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Loudspeaker Stands

Jimshoe

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Is there a consensus here on speaker stands?

In the 80's/90's I absorbed all the rhetoric about how speaker stands were an integral part of a hi-fi system and saw the arrival (and success of £££££ stands).

Nowadays I'm more circumspect and feel a stand that gets the tweeter to the right height is about all you need.

But what is the informed thinking on high mass vs light and stiff or even compliant 'wobbly' stands?

Doug
 

jsrtheta

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Is there a consensus here on speaker stands?

In the 80's/90's I absorbed all the rhetoric about how speaker stands were an integral part of a hi-fi system and saw the arrival (and success of £££££ stands).

Nowadays I'm more circumspect and feel a stand that gets the tweeter to the right height is about all you need.

But what is the informed thinking on high mass vs light and stiff or even compliant 'wobbly' stands?

Doug

I agree with your appraisal. I have seen no proof that speaker stands affect sound, as long as they're an optimal height. Some are more aesthetically appealing than others, but spending a lot on them is rather dumb. (Nothing wrong with buying stands because they look really keen, just don't expect them to do anything other than be pretty or cool-looking.)
 

Putter

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The subject is rather controversial, but there seem to be 2 basic approaches.

The first is a solid connection to the floor such as spike to transmit low frequency vibrations of the speaker cabinet away from the room.

The other is some form of absorbent material to dampen those vibrations.

Whether either of these or both approaches yield an improvement in sound is unclear to me.

I will say that there was a time when I lived in a basement apartment with a Doctor's office upstairs and I could hear the hum of the aquarium pump in my apartment. This is the limit of my knowledge and that may even be overstating it.:rolleyes:
 

Chrispy

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With a good floorstanding speaker that is of correct height no need for a stand. If you do need a stand one that gets it to correct height is more important than it's footing type and spikes are more about carpeting than hard flooring applications where a simple rubber foot is sufficient. While the stand should be stable, I don't think there's much more to it than that.
 

ripvw

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the only serious study done on speaker stands that I am aware of is this 1992 article from John Atkinson in Stereophile:

https://www.stereophile.com/features/806

based on this, I have always used robust steel stands filled with dry sand and I've used Blu Tack to "weld" the speaker to the stand. I've used the spikes that came with the stand on carpeted floors - and if on a hard surface I put a penny between the spike and the floor. When I had money I bought stands from Target Audio, now I buy cheaper copies from Pangea.

http://www.targetaudioproducts.com

https://www.pangeaaudio.com/Pangea-Audios-DS-400-Speaker-Stand?quantity=1&height=4

https://www.bostik.com/australia/Bostik-Products/Blu-Tack-Multipurpose-Adhesive

https://www.amazon.com/Blu-Tack-S05...6&sr=1-1-70f7c15d-07d8-466a-b325-4be35d7258cc
 

LDKTA

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I prefer heavy stands that are rather difficult to move or knock down with the loudspeakers on them (but still movable without any help from tools). Stability, durability and aesthetics are all I care about when it comes to stands. I’m currently building a pair from 6/4 White Oak and 8/4 Hickory.
 

restorer-john

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For smallish bookshelf 2 ways, 600mm stands are pretty much the de-facto height. I have several pairs of such stands (500mm-600mm) and they are spiked through the carpet and underlay into the timber floor below. They can be leveled easily with a turn or two of the threaded spikes and the lock-nut, so they don't rock or move at all. In short they are solidly coupled to the floor. Essential if you have a cat or similar small people (kids) that might accidentally bump your gear otherwise.

A few stands came with bolts to couple the speakers to the stands firmly- I don't do that, a bit of Blutack or semi-sticky feet will do the job.

Some of the stands can be filled with kiln dried sand or lead shot, but I reckon that's a bit of a wank. As long as they are stable, I'm happy.

Having the speakers on stands means there are no immediate reflective surfaces to mess up the sound as compared to a shelf placement. You can place a pair of bookshelves on stands alongside floor-standers for comparison purposes. Just get solid ones, not ones that ring, twist or vibrate. :)
 
OP
Jimshoe

Jimshoe

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Thanks all, it seems my feeling that there is no/little evidence-based data on this subject is true.

It would be interesting to see tho'

Doug
 

Inner Space

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But what is the informed thinking on high mass vs light and stiff or even compliant 'wobbly' stands?

The basic working assumption for a moving-coil speaker is that the coil moves but the magnet doesn't. Newton's 2nd makes that impossible without his 3rd, so rigid coupling and spikes, etc, aren't about routing vibrations to the floor, but about making the speaker immobile.

