Raising standmount speakers

I would agree that tilting the speaker backward is the easiest and cheapest thing to try and will most likely be successful.  Any adjustment affects a number of variables so it is not that easy to know the outcome.  For example, getting a taller stand will not only affect the height/aim of the tweeter, it raises the woofer further from the floor and this will affect the floor bounce effect (the interaction of the delayed wave bouncing off the floor and the direct wave from the driver).

Changing/adding footers will also change the tuning of the system because it will affect how the speaker resonates or whether the speaker will impart more less energy into the floor itself which can act as a kind of sounding board.  It is not always the case that reducing resonance sounds better, so it is again a matter of trying out the change.  Harbeth speakers are designed by people who believe in working with the resonance of the cabinet rather than trying to kill as much resonance as possible.

Good luck with your experiments.

arafiq: As someone else suggested above, shims should solve your problem, as they did for me before I bought purpose built speaker stands to replace some Ikea stools that I had been using. I’m talking about cheap plastic shims that you can buy at a hardware or home improvement store. Cost will be less than $10 easily, and you can vary the tilt angle to suit your ears. Please try this before spending $200 or more. 

Thanks for some great advice! I want to emphasize that the sound that I'm getting right now is pretty damn good! But like most of you here I'm trying to eke out that last bit of fidelity from my speakers. 

I tried to tilt the speakers a bit today, but didn't notice much of a difference. Maybe I should leave it at good enough? I don't want to increase the tilt angle any further because TBH it looks rather silly and I'm afraid the speakers will be too unstable and might topple over at some point.

For now, I'm going to wait for used IcoAcoustics Gaia footers to show up in the use market. Really appreciate the wonderful advice and tips.

Please note that many ( most ) Loudspeakers have diminished power power ( off axis ) horizontal and vertical power output ( volume ).
Listening in my ’ Room ’ I notice these effects more moving my listening position (ears) closer / farther away as well as vertically.
But my listening position is more like an equal triangle ( not precisely ) as opposed to using the full length of the room.
You may want to reposition / placement for a better effect.

"The main difference is that the music gets a tiny bit more immersive and the soundstage gets a bit taller when I lower my head."

Yes, that's what happens when you add a slight uptilt to many speakers.

Now try it by actually raising the front of the speakers in order that they react differently to the room as well as your ears/listening position.

Difficult to tell from photos, but the speakers look as if they already have a bit of uptilt.

DeKay

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/3262#&gid=1&pid=1
If you expand the pic you’ll see them.  My amps are sitting atop platforms I assembled for a different pair of speakers that I needed the tweeters higher.

Made on the cheap as an experiment that worked quite well for me.
-two of these
https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/aptitlig-butcher-block-bamboo-00233429/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlbmf6s718gIVj...

-two of these
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DSS4-BK-Black-Speaker-Spike-Set-4-Pcs.-240-717

about 85-90 dollars invested.

drilled the anchor holes, screwed in anchor inserts, installed cones…done. These net about 2.5” to 2.75” elevation only so you may need taller cones which are readily available at P.E. Or Amazon. Cones are adjustable so you can play with rake angle starting at the base and keep speaker to stand contact the same as it is now.

3” and 4” butcher blocks are expensive, unless you know a woodworker or mill that would make you raw pieces that you would sand and finish.

I will experiment with tilting the stands. Will keep you guys posted.

Tom6897’s suggestion of a laser guide is excellent.

Here’s something to try...

Place a laser guide so it’s centered on one of the loudspeakers, and flush to the baffle. It’s good to secure the laser guide with a bit of BluTak.

Find a stand, or a high backed chair, or something on which you can tape a piece of paper with a dime size dot in the middle. Tape the paper to the stand so the dot is at ear level. Then, move the paper target left or right and line it up so the laser from the respective loudspeaker hits the paper. Then, tilt the speaker until the laser hits the dot. You may have to move the stand a little left or right to center the dot. That’s okay. The idea is tilting both speakers so they match. Repeat for the other speaker. Of course, if Harbeth recommends setting the tweeter higher or lower than ear level, then adjust the height of the dot accordingly.

