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Solutions For Hard Floors
Tackling The Challenge of Tile & Hardwood Floors
Our subwoofers, have a highly efficient extraction of energy from within its cabinet down through the feet. This is a carefully designed aspect of the subwoofer’s energy path, which transfers the energy into the room. However, when a REL subwoofer is placed on hard flooring (typically tile, stone or hardwood floors) this energy path can present a challenge resulting in the REL slowly vibrating its way out of position.
But don’t worry, we have an easy DIY solution. First, carefully place and tune the REL to obtain the best sound possible using the set-up tips included within our owner’s manuals and our online resources, including our extensive video library. Once you feel comfortable with the performance of your REL, carefully mark around the outline of each foot using a light pencil scribe or some other method of marking that will not result in an unattractive visual afterward. We use blue 3-M painter’s tape as it can be applied extremely accurately and peels right off afterward.
Go to an art supply store, hardware store, or online and purchase Blu-Tack, a product used for mounting posters without creating pin holes in your walls. Mold the Blu-Tack into the shape of the feet about 20% smaller than the feet and 4mm thick. Turn the sub CAREFULLY over onto a soft, clean towel. Apply the Blu-Tack to each foot, pressing down to ensure it is tightly bonded to the underside of the foot.
Turn it back over and carefully set the feet down EXACTLY inside your marks. Gently push down (make sure you have cleaned the floor of all dust prior to this). This will essentially weld the sub to your floor, eliminating all relative movement but it will come up with ease later.
The cost of the Blu-Tack solution is extremely affordable and it works better than any other material. We do not recommend the use of spikes or platforms as they do not work well on RELs or any high-quality sub. Remember, the goal is to couple the subwoofer to the floor and transfer the energy into the room.
The more efficient the subwoofer’s mechanical pathway is, as is true with REL subwoofers, the bigger the jackhammer.
Platforms change the height off the ground (as do spikes) which will have a negative effect on the performance of your REL. The higher off the ground, the less bass will transfer into your room. You may well be surprised at how much better the sound is once this has been completed and for almost zero cost. Enjoy.
Addendum: The same Blu-Tack hack can be done with any REL, simply mold the Blu-Tack into shapes that are slightly smaller than the bottoms of our feet.