AMPs on the floor?

[Levitator]

Hi all

I’ve had to rearrange my rack to better organise things and decided to move my Mac 1.2KW’s out from the bottom shelf so things are not so cramped. I actually don’t mind the look of the Amps sitting beside each speaker and then my Quadraspire rack in the middle.

The big question is whether sitting the amps straight on the floor, given I have a suspended bamboo floor, is the best place for the amp as opposed to putting it on some amp stands. I’m more worried about resonance than dust....

I’d love to hear what others have done or found in terms of placing amps directly on the floor v stands or even footers under the amps.

[IM3CPO]

I have my 1.2KW's on HRS M3X2 plates placed out by the speakers. Its quite a noticeable sonic improvement over being placed directly on the floor. I have also used stillpoints with amps and while they were in a rack, I wouldnt hesitate using them in a wood floor scenario as long as ultra bases were used.

[jdandy]

Murphy's Law: Glass faced McIntosh amplifiers sitting on the floor eventually meet misguided vacuum cleaners.

Get those 1.2KW amplifiers up on amp stands.

[Levitator]

Originally Posted by IM3CPO

I have my 1.2KW's on HRS M3X2 plates placed out by the speakers. Its quite a noticeable sonic improvement over being placed directly on the floor. I have also used stillpoints with amps and while they were in a rack, I wouldnt hesitate using them in a wood floor scenario as long as ultra bases were used.

Cool - I wasn’t aware of the HRS isolation bases but they look interesting. I’m assuming you put the amps straight on the bases as they are and didn’t take the stock feet off?

I wasn’t sure with the stillpoints directly on the floor given the suspended floor I have whereby it seems that decoupling from the floor is preferred and stillpoints from my knowledge wouldn’t do this.

[Levitator]

Originally Posted by jdandy

Murphy's Law: Glass faced McIntosh amplifiers sitting on the floor eventually meet misguided vacuum cleaners.

Get those 1.2KW amplifiers up on amp stands.

Good point Dan! I’d hate to have to takeover vacuuming duties to make sure that never happened!!

[Antonmb]

Since you have a Quadraspire rack, you could use matching Quadraspire SVT amp stands - a single shelf with feet and tops. You get ventilation, good isolation, and should your plans change, they can be repurposed in a rack.

[Levitator]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

Since you have a Quadraspire rack, you could use matching Quadraspire SVT amp stands - a single shelf with feet and tops. You get ventilation, good isolation, and should your plans change, they can be repurposed in a rack.

Agree and that’s probably my first choice at this stage given the matching and fact I’m really happy with their racks. I would probably pair with the QX7 feet which I use on my rack as I think they help with the floor I have...

Thanks for your input!

[crwilli]

Talk to Ivan about Sound Anchor stands.

[IM3CPO]

Originally Posted by Levitator

Cool - I wasn’t aware of the HRS isolation bases but they look interesting. I’m assuming you put the amps straight on the bases as they are and didn’t take the stock feet off?

I wasn’t sure with the stillpoints directly on the floor given the suspended floor I have whereby it seems that decoupling from the floor is preferred and stillpoints from my knowledge wouldn’t do this.

I have used the HRS isolation bases in both scenarios; using the stock MC 1.2KW feet and with stillpoints. Stillpoint makes a thread adapter so you can use the stillpoints as a stock feet replacement on the 1.2KW. You can also use stillpoints in the reverse direction, in which case you can attach an ultra base to the stillpoint which gives the bottom a much larger footprint. As I said earlier, this is the route I would go if putting the stillpoint directly on the floor. As far as decoupling from the floor, technically stillpoints and the HRS isolation bases are supposed to accomplish the same thing (as far as I know). Of course using them in combination just adds "more" isolation.

[tima]

The majority of stands lift your amps off the floor but there are stands that offer isolation and vibration control - the difference can be impressive.

SRA Virginia Class or Ohio Class amp stands