A very successful DIY outrigger project.


So I got a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers and I love them. I loved my previous Usher BE-718's too but my wife didn't like the look so I have to sell them. Anyway, as good as the Adagios sound they could fall over if you frown at them. They have a narrow footprint to start with and taper at the rear to make it even worse (We have padded wall-to-wall carpet) and the left one is by the front door where purse slinging women arrive and are oblivious to the hazard. I had Soundocity outriggers when I had PSB Synchrony Ones because they had the same problem and they were really nice and effective but I don't want to raise these speakers up the way the Soundocities do. So I went to the local home center and bought 1/8" X 1-1/2" aluminum bar stock, cut a couple of 12" long pieces, drilled two holes to match the spike inserts for the rear of the speakers only and attached them with M6 screws with rubber washers to secure them. I used a grinder to round off the corners a bit and then my biggest genius move was to buy some flat gray textured spray paint to match the carpet. They work perfect and you can't even tell they're there at all! I can still use the front spikes to tilt back or level the speakers, and I could also use them through the aluminum plates on the rear if I needed to as well.

Total outlay: under thirty bucks! And totally, completely invisible and effective.

As Hannibal on my old favorite show "The A Team" used to say: "I love it when a plan comes together"
bizango1
I might be clever enough to build the outriggers but I'm not clever enough to know where to post a picture. Besides, they really do blend in to the carpet. From the listening position they are invisible.
Thx, Bizango1 (great moniker, BTW). If you do manage to post a picture, maybe you could shoot one w the outrigger sitting on a plain piece of paper or contrasting wood floor or the like. Or send me a p.m. & I'll give you my email. My Merlins have the same problem.
Sweet...! I've actually been thinking about the Soundocity outriggers for my Adagios. Might look at doing something like this instead, very clever!

Love my Adagios as well, did a review here on Audiogon for them recently, too. Don't know of anything out there that even comes close at the price!
Post a pic in your system page for all to see.
Great idea. I made some similar but mine were made with pot metal pieces. They were an experiment and never made to look nice...and they looked crappy. Very effective though. Shortly after I made mine a pair of used Soundocity outriggers showed up here and I snapped them up.
Timrhu,
Okay so I hastily added a couple pics of the speakers with the outriggers to my system pics as you requested. I think the Soundocity outriggers work really well but I don't want the extra height they give to the speakers in my setup. Plus, I have enough money left over to buy ten or twenty CD's. And beer.
I can still use the stock spikes front and rear to lock in their position. Just using the spikes in front now.
Question: Why did you change from the PSB Synchrony Ones? Was there some area of improvement you found?
The PSB's never floated my boat. I found them uninvolving and unconvincing and polite. Before those I had Stratus Goldi speakers which I really enjoyed-they were bombastic and fun in spite of their flaws. The Synchronies were way too "refined" for me. Usher BE-718's and the Adagios have special qualities and a certain kind of magic that I never got with the Synchronies. For the money I spent on them new and being a PSB fan, I was very disappointed. Oh, I just peeked at your system and I see you have Golds! Keep 'em. I would still have mine but we moved to a small house with a small room and the Golds just completely overwhelmed it. My last room was large and the Golds were awesome with solid state amps that put out over 700 WPC into their 4 ohm load. I used a Rotel RB-1090 and later a pair of Parasound JC-1's.