they made of?

Oh - by the way -- my first post -- hi everyone... tim

[chessman]

timm, welcome aboard!

[Rayooo]

Originally Posted by timm

That is awesome.... what is the weight difference between the two would you say?I really like the stainless look.... Also, why not spike the ovals? I have not seen these oval bases live yet -- what are they made of?

Oh - by the way -- my first post -- hi everyone... tim

Welcome!

The "Ovals" are OK, they are made basically with "formica" covered particle board. They are pretty solid overall, I'd never thought about it, but one probably could figure a way to add spikes to them some way.

The stock 20.7 old style feet are right around 2Lbs each, the home made solids are around 4 lbs each and overall MUCH more solid and strong.

I'm generally liking the raw look on the new feet at this point, I may stay with it. Or, could end up painting them texture black or such. I'll have to decide at some point, I'm definitely leaning to natural.

[dizzie]

Well done Rayooo.

My experience is only with concrete floors covered with padding and carpet. Every type of speaker I tried (box, planar, electrostatic, horns) sounded better with spikes. I never heard any negatives, only positive results across the audio frequency range but predominantly in the bass and mids.

I found out by experimenting that spikes that do not penetrate all the way to the concrete are NOT spikes. They are like an appendix or tonsils (relatively useless). I had to replace factory spikes on two different speakers to achieve contact with the concrete. In both cases that made a significant difference.

[timm]

Yes -- I think the natural looks very industrial... I like that.... well that's my input at least on your gorgeous 20.7s!!

I have an opportunity to listen to them at my local dealer... He has all of the maggies up and down the line. I have yet to hear the X.7 series.... only the 3.6 and 20.1... and I thought the 20.1 was special.... So, my son and I will be going there in the next couple of weeks to check things out.. .He is a jazz musician...wants to do orchestration (I think that is a word... ) and has yet to hear the maggies.... I have ML odysseys - but have been thinking about the 20.X since I heard them and quite frankly was a little afraid to go back in and listen!!

[Rayooo]

Originally Posted by dizzie

Well done Rayooo.

My experience is only with concrete floors covered with padding and carpet. Every type of speaker I tried (box, planar, electrostatic, horns) sounded better with spikes. I never heard any negatives, only positive results across the audio frequency range but predominantly in the bass and mids.

I found out by experimenting that spikes that do not penetrate all the way to the concrete are NOT spikes. They are like an appendix or tonsils (relatively useless). I had to replace factory spikes on two different speakers to achieve contact with the concrete. In both cases that made a significant difference.

I've more or less copied the spike shape of what were on my long since departed Apogee Duetta Signatures. Their spikes, did in fact penetrate the carpet nicely and make contact with the sub-floor..in this case a concrete slab also. So that will be the intent here. At the very least, having adjustable feet on each speaker will be nice... I'm already thrilled with the speakers, so any improvement in sound will just add still more to my satisfaction with them.

[timm]

well ... now since you have 3 pairs of feet.... are you going to have a feet shoot-off? there is probably some type of joke there regarding shooting your foot off etc..... but given that - It would be interesting to hear your impressions of the different feet and how they impact the sound.... if in fact you are going to be switching them out etc.... thanks tim.

[audiot servant]

The new feet look great... a big feet shoot off sounds fun but dangerous... Those shiny sexy new sleds would look perfect with the stillpoint ultra 5s.

Really nice job you've done on it, big congrats

G

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