Building stands for Harbeth 40.2's

@grislybutter 

Yes, of course it was implied that it was your opinion. The question that I was attempting to get at is what value you might possibly add to a conversion by calling a design that a high percentage of Harbeth owners happen to find attractive, "hideous"?

I mean, why not either keep your hyperbolic opinion to yourself, or tone it down?

To each his own.

But if they’re not to your liking, you felt compelled, at least in this instance, to assert that they’re "hideous"?!

😂

I used TonTrager with my 30.1, and they were excellent. They also looked very attractive (the photos posted is not a good one to judge by).

But let's be clear about something: the speakers are not decoupled from the stands.

@akg_ca 

Thank you. To be clear, I was happy with the TonTragers, and do believe that they are well-designed to compliment Harbeth speakers. My pedantry stems primarily from my experiences with isolation devices under speakers, which, when properly designed, do decouple the speakers from the floor. And yes, in my view, and more than a few others, the difference is meaningful.

Interestingly, I engaged in a related experiment with my 30.1/TonTrager combo before I moved on to my current system. I was able to purchase a discounted pair of Townsend Podiums, and tried them. The Podiums are considered by some to be the best of the various speaker isolation options, albeit at a steep price.

Well, my experience was not good, but I do not blame the Townsend product at all. In my view, it was the lack of hard coupling between the 30.1 and TonTragers that caused the failed experiment. Also, consider that there can be a perceived lack of bass impact with such decoupling, and given that the bass of the 30.1 is limited to begin with, that was in issue.

For further perspective, I tried – and kept – Isoacoustic Gaias under my FinkTeam KIM speakers, and consider the improvement to be substantial. The Gaias are probably the most widely used speaker isolation devices, and some high-end companies now supply them as standard equipment.

Note that I am not arguing that the Gaias are in some way superior to the Townsend Podiums (except in terms of value). But my KIMs, which are also stand-mounted, are hard-coupled, and as the stands are metal, the Gais can be screwed directly into them, providing further, crucial hard-coupling.

Finally, as you pointed out above, the BBC type speakers are designed to resonate, so even if hard-coupling could be achieved, I am not certain to what extent they would benefit from feet that are designed to both isolate and provide vibration control.

"the TonTraegers look hideous"

...

Also, my opinion is not hyperbolic.

🤣🤣🤣

if insulting me does help, please have at it.

If you take at as an insult that I am pointing out the absurdity of your claim, that’s on you.

There are many characterizations of the TonTragers, including negative ones, that would not be hyperbolic. "Boring" would be an example. But "hideous"?

Please.

Does anyone have the dimension of the extended tenon on the TonTragers ?

I’ll take a stab from memory alone: ~20mm high and 20mm wide

Yogi or Whipsaw- should I use some form of protection on the top of the extended tenon ? I don't want to damage the bottom of the speaker.

Maybe some form of protective coating or thin rubber top ?

I used nothing, and there were no marks on the relatively light Maple finish 30/1 when i sold them.

The selection of a speaker stand must fulfil only two core criteria: raising the tweeter so that, ideally, the tweeter is level with your ear (very few users do this and hence very few users achieve the full sonic potential) and protecting the speaker from toppling over. With those criteria met, there is a very wide latitude on materials, shape size and colour.

This is ludicrous assertion by Shaw. How a speaker stand interacts with the floor can, depending on other variables, produce clearly audible differences.

The quote is reminiscent of when, years ago, Shaw was famously agnostic about amplifiers:

Whatever amp you've got will work just great with Harbeth. Anything British, made after about 1980, fully serviced will be great. End of story.
 

Shaw designs excellent speakers, but at least some of his related views should be taken with a large grain of salt.