How to Isolate my REL Gibraltar G!s

musicfirst1

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Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
 

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I remember your REL stacks from an older post when you moved to 2 of them.


@spiritofmusic (post 51) led me to try Arya audio Revopds for floor resonance reduction. now on my REL T1 (smaller than yours of course) saying that they made a difference is an understatement, I have them on my mains too. suspended floor above concrete you could feel the vibration on the floor from metres away even with inch thick rubber pads now I don’t feel a thing and the bass is much better defined / less smeared. Some of the bass peaks in the room seem lower too. It’s like magic in a good way :)
 

Addicted to hifi

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I remember your REL stacks from an older post when you moved to 2 of them.


@spiritofmusic (post 51) led me to try Arya audio Revopds for floor resonance reduction. now on my REL T1 (smaller than yours of course) saying that they made a difference is an understatement, I have them on my mains too. suspended floor above concrete you could feel the vibration on the floor from metres away even with inch thick rubber pads now I don’t feel a thing and the bass is much better defined / less smeared. Some of the bass peaks in the room seem lower too. It’s like magic in a good way :)
Welcome to wbf.
 
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sujay

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Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
Hi,

I use the Townshend seismic bars and I Highly recommend you give them a try. I had the same issues in my house with two Rel G1s. I just set them up on the bars and the vibration vanished. They are really that good. I can almost certainly say your problem will get sorted. They come in varying grades to suit the weight of the component and I’m told they work particularly well with hardwood floors. They are not very expensive.

Best

PS: I am not an equipment dealer so have no vested interest in recommending these. It’s purely from my experience
 

marslo

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My two REL Carbon Special sit on Pro Audio Bono 80 SN footers.

 

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Cellcbern

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Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
Put them on Isoacoustics Gaia feet.
 
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marslo

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Put them on Isoacoustics Gaia feet.
I have Iso Acoustic Indigo under my Aurender W20 , very good indeed.
Never tried Gaia though.
 
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musicfirst1

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Guys

I located an interesting thread on the Auralex Subdudes on this forum.
I ordered a pair and will get back to everyone.

Kerry
 
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gfroman

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Dec 28, 2012
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Using a combination of AV Room Service EVPs/Granite slab/Marigo footers, under the REL 212 subwoofer.
I can stand inches away and feel zero bass transmission to the floor.
Completely decoupled from the raised wood floor!
Nice tight, articulate bass that never sounded better!!
 

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cjf

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Herbies Audio Lab makes great isolation related products for a small fee IMO. I use different versions of the available products at various points around my system and have no complaints.

This item below would likely fit the bill for your subs. I would probably first remove the current "feet" on your REL's assuming they are removable before installing whatever product you go with. Hard to say why they would opt for that foot design but it certainly doesn't seem ideal.

 

dbeau

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Apr 20, 2018
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OKC,USA
Herbies Audio Lab makes great isolation related products for a small fee IMO. I use different versions of the available products at various points around my system and have no complaints.

This item below would likely fit the bill for your subs. I would probably first remove the current "feet" on your REL's assuming they are removable before installing whatever product you go with. Hard to say why they would opt for that foot design but it certainly doesn't seem ideal.


Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: https://rel.net/blog/2021-10-26/q-a...esnt-recommend-subwoofer-isolation-platforms/ Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
I've wondered about this too, especially re raising them up at least a foot to offset room nodes but John Hunter/REL
objects to raising or adding anything under REL subs - see attached:

 

cjf

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2012
452
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948
I've wondered about this too, especially re raising them up at least a foot to offset room nodes but John Hunter/REL
objects to raising or adding anything under REL subs - see attached:

They have an interesting stance in that article. Based on the description of the feet, it doesnt sound like you have the ability to account for uneven floors with the existing wood strips (ie Feet). Assuming this is true I would think, if nothing else, that having an option which ensures that the sub is sitting level and firmly against the floor would be more important than however many extra inches it took to make the sub level beyond the distance to the floor that the wood strips offer out of the box.

It sounded to me that REL's main concern was the Sub/Floor distance more so than using an aftermarket footer or platform. The assumption in the article seemed to be that any isolation platform would raise the sub too high and result in a wobbling mess.

Honestly, this is the first I've heard of a Sub brand using wood as feet. Maybe the assumption is that everyone has rugs and the wood would not really be sitting directly on another hard surface? In the cases where the Sub is sitting on another hard surface and the Sub has no means to ensure its sitting level against that surface then I would think that you will end up with small/micro vibrations occurring between the foot and the hard surface its resting on resulting in additional ground/house shake, but not in a good way.

So either they know something everyone else doesn't in the Sub game about proper sub feet or they have a very "unique" stance on the subject.
 

ACHiPo

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Feb 22, 2015
518
309
310
Pleasanton, CA
Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
Check out AV Room Service EVPs. They made a huge improvement under my subs and full-range speakers. This not only eliminated any perceptible sub/floor vibration (down to 4 Hz supposedly), but really tightened and cleaned the bass in my room.
 

thedudeabides

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Jan 16, 2011
2,126
651
1,200
Alto, NM
Yes, try the Auralic platforms before the pricier alternatives. A very effective, low cost, money back guaranteed solution. However, the problem may loose shelving, etc. when the sub plays low.
 

vrac

Well-Known Member
May 9, 2018
47
37
123
I am using A/V Room Service EVP pads under my REL Carbon Special subs. As with everything YMMV. I think they were a nice addition. Company is very helpful. Give them a call.
 
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hemiutut

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Sep 30, 2021
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Well, its down to the short strokes for tuning my system. I have a pair of REL Gibraltar G1s sitting on my hardwood floors (I used to have 2x3h six pack) which are suspended via floor joists above my basement.

I have shored up the listening room with two 6"x6"x12' beams with a central jack post and 4x4 wood posts on either end of each beam. The beams sit perpendicular (across) the existing engineered floor joists.

I have also mass loaded each of the sub cabinets with `120lb of cold steel bars.

The subs are dialed in well, but the entire house shakes when playing the system with more than 90db peaks and when the recording has sub 30hz information in it.

Most of the vibration is in the structure of the house itself and is not coming from the subwoofer or its enclosure..

The existing 'feet' on the RELs are a weak point in the design IMO, as they are essentially two~2hx4wx16"l strips of wood running from the front to back of each sub, making the contact between each sub and the floor (two)x4wx16l.

I feel that the main problem is the subwoofers are too tightly coupled to the hardwood floor and therefore the entire house.

I'm thinking of options to further decouple the subs from the house:

1) A heavy 1.5"-2.5" thick slab of a composition to be determined under the existing subwoofer feet. Some Material I've considered: Marine Plywood; MDF, Granite, Slate, or a custom Composite
These slabs would be threaded with 5 holes (4 corners and one center hole).
5 threaded metal spikes per slab
5 metal isolation disks for the spikes which would sit on the hardwood floors.

I also thought that I might consider connecting the slabs to the existing subwoofer feet with screws or other methods.

Any thoughts or suggestions on slab materials or methods to guide me here would be appreciated.
My advice is to do some measurements with REW for example and thus know what you have in your room.

Written with translator.

Greetings
 

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