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Monitor Stands - Made of Stone

Friends,

I recently purchased a pair of Dutch & Dutch 8c monitors. 

I'm very disappointed by the lack of well designed (and aesthetically pleasing) stands on the market. So being an architect I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands and design my own. A very good friend of mine who’s very talented stone mason has offered to help me build a pair of stone pedestals.

I’m curious if any of you have been down this road and what type of stone you’ve used and what the results were?

I’m going to use Live Vibe Audio products beneath the monitors to displace resonance/vibration into the mass of the stone pedestals, which will yield much better results than anything placed on my 2nd level wood floor. The pedestals I’ve been told will weigh 200+ pounds each and are just simple rectangular extrusions of the monitors footprint. 
 

I welcome all thoughts and ideas.

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Showing 4 responses by erik_squires

erik_squires
15,672 posts
 

You mean spikes.  Indeed.  You're talking my language.

I mean not bare speaker surfaces.  Spikes are good but resilient pucks like IsoAcoustics may control back and forth vibrational modes better.  Both are much better than a flat speaker face or track.

erik_squires
15,672 posts
 

In general I believe we should:

  • MInimize the contact surface
  • Maximize stability by using wider, deeper footings

You want the speaker to be locked into the 3D space it exists in with no motion, you want to avoid radiating sound through the floor by leaving a large surface of speaker in direct contact with it, or floating on a carpet.

erik_squires
15,672 posts
 

I had originally thought 1/2" or 1" steel plate would be a good material but apparently any surface that you might rightly call "plate", even a very heavy one, is prone to ringing.

A plate, on a towel, on your speaker won’t ring, but it MIGHT show you very quickly if you could use that approach or not.

The effect, when it’s needed, is not subtle.

If you try it and it helps, you won't want to go back. :)  On the  other hand, if it does nothing... take it off. :) This isn't like buying exotic fuses. 😂

erik_squires
15,672 posts
 

1. Triangles are more stable than squares and have 25% less contact area.

2. The biggest issue with monitors IMHO is the back and forth movement of the woofer causing equal/opposite rocking of the speaker cabinet, which seriously degrades bass to mid-bass performance so be careful how much you angle them back, and even in some cases consider a weight on top of the speaker. Several have reported this to be extremely "clarifying."

The back and forth issue has a lot to do with how high up the woofers are and where the center of mass is over the stand footers.  Worth considering as you set up.

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