Bouncy or firm?

When it comes to the space we allocate for our listening area, we rarely have the luxury of choosing our room size, dimensions, ceiling height, or the floor type. For most of us, we take what we can get and hope for the best. Sometimes, for the luckiest among us, we get to choose the room parameters that matter. And the first place we'd want to start is the floor. The accepted best flooring amongst the experts I know suggest firm—like concrete—rather than transmissive of vibrations like you might find with a wooden floor. Music Room One is cement covered with pad and carpet. Not everyone agrees with this idea of firm flooring. I have certainly run into my share of audiophiles with strong feelings that a well supported wooden floor is best because it enhances the visceral feeling music brings: frequencies are felt as much as heard. Another argument for wooden flooring is that most live concert hall stages are wooden. Opinions aside, if you're interested in my advice, I'd stick with firm: cement covered with thick pad and carpet, and the speaker anchored firmly to the floor. I understand the desire for the added visceral enjoyment of feeling music through the floor, as I might in a live event, but I get a similar sense of physical enjoyment with the lower frequencies washing over me from the speakers. If you're interested in diving in a bit deeper, click here to watch What's the best listening room floor.