'Best' speaker stands ??

I have no clue about speaker stands.
Which ones are the best for the sound quality of a system.

Price has no importance.

PS: Bouncing floor!!!

 

It all depends...

IME different speaker stands make a surprising difference to the sound of a speaker. Lots of different factors: open-frame versus solid, top spikes versus blutack, top plate versus no top plate, etc, etc. What is best for a particular speaker depends a lot on personal taste I think, and also on the kind of floor they're sitting on (wood, concrete, carpet, no carpet, etc). I like open-frame stands with my Harbeths and my previous ATCs, but that's probably not a general rule.

If you're thinking about new stands for your speakers they'd have to be capable of taking a pretty serious weight! What does Nestorovic recommend?

-- Ian

 

I think it depends a lot on the speakers. There is no absolute best. I have a feeling I know where this thread is going to end up unfortunately

Michael.

 

Michael, then I give you the authorization to cancel those postings in my thread which I consider OT.

 

Ian,
at the moment it is difficult to talk to him: he had a stroke!

 

I'd be tempted to say something like the granite HNE Cableways (£400 plus) and I have heard that the absolute ultimate material to use is slate.

However, as the others have said it can depend upon the speaker in question, some apparently being happier on open type stands.

Matt.

 

Although I know very little about speaker stands, surely the sensible thing to say is that there is no such thing as the 'best' stand. So many factors could come into play, as to how well the stand/speaker/floor/room/cabling etc. all work and gel together. Also, there is the matter of what might sound 'best' or 'optimal' to one person, could not be to another person's liking.

 

Well then let's put it this way. A stand that doesn't cause resonances or doesn't ring? A stand that doesn't 'colour' the sound in one way or the other?

 

Hang them from the ceiling for the lowest rocking resonance freq.
But you need to damp the wire with something frictional to stop it from resonating .

 

Titian get some commisioned maybe made from granite/marble they would need to be at least as heavy as your speeks to prevent them being top heavy and tipping over, surely the nestovics are big and heavy enough not to need stands.

WM reccomends stillpoints under speakers have you tried these?

And remember ther is always ****!

 

70Kgs attached to wooden ceiling (several 15cm wide wooden 'stripes). I don't know how you call them in english. Ian, Lee and graham have seen it. I don't know if it will take 70Kgs.

Damping wires with what???

 

I would like to try the stands before buying anything. That's a problem when commisioned.

 

I was firstly going to suggest the dreaded word , especially as cost was no problem .
Then I noticed the bouncy floor remark , so I thought of a solid stand on a couple of seismic sinks .
Then I remembered that townshend actually make seismic sink speaker stands . I seem to remember that they were dear (£500 ish) , but to my mind if you,ve got bouncing floors then only an air support will do .(imho)

 

I would also go for a Sink type stand (for wooden floors) for decoupling, and for cabinet resonance reduction I would have a Still points cradle made, I've seen/heard these with 2 sets of speakers each weighing well over 100Kgs, the results (for those who have a open mind) were far from subtle, the amount of difference was suffient for me to make some myself

 

From http://www.ifdesigns.co.uk are very good and highly regarded, especially in the reference version. It may be worth speaking to Roger Stone.

 

Kermit, WM,
do you have some links?
Thanks

 

heres a link
http://www.townshendaudio.com/

It,s not much of a website , not a lot of detail .
I,ve had a little look for the speaker stands , but can,t find them .
Basically they look like the big seismic hifi stand only err smaller .
It,s probably worth emailing townshend and asking for some information , although Tony might be able to furnish you with a bit more detail .

 

I don't need to use sink type stands as I have a concrete floor, however on wooden floors, I would say some form of air platform decoupling is a must.
These are rather good, we even use these in the other part of the company for non audio applications on sensitive measuring equipment
http://www.stillpoints.us/1Pages/Stillpoints_products.html

 

What is that?
My speakers must be about 56cm from the floor an only with the stillpoints it won't go.
I know about the principle of the still points since the Cerabase which I have for my turntable have the same principle. I have also the Valid points from Walker Audio but they are more usefull for isolating closed components, not so good as the Cerabase for under racks, loudspeakers and so on.

WM do you mean something like Lee suggested with 3 stillpoints (or Cerabase) under it? Or two sets of stillpoints/cerabase, one under the stand and the other between stand and loudspeakers?

 

I have walker valid points as well, I'd take the still points anyday (IMHO).
How I would go about it, have a steel plate fabricated to fit your speaker, with a 90 degree lip at the rear approx 4-6inches high, that runs along the lenght of the speaker, here place 2 or 3 still points horizontally so in essence the rear face of the speaker rests on the stillpoints, the other 3 or 4 ontop of the sink style platform under fabicated plinth/bracket, this stops the speaker from moving across the floor when hitting warp 11 on the volume button, I have seen a 120Kg speaker move under serious volume levels, the fabicated bracket and rear mounted still points make a mucho difference.
Normally just this is sufficent, however wooden floors neccessitate the use of a sink type decoupling isolation unit.