Get Better Sound by Decoupling Speakers

If you have a stereo system or a speaker setup and find you’re getting distracting vibrations, distortion or less bass than you should, one remedy may be decoupling your speakers, which is essentially adding cushions between the speaker and the surface it rests on.

There are many other factors that can affect sound performance, so one of the easiest tests to see if decoupling will help is to have someone gently lift the speaker off its surface by about half an inch while playing. If it sounds better separate from the table, floor or stand, it can probably benefit from decoupling.

There are many ways to do this. Some are DIY solutions like cutting rubbery racquetballs in half or using inflated bicycle tire tubes to float the speaker. One of the easiest and most reliable methods is the use of acoustic foam decouplers. These can absorb the shock and vibrations as speakers hit and fire without transferring the sound throughout a room’s structure. Some are also specially engineered with angles in their design to help you target and aim sound for added enjoyment and performance. Many times the main decoupler piece has a matching wedge of the same angle, for doubling the pitch of the wedge or creating a zero degree, flat surface. This is helpful for tailoring your speaker setup if you’re working with limited space.

If you aren’t getting the performance you want out of your speakers, the problem could be their environment, a situation that may be remedied by speaker decoupling.