"Akgwhiz" has it right...final setup though.Getting it right pays off big.Sound anchors and done.Use his blue dots.They are pretty tacky ounce weight has been on long time.
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Different speakers are designed for different stand heights; while there is indeed a 'rule of thumb', there is no 'one size fits all' best speaker height for all standmounts. For instance, I've got a pair of Martens that are very high on their stands and ear level is slightly below the bottom of the woofer/mid, which is below the tweeter - that's how they're designed to be and they sound amazing. |
The Dynaudio Contour 20s come with a factory stand that bolts into the bottom of the speaker cabinet. The stands are built very heavy, but I filled the open tube portion with sand to add more weight and stability. They are hard to move now. Same for B&Ws I use in AV set up. I invested in the factory B&W stand; better build and weight. Set at best height for optimal tweeter to seating position. Again, filled open tube with sand. Several aftermarket options are available, but worth investing in better ones with more stability and weight. |
How much the sound varies with exact placement varies highly with the speakers. Ribbon and electrostatic are very sensitive to placement… as in 1/8th inch can make a significant difference. While this is a topic a different thread.. I think it is often possible to get great sound from ribbon speakers with a much lower percentage investment in the speakers… typical rule of thumb is 30%… for many years I had 10% in speakers (Apogee). But the amount of work with positioning and treatments (different than for dynamic speakers) was huge. To me that was the trade off. |
If you have cats, dogs, or small children it is imperative that the stands be strong, stable, and not liable to tipping. You didn’t mention the price range of your speakers which would figure into how much you would want to devote to stands. There are cheap ones from Monoprice that will do the job, especially if you fill them with steel shot or sand. More expensive and very excellent stands are those by Solid Steel. But yes, it would be dumb to spend $800 for stands for a $600 pair of say Klipsch RP-500M. As noted by others, measure your speakers from their bottom up to the centerline of the tweeter, then let that be your guide to the necessary height of the stands, as most of the time it is best if they can be at ear level when you are in your sitting position. An alternative, if you are handy, is to make your own out of wood or metal. Coworker of mine had a welder build his stands, then had them powder coated black. Think they weigh about 60 lbs. each! |
@smerk Wrote:
Velcro! Mike |
Some speakers will have available factory stands as well. My Focal bookshelf speakers had threads in the bottom to allow them to be attached to the stands, making them a single solid unit. The height of the stands was perfectly designed to get the speakers properly aligned to the listening space. The Blue Tack mentioned elsewhere is also a good solution. |
I do love my laser level, but not for speakers. All that 1/4 inch perfection seems silly when your head is not held in a clamp. Eyeball height, toe to your preference. Experimented with all that spike and isolation stuff. In deep carpets, spikes help stability. ZERO sonic difference. My speakers sit on that waffle shelf liner on their stands. Won't slip and no resonances from the stands not being perfect. Not as messy as Blu-Tac. (Vietnamese ceramic elephants) Spikes, balls, feet, just one more place where what may seem logical has been leveraged to make a lot of money selling snake oil with testimonials based on placebo effect. Want better sound? Buy better speakers. Funny how we buy bookshelf speakers and put them on stands. I would have floor standers if my "domestic distortion" also known as my right to keep breathing or else, did not mandate the living room looks like a living room. If it was a listening room, I would have full range floor standers. Alas, the elephants stay. |
OP, while you're at it, get a cheap laser measuring device. Afyer a good height is found, get the distance from the speakers to your position exactly the same. Use the laser along their sides to help point them the same, and vary toe-in until you get optimal imaging. Vary distance apart. This is how speakers "disappear". Best $40 in audio I ever spent. |
Solid stands are super important so they are not wobbly and loose allowing lost energy...not good. You want the speakers anchored to the stands with Blue tak or Posterboard putty ( this works really), and the stands you want no movement so each spike has to be adjusted (good stands have adjustable spikes or feet). In this way you will receive the full energy (which improves dynamics and Impact) and clarity of sound.
Matt M |
Start with the Cardas speaker placement guidelines. Then read all you can find regarding placement. Look at some of the speaker stand manufacturers like Sound Anchor. For entry level speaker stands check sites like Crutchfield and Audio Advisor. Items to consider are stand height and mass. Then consider how your stand will contact your floor ( spikes, sliders, pads ). How your speakers will contact your stands ( like Blue pad’s mentioned above ). BTW I’ve had speakers finish damaged by melting blue pads. As far as tipping over , consider kids, dogs, rowdy guests. When you get further into the learning curve you’ll be amazed at the sound quality that is achieved with high quality bookshelf speakers when properly done. Have fun and enjoy the hobby. Cheers , Mike. |
I sort of agree with ghdprentice. When I set up a pair of 'bookshelves' on stands I used some 24" high steel stands w/4 fillable posts and attached the speakers to the stands using a generous amount of Blue Tac. In order to counterbalance the speaker's weight I filled the stand's posts with steel shot. But, unlike ghdprentice, I only half filled them to keep the weight lower in the post and reduce it's 'tippibility'. BTW that Blue Tac really worked! It was hard to remove the speaker from the stand when you really wanted to. It did not damage the speaker in any way either. |
Stands are available at most audio outlets. The mark of good bookshelf speakers and stands are high weight. So, for a good speaker, you are talking 20+ pounds. For a high quality stand, high also. If you want to maximize the sound quality one should fill the stand with steel shot (in the old days it was lead shot). So together… you are talking about 40 or fifty pounds. So unless you are playing football 🏈 in your audio room there is no chance they are going to tip or be knocked off. I use vibrapods between my speaker and stands to decouple them from floor vibrations, and they are soft elastomer, so slipping is prohibited. |
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