Then, as always, the question becomes one of degree and audibility. The consensus seems to be it doesn't matter very much. So it comes down to tweeter height, and pet & kid safety, etc. That said, I make mine totally immobile, because of ... principle, obsession, and some kind of existential correctness, I suppose.
 

ernestcarl

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... but about making the speaker immobile.

Which can be a real problem! I have overtightened one of the screws for my left (KH120) speaker's back mount, and worn out the hex screw hole trying to get it out. :facepalm:

I've just about tried everything except drilling this screw removal bit:
1592383360165.png


But I've decided it's too risky as I may inadvertently destroy the mounting threads.

Other than height and angling adjustments, the speaker is definitely now permanently mounted to the stand.

I'm going to be stuck with these monitors for a loooooong time. Not that I'm complaining.
 

astr0b0y

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Which can be a real problem! I have overtightened one of the screws for my left (KH120) speaker's back mount, and worn out the hex screw hole trying to get it out. :facepalm:

I've just about tried everything except drilling this screw removal bit:
View attachment 69303

But I've decided it's too risky as I may inadvertently destroy the mounting threads.

Other than height and angling adjustments, the speaker is definitely now permanently mounted to the stand.

I'm going to be stuck with these monitors for a loooooong time. Not that I'm complaining.
Cut a groove with a Dremel and use a flat head screwdriver the undo it.
 

CDMC

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i'm currently looking for some speaker stands and if i'm honest, i just don't like the look of the majority of them. then i found these:

https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/800...f=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1&pro=1

would these work with bookshelf speakers? maybe 30 cm high, so the tweeter would be ~75cm above the ground and slightly angeled towards the listening position (~3,5 m away).

They will work fine. Generally you want your tweeter at the same height as your ears, so you should be aiming for about 90cm from the floor. Alternatively, a slight upward tilt will accomplish the same thing.
 

Chrispy

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@knownunknown Will that open framework style stand's dimensions work with the dimensions of the bottoms of your bookshelves? Seated ear height for me works out to about 40 inches/100 cm but I don't use angled stands....
 

killdozzer

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I hear all your pain! :cool: These are mine (hand made and custom made):
Stands.jpg
It's not a final set up, of course. They came cheaper than some of those welded pipes (I don't like those).

A stand can resonate and if it does so, it's crap and it imparts on the sound same as poorly designed speaker enclosure. Something like putting your speaker on top of a piece of furniture and not decoupling it so the entire piece of furniture sings along.

When you have one that is acoustically dead, you still decouple your speaker with some extra sorbothane pads just to make sure. And there is nothing more to it.

After that it’s all about stability and safety. They are heavy to prevent knocking them over (pets or kids).

Movement is in fact real for some subs. Put them on carpet with no spikes and they can move. That’s why you use spikes for carpet and sorbothane for hardfloor.

Bookshelves will not move. You still use some pads to keep them safe from scratching when handled.

You don’t use spikes to carry the vibrations away from the speaker. It’s not like you can ground them. If your stand resonates, it doesn’t matter where the vibrations go after that – the damage is done.

So, it’s just about the inert material and desired height. Point source are good off axis in all directions so you won’t miss much if it’s not your ear’s height.

One additional benefit is pulling them away from the back wall. So, indirectly, stands will affect sound by allowing you to take speakers away from a surface.
 

knownunknown

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@knownunknown Will that open framework style stand's dimensions work with the dimensions of the bottoms of your bookshelves? Seated ear height for me works out to about 40 inches/100 cm but I don't use angled stands....

they are custom made, so i could get them in any dimension i want. i'm considering them with a pair of wharfedale denton 85s, but i don't know yet at what height. i fear that they will look a little goofy when they are too high, but 30-40cm with a tilt should do the trick
 

Chrispy

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they are custom made, so i could get them in any dimension i want. i'm considering them with a pair of wharfedale denton 85s, but i don't know yet at what height. i fear that they will look a little goofy when they are too high, but 30-40cm with a tilt should do the trick

Didn't read that part of the ad....and the term bespoke isn't used much here in the US :) That's my excuse and am sticking to it! I'm about to build a set of bespoke stands for some speakers now, tho (but out of whatever lumber I have on hand). I do remember JBL L100s were often pictured with that square metal tubing style....but the style of stand doesn't matter much to me as I'm going to not even notice them after a week or so....
 
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