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Coupling or de-coupling stand mounted ls3/5a

My Stirling V2s sit atop tripod Solidsteel stands, 28" tall, sand-filled. The stands are spiked into the carpet on a suspended wood floor. The speakers are blutacked to the stands. All in all there is still significant rockability of the speaker stand combination because the entire arrangement is not hugely heavy. Does it matter? I'm sure I can go further in tweaking this arrangement, but I have no clear understanding in which direction to even try. I have seen some ls3/5a sitting on brass cones, with speaker stands spiked onto metal cups, blutacked to a marble slab under the stands. I have also seen Herbie's fat dots under monitors too. I have no idea whether and where to couple or de-couple, and how to respect the resonance of the ls3 speaker cabinet. Can anyone offer guidance?
echigosanya
4 responses Add your response
raks
468 posts
 
My front speakers are on Sound Anchor stands that have carpet piercing spikes. Putting my weight on the stands drives the spikes through the carpet and padding, to the plywood sub floor. To make the stands rock solid, using a weighted mallet… and a level… I drive the spikes deeper into the plywood sub-floor.

To stabilize my rear surround speaker stands, I purchased two 16” x 16” patio stones, took the spikes off the Target stands, and screwed the speaker stand base into the patio stones. The weight of the patio stone makes the stands very stable and they now look like Sonus Faber stands.
echigosanya OP
4 posts
 
Using screw heads as spike supports sounds like a great method to increase stabilty. But would the speaker/stand system be considered as coupled or de-coupled if the spikes rest on screw heads? If I screwed the stands to the floor, would that achieve the same result or is the physics opposite?

What about the speaker/stand interface as well....should I arrange a similar set up on spikes, or use something squishy there? Thanks.
lindisfarne
511 posts
 
Here's my experience after 35 years as a guy interested in music, hifi and proper set-up. Unless you are on a non-carpeted floor, your stands, racks, etc. will rock a bit. No, that is NOT what you want, however, for many, it suffices.On tile, concrete, wood you'll have a fighting chance to get great stability. On carpeting, there is a trick, but it's a royal pain in the balls. I would not recommend the agony but, if you have LOADS of time on your hands, it works. It's very exacting work and I've only done this once, 25, or so, years ago when I cared more. You push the stand spikes into the carpet, mark the holes, drill phillips head screws into the marked areas and then PRAY that the stand spikes hit just right. It will be dead stable.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I suspended my LS3/5As from the ceiling once. I suspect the speakers like to be allowed to breath, including placement well away from walls, and be at the proper height. Everything else requires careful experimentation.
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