Wife-friendly speakers stands...

...are hard to find. Stands designed for the best sound can be pretty ugly, certainly to the female eye.

I've been trying to find some for my new Harbeth Compact 7's and literally nothing available in the UK is acceptable.

Comments from 'er indoors on the usual options:

1. Somthing Solid XF "Look like a 5th year metalwork project"
2. Atacama SL400 - "Ugly"
3. HNE Cableways - "Cherry wood + polished granite - look like kitchen units"

Much as I'd like to disagree, if I'm honest, she's spot on with those comments really.

What I also figured is that the base of the stands must be at least as wide as the speakers (275mm) for them not to look top-heavy.

Anyway, I turned to our friends in the good old USA for some attractive stands and BINGO - found these pretty cherry jobbies which the wife also approves of:



It's the ones on the right that I would go for (16" high) - and the width of the base plates - would you believe exactly 275mm!

So we're in - the only question being whether they will ship to the UK and how much it will cost. The stands themselves are pretty reasonable at $99.95.

Matt.

 

Hi Matt, jsut to give an idea, I am sure they will ship to UK.

Expect the cost to be at least, £40 I would guess, perhaps twice even!!

And don't forget blasted hm customs will sting you an xtra 17.5% of total, AND you will get a post office fee, too.

 

LCD, you forgot to mention that there's also the import duty which they stick on before they add the VAT. So you'd be looking at cost of item + cost of shipping on to which they add import duty. Then they take this value and add VAT at 17.5%. I don't know what they'd class speaker stands as though, furniture?, so you might be looking at a relatively small amount of duty or something horrendous. They don't have a UK/european stockist do they?

 

Importing a sub direct from the USA attracts import duty of 4% (of the cost of the item plus shipping) and then, as you say, it's 17.5% on top of that total.

Even if the shipping is £50 then add another £55 for the stands - even with 4% import tax and then 17.5% VAT your looking at under £130 - I'm sure it would cost twice this to get a pair made to order by a cabinetmaker over here.

No UK (or any non-US) distributor I'm afraid.

Matt.

p.s. if they won't ship to the UK I do have a Plan B which involves my wife's friend who lives in Boston.

 

Matt, if you use Plan B you could try and get away with marking the item as a gift which would remove the postage from the duty/VAT calculations, at least according to the information I have. At least 4% duty isn't too horrendous, and as you point out even paying duty and VAT your getting a pretty reasonable price. Here's hoping they'll ship them to the UK for a reasonable price.

 

they look really good Matt. Very tasteful.

Good value too.

 

Looks a bit low to me. You need to get the tweeters at ear level (this is about the extent of the advice Harbeth give about stands, but they do absolutely insist on it, for good reason that their speakers do sound best that way). I reckon you should be looking at 19 or 20 inch stands, unless you listen sitting low down.

-- Ian

 

I'll double check the measurements Ian but I figured that the C7's are 520mm high, the stands are 406mm, say 15mm for floor spikes/bluetack on top plates and you're looking at a total of 940mm which is high enough IMO - some floorstanders are taller than this but the majority are a tad shorter.

And don't forget that it's easier to slouch down a little than it is to 'sit to attention'.

Matt.

 

alas, now even gifts are not exempt from duties.
Apparently, the p.o. was a bit lax in submitting items to customs whilst in teething problems, but I think they are getting their act together.
I had a good bit of small stuff get thro' no probs, but an item from the states got caught, pity.
I am a bit miffed as I have returned it, but cannot get my tax back, that IMO is morally wrong and is theft. I do not benefit from the product, yet they keep what is not theirs. Is it any wonder people try to get away.

 

Matt,
Don't forget that the tweeter is actually quite a distance below the top of the speakers...
Another alternative would be to get lower stands and then tip the speaker back so the tweeters are aimed (more-or-less) at your ears.
This kind of glues you to a "sweetspot" but is effective and may be more wife-friendly.
I'm pretty sure you could get something made up locally in wood or metal for less hassle than the cost of sending from the US.

 

I've just made some wooden stands for the LS3/5As - very rigid and (I think) quite a nice design. They do require use of a router and a jigsaw, but they probably cost me about £20 for the wood (sandpaper, stain and clearcoat costs yet to come). If anyone is interested, I'll take a pikkie when No.1 daughter comes back from America with the digital camera (this week).

 

Well, I'd say the C7's tweeter is as close to the top as I have seen (B&W tweeter pods aside):



So I maintain that on 16" stands they will be fine. I'd say that 24" stands are for your mini monitors, 20" for your mid size (40cm tall) speakers and 16" for the 50cm models. You could even add to that list 12" stands for the bigger 60cm plus models - Spendor BC1, SP1/2, Harbeth Super HL5 etc.

And I'm not sure I could get a pair made up in solid cherry wood for less - maybe pine with a naff cherry stain on it but that's not what I'm after.

Anyway - the USA company have asked me for an exact address to work out the shipping cost so that's a promising start.

Matt.

 

Yeap. I always enjoy marveling at people DIY skill. The thread in the other forum on DIY loudspeakers is trully amazing.

 

Rest assured, Wolfgang, you will NOT marvel at my DIY skills!

 

I've got my C7s on very heavy 16†Target stands and they certainly work well, though I've not had any higher stands around to compare them against.



If you sit bolt upright with true military discipline then yes, the tweeter might be an inch or so too low in theory, but if you are a total slob like me it ends up about right.

Tony.

PS It's an old pic – the bi-wiring was definitely a mistake!

 

What is 16" in real money again
My C7s are on 60cm Sound Anchor stands (very similar to Tony's) on spikes on granite plinths. The reason for the last two is that I tend not to listen in a slouching position and need the tweeters up at a decent height.
Matt, those are decent looking stands, but I'm not convinced by that top plate. Probably won't make any audible difference though!

 

41cm (inc spikes), so mine are a good bit lower than yours - I bet they look pretty imposing on 60cm stands!

Tony.

 

My wife says something similar, but rather less politely
I should have gone for the SH5s; that way I could have had lower stands.
Isn't audiophool logic a wonderphool thing!

 

Well - the Yanks still haven't come back with a shipping price so I've had to get me some temporary stands.

Found these on ebay (and only half an hour away) - not bad for £17:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5715255136

I figure I should be able to get my money back should the pretty wooden ones come to fruition.

They're not quite what I was after but they'll do for now especially at that price.

Right - just need to get the shelves up and get the CD player.

Matt.