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Raising standmount speakers

My main system is in the media room and consists of Harbeth SHL5+ resting on stands that are 18 inches high (as recommended by Harbeth). When we were building the house this room was meant to be a proper media room. So we had the builder make a platform in the back 1/4th portion of the room to get the stadium seating effect. The platform is about 8 inches higher than the rest of the floor area. My listening chair (actually couch) is placed atop the platform. The problem is that in this listening position my ears are a little above the tweeter level.

I'm looking for suggestions on how to raise the speaker stands by 4-6 inches without breaking the bank or the aesthetics of the room. The room is fully carpeted by the way.

P.S. - please don't suggest removing the platform. We still plan to put a theater setup in there some day ... although, I'm running out of excuses to postpone the decision. I would much rather keep it as a dedicated 2-channel listening room, but the rest of the family is not too thrilled. The thought of just getting rid of the family has certainly crossed my mind though ...
128x128arafiq
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,387 posts
 
"The main difference is that the music gets a tiny bit more immersive and the soundstage gets a bit taller when I lower my head."

Yes, that's what happens when you add a slight uptilt to many speakers.

Now try it by actually raising the front of the speakers in order that they react differently to the room as well as your ears/listening position.

Difficult to tell from photos, but the speakers look as if they already have a bit of uptilt.

DeKay
Post removed 
rego
378 posts
 
Please note that many ( most ) Loudspeakers have diminished power power ( off axis ) horizontal and vertical power output ( volume ).
Listening in my ’ Room ’ I notice these effects more moving my listening position (ears) closer / farther away as well as vertically.
But my listening position is more like an equal triangle ( not precisely ) as opposed to using the full length of the room.
You may want to reposition / placement for a better effect.
arafiq's avatar
arafiq OP
1,599 posts
 
Thanks for some great advice! I want to emphasize that the sound that I'm getting right now is pretty damn good! But like most of you here I'm trying to eke out that last bit of fidelity from my speakers. 

I tried to tilt the speakers a bit today, but didn't notice much of a difference. Maybe I should leave it at good enough? I don't want to increase the tilt angle any further because TBH it looks rather silly and I'm afraid the speakers will be too unstable and might topple over at some point.

For now, I'm going to wait for used IcoAcoustics Gaia footers to show up in the use market. Really appreciate the wonderful advice and tips.
conlad
36 posts
 
arafiq: As someone else suggested above, shims should solve your problem, as they did for me before I bought purpose built speaker stands to replace some Ikea stools that I had been using. I’m talking about cheap plastic shims that you can buy at a hardware or home improvement store. Cost will be less than $10 easily, and you can vary the tilt angle to suit your ears. Please try this before spending $200 or more. 
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