Subwoofer: Riser vs Spikes

Spikes will do the most, but it's also an on or off solution. The nice thing about risers is you can customize the effect based on the material you use. Use a harder material for less reduction, a softer material for more dampening.

I literally mean off or on because spikes completely separate your sub from the floor (on) or if they aren't attached they don't (off). Using a different spike material or height doesn't change anything it's still on or off. With a riser you can customize the dampening depending on the material and thickness you choose. Consider the sonic dampening difference between a 2 inch slab of rubber and a 2 inch slab of hardwood. Very different effects and that's only 2 material choices.

There was an article I read a while back that said spikes dont do much to isolate the sound from travelling to the ground and ground vibrations tend to be more or less the same or in some cases even worse with spikes on. I chose to go the riser route.

But instead of getting Auralex, I used the feet from these.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Gold-s-Gym-Aerobic-Step/10910439

My wife uses the top surface without the four feet, so I just used bluetak to secure these directly onto my Velodyne's base and they are the perfect solution from what I can tell. They have really helped in my apartment.

The reason why you spike a sub is to acoustically decouple it from the floor and to keep it one place during high power excursions...you don't want the sub coupling with the floor (producing secondary resonance) nor do you want it dancing around the floor either (believe me you can get a heavy sub to dance even if the output seems low, sealed designs need fixation even more)......I always spike my speakers (including subs)...A good...even great combination is to use thick granite slabs under your speakers and have them spiked. The speakers sit on points on the granite with the granite itself supported by spikes. If you have wood floors get sturdy cups for the spikes/points and make sure they can't move around. You should notice a worthy gain is focus, resolution and sound staging provided your room is reasonably well damped/treated.

IMO any speaker can benefit from a firm footing, the firmer the better.

Peete.