To bolt Standmounts to stands, or not?

Just an update on this; I decided to try IsoAcoustics Gaia III’s under my speakers/stands. I was able to get a discount on 2x 4 Gaia III sets. Haven’t received them yet, but will update once I’ve received and fitted them.

I had to email Triangle re: thread size on the stands, as it wasn’t noted anywhere. They got back to me super quick to say the stand threads were M8; so that’s good, no esoteric thread sizes 👍, and the Gaia’s ship with M8 bolts.

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions; from reading more on Triangle Web pages and downloads, the design choice to bolt the speakers to the dedicated stands is a deliberate one, so I will stick with this set up. 

I will deliberate on what to place under the stand feet though. Herbie's products are looking like a good cheaper alternative to IsoAcoustics Gaia

Thanks guys 👍

If you are not going to hard attach the speaker to the stands, I think the best thing to place between them is the Atacama Isolation Gel Pads. They sound great, are cheap, and available in black and clear. They do not make a mess like blu-tac and last forever.

SPEAKER STANDS setup .. this is a bespoke OEM issue. In brief , it depends.

- whether you lock them down to proprietary stands is entirely a bespoke TRIANGLE OEM design issue . Follow the TRIANGLE OEM recommendation, ….whatever they say goes, and .in your case , it’s a “yes”.

- In stark 180 degree contrast, HARBETH strongly recommends an open, airy and floating contact 4-point stand approach, specifically TonTraeger speaker stands.

TAKEAWAY

- one size does not fit all.

- Again, just follow what the manufacturer recommends, and ignore all the rest of the anecdotal noise.

Security concerns aside, every standpoint speaker I’ve owned required it’s own stand interface to sound their best to my ears. Some sounded best when blu-tak’d firmly to the stands, others on small wood blocks, on and on. Same with the stand bases. For years, everyone said speaker stands must be rigidly spiked to the floor, but now, many swear by springy Townsend platforms, which let the speakers rock significantly. So what to do? IMO, start with what the manufacturer suggests and listen for a few weeks. Then try something else and see if you like it more or less. Ultimately, it just had to sound good to you. But if you have animals and/or kids, go for a secure mounting system.

I have some stand mount paranoia too. My dog knocked over my BC1.

It land flush on its side on carpet. Missed my sub by 1/2" 

I started to admire the Dynaudio stands with a wider stance.

A backup would be a safety wire connected to the ceiling from

the speaker. 

Is that like wearing a belt with suspenders?

Back to the permanent mount question. I had a pair of the Cometes here

last month and noticed the extra thought they gave to the mounting system.

A great speaker too!

The OP may want to direct his question directly to Triangle as they

have clearly investigated the symbiotic relationship of stand to speaker.

My guess is they will say a heavy stand is better than a light one but to

inextricably bind the two together-no. Isoacoustics is your ticket. 

Please post what you learn.

In my case, I built a set of speakers that weighed in at about 40 pounds each. They sat atop heavy stands that probably weighed about the same. In spite of that, I wasn't totally comfortable setting the speakers one the stands by themselves. I found out only a short time later that I was right to do this. A guest bumped into one of the speakers making it rock on the three footed stand. In spite of his apology, imagine if were a toppling thing, and right down onto the power amp. etc. it goes! Now, having said this, I cannot confirm that the sound is better or not this way, as I have only used them like this. I like the idea that they are coupled to very beefy stands filled with lead shot though. 

Wow, thanks for all the advice and suggestions guys, really appreciate it!!! 🙏

The Herbie's products look great; I will be trying these out. 

@mitch2 thanks for the detailed advice on these 👍

@erik_squires thanks for the advice 👍

@yeti42 not sure about torque values, I don't recall anything from Triangle on this, but will double check, and maybe try adjusting. Thanks for the Herbie's advice too. I think I will be trying their products out.

Thanks again guys, very much appreciated; I've gained more benefit than all the reading I've done previously 😊

Is there a torque value for the bolts? If not that’s something else to experiment with.

I tried it with speakers and stands that weren’t intended for bolting but not for long.

I find the small Herbie's that take a spike very useful for speaker positioning particularly on smooth floors but I’ve only used them with floor standers,. The Titanium were slightly better than the brass I thought but with both there’s a hint of harshness until bedded in, a week or two sees it off.

Something that would be easy and relatively inexpensive to try, along with a 60-day trial period, would be to place Herbie’s Audio Lab Thin Fat Dots between the bottoms of your speakers and their associated stands, bolt the speakers to the stands, and then use one of the following Herbie’s products (in order of my preference) beneath the four corners of your stands and the wooden floor.

• Giant Fat Gliders
• Threaded Stud Gliders (Giant)
• Cone/Spike Decoupling Glider (Giant)

I used LOCTITE fun-tak mounting putty (and never looked back). Its name may vary, like Bluetac in Europe?

You want to minimize contact area with the floor as well as minimize the ability of the speakers to rock back and forth as they play.  There should be zero play front to back when placed properly.

The lighter the speaker, and the taller the stand the more of a problem this becomes.

If that's what Triangle themselves recommend and that's what the purpose built stands were designed for, then the answer is staring you in the face.

In any case it looks as if Triangle have encorporated plenty of decoupling into the arrangement already.

The consensus nowadays, one that I totally agree with, seems to be that decoupling is better than spikes.