You can also use this method to match toe-in angle.

@tvad Thanks and this makes sense. I looked into the IcoAcoustics footers and they sound promising - no pun intended :)

A combination of IcoAcoustics and butcher blocks might be the way to go in the long run.  think I saw @milpai system pics where he is using a similar combination but he has floorstanders.

Appreciate the input from everyone. In the meantime, I will experiment with tilting the stands. Will keep you guys posted.

Do you know if Harbeth voiced them using 18 inch stands? If they did, you could affect the bass balance/voicing if you raise them more than that. Many manufacturers build their floor standing speakers with the woofers at a specific height to account for floor bounce. That could be what Harbeth did with these, even though they go on a stand.

@tvad Thanks. Just wondering what makes you say it's not a long term solution? Stability or something else?

If you're using individual isolation footers, like Gaia, then in this scenario butcher blocks are not a problem.

If you are coupling your stands to the floor with cones, etc., then the butcher blocks are defeating the coupling method.

If you're decoupling the speakers, with Townshend podiums for example, then butcher blocks are also a problem.

@tvad Thanks. Just wondering what makes you say it's not a long term solution? Stability or something else?

What do you guys think of using thick butcher blocks underneath the speakers?

I was going to suggest that under your stands. Not a long term solution, but would get you what you want. 

By the way, I've always heard that the tweeters should be aligned with your ears for best results. Is the advice always right, or is this one of the 'it depends' things?

Thanks for the suggestions. When I said 'without breaking the bank', I meant no more than $200-300. So this rules out buying a new pair of taller stands unfortunately.

I like the suggestion of creating a tilt, but I don't need to tilt just to find out if it makes a difference. I can slump on the couch a bit to get my ears a few inches lower than the proper sitting height. So the truth is that there's not a huge difference when I'm sitting upright or slump down a few inches. The main difference is that the music gets a tiny bit more immersive and the soundstage gets a bit taller when I lower my head. But I don't know if I can justify spending more than a few hundred dollars to get marginal improvements.

I do have the ability to raise or lower the footers, so that's something I'm going to try first. My only concern is stability. 

@yogiboy -- thanks for the IcoAcoustics suggestion. I didn't think of that before, but this might be a reasonable solution if the tilt doesn't fix the issue. 

What do you guys think of using thick butcher blocks underneath the speakers? I don't know how they impact the sound though. Probably a bad idea but who knows.

Stand in back of the speaker with a small flash light or a laser pointer and hold it at the tweeter and see where it hits at your listening position. I have done this in my dimly lit audio room and it works great for level and direction. Some of the laser pointers even tell the distance which is great for us audiophiles.

Couldn't you just try a pair of 24" speakers stands? Many available in that height.

Also, the suggestion of a bit of tilt should tell you if you are on the right track. You could do the math to determine how much tilt. Or you could use something like a drywall square to do it by sight. Place the top of the "T" against the front (or back edge) of the speaker with the leg at tweeter height. Look where the "leg" is pointing. Should point to about ear level at your seating position when you have the tilt right.

Tilt the fronts of the speakers up a tiny tad.

If the footers on your stands are adjustable just raise the front, or lower the back (footers).

DeKay

A bit of 'tilt' (shim ... fraction of an inch) to adjust the angle to proper height.
My guess would be that the eight inch rise would not have a great effect.
Does the speaker not sound right?
Seating at a poor acoustic position would make a difference regardless of the type of system ( 2.0, 2.1, 5.1).
The platform could be resonant though.

Not sure what speaker stands you are using , but if they are sound anchors, call them and ask if you can order taller ones!
Brad

Check out IsoAcoustics!
https://isoacoustics.com/

How well attached are the speakers to the stands?  Could you just angle up the front of the stands rather than putting them on their own little platforms?