I've used Blue Dots, Blu Tak, and Herbies Big Fat Dots between speakers and Sound Anchors stands and my preference was for the Herbies Big Fat Dots.
The Blue Dots come with the stands, Blu Tak can be found as Dap Blue Stik at most hardware or stationery stores under $2.00, and Herbies Big Fat Dots come with a money back guaranty, so why not try all three and see which you like the best?
Tvad's right on the methodology. To couple or not to couple.... that is well, one of the questions you'll have to answer for yourself. it won't cost much to find our either.
I'd say try as well, Bright Star nodes. I've found them certainly superior to the Sound Anchor blue discs which are merely a quite soft compliant material that's commonly available.
None of these suggestions, except mine, of course, is the way to go. My suggestion is to use 'moongel', which can be purchased from some of the on line music instrument stores. Essentially, this is a product used by drummers. I have used it under speakers for years and find it the best product to decouple the speakers from the stand. It also is very inexpensive. Give it a try.
I second (or third) the opinion that every stand-coupling method will yield a different sound in a resolving system. With my Harbeths on Skylans, Herbies Dots were by far the best. With my Operas on Targets, Blue Tak sounds the best to me. Keep in mind that some of these couplings that do not firmly fasten the speaker pose the danger of the speaker being knocked off the stand by a running child, so keep it in mind if you have kids around.
Rbrowne: since your experience was with Sound Anchor Stands and all three (blue dots, blu tack and Herbies) and you liked the Herbies, what was their effect compared to the blue dots?
I replaced the spikes on my sound anchors recently with the excellent Soler Points (member esoler). When I did, it felt like the Bass went missing in action but soon I realized only "resonances" were missing, the bass was still there but more articulate. These points "dissipate" stored energy very fast.
Was that the effect of the Herbies? if you could describe specifically why you liked them better?
I do plan on experimenting and have Herbies on order but my next set of speakers are 47 lbs each and I would rather leave them in place once set up, that's why I am trying to get a measure of what to expect.
All in all excellent feedback and suggestions, Thanks!!!
Blue Dots: Distortion in the upper mid-range and lower treble.
Blu-Tak: Better than the Blue Dots but made the mid-range leaner and seemed to roll off the high end.
Herbies Big Fat Dots: The most balanced and satisfying presentation compared to the others. The Fat Dots I used were the original formulation which has changed. I would assume the newer Fat Dots are an improvement of some sort but I haven't had an opportunity to compare them to the originals. I'd say give them a try. You can always return them if you don't like them.
2013 Update: I have now had the opportunity to try many speakers on different speaker stands using all 3. I recently did a direct comparison of Blue-Tack v/s Herbies Fat Dots (One speaker on Blue-Tack the other on Herbies) using the balance control to go back and forth. Then moved both speakers to Herbies. In another experiment, I went from silica sand filled stands back to Sound Anchors again with Blue-Tack v/s Herbies. My conclusion: regardless of the type of stand, the Herbies were always preferred. While I expected improvement in the Bass, it mostly came in the mid and highs. It was like a dirty pane of glass was removed (yes just like the AudioQuest commercial). The mid got more dynamic and detailed while the highs got more layered and natural.
In all cases using Sound Anchors made the sound feel like much superior speakers were being used. Nothing else has come close. I am now a big fan of Herbies Fat Dots.
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