Speaker Support - Three Feet or Four

I have done it both ways with several different speakers but always using Sound Anchor stands, which add significant weight and lower the center of gravity. My current speakers are 110 lbs each (not including the stands) but are moderately tall and somewhat slender. The Sound Anchor cradle bases extend the footprint and I tried using three Eden Sound Bear Paws for a three point support. That simply was not stable enough and I switched to four feet, which I find to be a much better solution for my present situation with the feet piercing carpet and supported by the underlying concrete floor. I previously used Sound Anchor stands on three feet to support Alon 5's on a suspended hardwood floor. In that scenario, the three feet worked fine. However, it is my recommendation that 4 feet is better than 3 feet to support large speakers.

For my KEF 104/2 speakers I use 4 Edensound Bearpaw Sr feet that have the Triceratops option on the top of the footer. This is the Edensound version of Mapleshade's triplepoint feature. Each Edensound Bearpaw Sr was then pre-drilled so that the Bearpaw senior could be attached to the KEFs. I felt this was the most secure option but man oh man did the Bearpaw Seniors as feet really add weight to the KEFs. Moving them around was a real work out. I say stick with the four feet. In my instance I've got a lot of stability and I have kids to worry about.

Alas, for these speakers at least, the three feet option made them quite unstable.

I've now gone back to four feet - very stable

Still considering the outriggers, but with a four feet

That's weird. Nobody mentioned which sounds better, three feet or four feet. Oh, well.

When I first got these particular speakers I had them on some temporary spike protectors that were not as hard as the brass that I now use.

Switching to the brass made an audible difference - so for these speakers at least, eliminating all movement is best.

When I tried the three point with two point at the front or rear the speaker was very easily rocked. So much so that I did not even try listening to music.

One last config was to try placing the two feet on one side and placing the third foot directly under the CoG line on the opposite side. This was more stable than the other config, but the 4 point solution is still the best.

Other speakers might benefit from three feet if their centre of gravity is more toward the front or back, but these just proved too unstable.

A friend has a pair of Reference 3A Veena's and their CoG is very nearly over the back feet, making their 3 point system very stable.

A good outrigger design will allow for easy adjustment when necessary

Soundocity an Galen Carol look to have some pretty robust products - if anyone knows of any others I'd really appreciate knowing about them.

Thanks

"Nobody mentioned which sounds better, three feet or four feet."

With 40# Sound Anchor Stands and Bearpaws, there is plenty of mass and low COG so that, in my system, either 3 or 4 footers sound the same, as long as the speaker is stable at all listenable volumes. I suspect perceived differences could be greater on a suspended wood floor but other things may be going on in that case, such as a greater potential for resonances than on concrete. It is still my belief that 4 footers is best as long as you can properly adjust the footers for equal contact.

Geoff, you’re just going to leave us hanging for 6 years? What do you think is best for sound quality?

What was the question? 

“Nobody mentioned which sounds better, three feet or four feet.” 

It's quicker to level a speaker on three, but it does have better resistance to tip-over on four. Now, about which sounds better... ;)...

Three sounds better. That’s why DH Cones are sold in set of three. If someone wants a Beltism explanation I can certainly provide one but on the grounds of keeping things civil here I prefer to decline. We don’t want anybody going ape, do we? 

   I live on the California Central coast near the Loma Prieta epicenter with everything on a wood floor. My 145lbs. speakers came with three precarious non-connected metal cones per speaker.
   I made eight large 3x2x1.5" clunky looking walnut blocks. I fully covered their bottom and top surfaces with heavy duty felt and Gorilla brand clear thickish two sided tape to attach to the speaker. Despite the increased overall stability the felt and tape combination provides some bi-directional movement that the cones didn't.
   I have know idea why this is but the focus and sound stage is noticeably improved. Lucky me. 

Three feet is always better locked to the floor but not necessarily more stable. It might be easier to knock the speaker over so placement of the feet is critical. I put two feet up front in the corners and one in the center back trying to get as close to an equilateral triangle as possible. As far as sound is concerned locking the enclosure to the floor with three feet is probably more important for subwoofers which obviously vibrate a lot. I would hazard a guess that most of us long term sub users have seen them migrate across the floor. Any movement of the enclosure is distortion. I can not say it makes any difference in the satellites but I suspect not.  

   Last night at about 8:30 pm while listening to Miles Davis' 'Nefertiti' we had a small 2.3 followed by a moderate 4.5 earthquake. Not really a big deal but my 45" tall speakers visibly rocked from side to side. 
   Had I not replaced their three non connected spikes last week I'm almost certain there would have been an issue. Strangely, the thirtieth anniversary of the Loma Prieta quake is this Thursday. Once again, lucky me. 

@geoffkait

We don’t want anybody going ape, do we?

Don’t apes have four feet? 🐒

Does the answer to the question also depend on whether the speaker is coupled with something hard such as a metal spike or ceramic footer vs. decoupled with some sort of elastomeric doo-dad? The decoupled approach would possibly take care of any four footer rocking concerns.

Apes have four feet? I did not know that.