Stands for LS3/5a's

With LS3/5A's you need to have your ears about mid height between the woofer and the tweeter, so it depends on the
height of your listening chair. Don't go too short, or you'll miss some of the magic and you'll always be looking down at the musical presentation. They don't necessarily require massive stands, but the stands shouldn't ring either.

I found in a few instances that adding something heavy on the top will help also, but it's important to remember that
one of the reasons LS3/5A's sound the way they do is their cabinet resonance. If you damp too many panels (especially the sides and back) it can get too dry sounding. Kind of reminiscent of the bigger Harbeths and some Japanese designs where the cabinet resonance is part of the voicing. If you change the cabinet *poof* there goes some of the magic. But a little weight on top doesn't seem to alter it much and can provide benefits.

RFG

I would def recommend the Tool One made by Music Tools in italy. they are not cheap but def worth the effort...

One particular stand for any LS 3/5a is the Foundation DesignersII stands.In fact any small monitors speakers should use this stands,this stands would improve most areas of the LS 3/5a, bass would be more extended, mids would be airy and solid and highs would become more airy and detail.The Foundation are 24" high and weighs about 50 pounds,the top plates are 7"x6", they comes with spikes which are removable and couple your speakers to the stands by using blu-tak.(manufacture recommended)

Asa, Dekay,
Thank you both for the informative posts!

Glide: Try experimenting with speaker height (with whatever is available at home) before purchasing stands. I used old Rogers Ls3/5a's up until the mid 80's and found that in the two rooms that I had them in they sounded much better approx. 40" off the floor. Both of the rooms had high ceilings (1.5 and 2.0 stories tall) and maybe this was why, I don't know that much about room acoustics. I use Target HR70 stands (two large square columns per stand) in the living room with a pair of the rather large (for a bookshelf) Reynaud Twins and when I switched them with the little Polk's (about the same size as the Ls3/5's) from the bedroom, the combination did look rather odd (out of balance) and I agree with Asa on this. I use Atacomba stands, with a single round column each, in the bedroom for the Polk's. The general advice for the Ls3/5a's has always been to use heavy/sturdy stands, though I now believe that in most cases light sturdy stands sound better on springy wood floors. This is not my original thought as I gathered this from reading posts on the web and have tried it both ways on both wood and plaster floors. I now use heavy stands on our plaster floors and a friend with wood floors has now switched to light stands with better results. If the speaker has a great deal of cabinet resonance, then this may not hold true, though the Rogers seemed to be fairly well damped from what I recall. Sorry to make this so complicated, but I feel that these are all things to consider, especially since it is such a hassle trying to sell stands that do not work out.

Glide, I have a second system w/ Spendor 11 ohm LS35A's. (Associated equipment: AirTight ATM300 8W SE amp, Supratek pre, NBS/AudioNote wire, Sony AX7ES CD player). I use Osiris stands and they sound very good. Osiris went out of business about two years ago and you can find them around @250 used (heavy to ship in two separate boxes, like most good stands; negotiate the ship with seller). Compete easily w/ Target R4's and are better looking with narrow front profile and round columns, which I think looks congruent with a small speaker like the LS35A. But its spiked (which are removeable)...

But dont let that deter you: get some protective brass discs for under the spikes from a dealer of Audiopoints cones. Others also have good metal discs out now, so look around the cone manufacturers for some. Good luck, its a great speaker.