Amazingly, I couldn't get a single reference to a relevant Web page when doing a number of searches for this. I only saw it on a video at a restricted site I can't link to:

Somebody in Japan discovered that by putting a high quality speaker atop a rolled-up carpet runner, the speaker sounded better than in a rigid enclosure (no vibration -- duh) contrary to 100 years of conventional speaker knowledge.

He now manufactures the rug speakers as well as speakers in rolls of soft translucent plastic covered by woven bamboo.

If you can find Japan Biz Cast, an English language show, the July 14, 2010 edition, you'll find it profiled there.

In other news, somebody else discovered that by putting certain magical stones on top of your amplifier also gives better sound. Also if you change your amp power cable to a more expensive one, massive gains are to be expected. You should also have speaker cables fatter than your wrists, anything else is cheapskate. I even found a thread on the web discussing the effect of equipment rack designs affecting sound quality!

These fine examples of completely objective hifi knowledge aside, once you have decent speakers, most of the improvement in sound quality comes from proper acoustic design of your listening space - proper placement of speakers in relation to the listener and to the room, trying to avoid having any surfaces that reflect sound etc. Most people have very much to improve in this area, so such details in speaker design are almost meaningless. I have a hard time to believe that for example the very sturdy casted aluminium speakers made by Genelec and measured to have a response curve flat to +-1dB would become any better if they were built out of hay and cotton candy instead...

I've been suitably impressed by the nonsense of using special power cords, $100 speaker cables, double posting (is that what they call it?) and the like, but this seems to make sense.

If it is true, I can also see that it's something that a lot of people would not like one bit.

what you described sounds like a bass tube you can find at radio shack in 1987.



I think aborigines have been playing with the concept since....before the bass tube at radio shcak.

there is some tricks to gaining nice sound. I just put an older delco in an older subaru, and subaru uses shared grounds. the delco has four full channels..

Well, lo and behold the wire harness company found a way to make it crossfire as a feed for itself and still sustain four separate channels, while gaining 100% greater than oem amplification... drawback is loss of accurate /fade balance buttons. worth it to me.

the walmart poly cone specials are kicking the weather and news nicely.

I left off with radios with the impedance of 2 four or eight.. and not knowing exactly where it all goes.

finding sound by accident just setting stuff up is always another way for undefined winner

Not to belabor this, but:

People here know that if you attach a hard drive to a heavy steel case it results in less audible vibration than if you used a rickety aluminum case, but more than if you suspended it with elastic or placed it on soft foam.

I would imagine that it's always been assumed that a loudspeaker had to be mounted in a sturdy case to be a salable, transportable product. The person who created the rug rig was a dancer who was doing yoga one day and placed a speaker he'd removed from an enclosure atop a rolled-up yoga mat (he must have been somewhat of a geek to have done that.)

On the same train of thought -- try suspending a speaker from the ceiling using Stretch Magic.

I wondered whether people here would be intrigued by the idea and would set about with their own experiments.

Where is the friggin link? If it's not on the internet it doesn't exist.

You can Google "japan biz cast 2010.07.14" and get links to torrents. (I had been looking for articles about the speakers, not for the show.)

Here's a little blurb from the Web site of the show:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/tv/japanbiz/archives100714.html

There are many things that cause sound to change, but change alone is not always for the better. I've also seen free standing drivers suspended by wires that "sound better," but holding the driver frame rigid this way leaves a lot to be desired , though it would certainly get rid of any internal enclosure reflections.

With conventional speakers the cone is suppose to move and the frame is to remain motionless. It's much more difficult to execute than first imagined.

The sad thing about ridiculous claims is that they hurt the integrity of the ones that are valid and the industry in general.

I once was so drunk that my friend named Ogre rolled me up in the living room carpet and carried my upstairs. It had the effect of muffling the sound and keeping me warm although scratchy.

And since your voice is rather raspy the muffling of it made it sound better.

Riiiiiiiiiight.

Well now we're getting somewhere. Knowledgeable critique rather than just reaction.

nice