How to install a wooden floor to improve your sound

If your listening room is on a concrete slab with wall-to-wall carpeting, before spending lots more money on new components, the chances are that you can transform the sound of your system for a modest investment.

I first discovered this phenomenon when making master concert recordings. When we recorded a concert in a venue with concrete or other artificial flooring, the sound of instruments took on a colder sound.

Those same musicians, when playing at a venue with a wooden surface, made a wholly more musical sound. And they would comment on the live sound themselves. The difference is a slightly colder, less involving sound versus a warmer, more compelling sound.

All you need to do is put down some 2 x 4s on their sides and fire the nails that hold them in place into the concrete. Consider putting some insulation in the void between the concrete and the bottom of the wooden floor that gets screwed to the 2 x 4s.

You want to keep the solidity of the foundational concrete surface, but change its timbre. The floor doesn't have to be exposed hardwood planks. It can be plywood sub flooring on which you reinstall your wall-to-wall carpeting.

Note: I've not found any preamp, amp, or cable that can make such a difference in tone!

Here is one caveat regarding wooden floors-if you already have a suspended wood floor, you may need to brace it from underneath. This is especially important if you can easily feel footsteps in the room.

If not supported firmly, the floor may act like a tympanic resonator, smearing the leading edge of notes and producing boomy bass. That's why I strongly suggest that the 2 x 4 floor supports on the concrete surface be only 12 inches apart to support the new wood floor solidly.

Listeners are always surprised to hear greater dynamic range when the wood floor is suspended/supported properly. Greater dynamic range and warmer tone will yield greater musical involvement.

Jim Smith

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