speaker stands Vs ...

nandac

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Are speaker stands essential to get the best out of bookshelf speakers?

With a 1 1/2 year old running around throwing and toppling things, i am not that comfortable with expensive speakers sitting on stands.

Sitting speakers on a desk or bench seems safer.

What are the ways to get the best out of such a placement? Would isolation pads help?

Appreciate the insights.
 
IMO not having stands is not a deal breaker. More important is the tweeter height wrt to listening position. Some speakers will sound better at ear height, some higher and some lower. So that is the first criteria and is perhaps the most important function of stands to get proper tweeter height as tonality, soundstaging, imaging etc will be effected. Beyond that there are a lot of claims of heavy steel stand sounding better, lossy stands sounding better, wood vs metal vs marble vs granite etc. etc, which I believe is very subjective to the listener (Sonus faber makes a stand which has cararra marble bases and rest is made of wood and looks awesome). If you are placing on a table/desk put some isolation pads like rubber cabinet bumpers under the speaker and that should help.
Cheers,
Sid
 
There are many other factors to consider as well as Sids points. I'm just relating that in my experience...
I was forced to use my Klipsh powered monitors on a desk with isolation pads for years; then I was able to change that particular room around and deploy stands.
The difference in the low end tightness alone was highly significant. It made me realize that I had forgotten how good the monitors are.

I'd love to hear everyone's two cents about this and the methods that you personally favor.
 
I didn't have great furniture, was using rented furniture but moving to standalone 31" stands have greatly improved the sound. I don't have a technical term to describe it but on stands the speakers seem to have greater vertical coverage specially in sitting position. Would I spend 20K on speakers stands? Probably never. I got a DIY kit from Sanus USA. Atleast in my situation & assuming the setup lasts for 7-8 more years it was money (8k inc import duties) well spent.

Edit: Also with Speakers Stands I mess around with them distance between L/R Speaker placement. Desk wasn't large enough to accommodate more than 4 feet distance.

Here's another alternative if speaker stands are a hazard in your house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wQ5OV40CjM
 
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Obviously laws of physics in relation to sound waves will play a role i.e soundstage width is dependent on how wide you place speakers wrt to your listening position. You can't place speakers on a 4 foot wide desk and expect a 12 foot wide stage, nor can you place them 6 inches from the wall behind on a desk and expect any soundstage depth. Also there is the equilateral triangle placement technique etc. but these refer to speaker position wrt to your seat. However with that clear, just because you use steel stands vs some other method of mounting improvement in SQ is highly subjective imo. If heavy steel stands were going to make every book shelf speaker sound great then why wouldn't manufacturers recommend them or sell them with their speakers (some do but majority don't and there is no reference to type of stands in most manuals). And why only heavy metal stands, why not concrete which is heavier and more rigid than steel? Why steel filled with sand or lead pellets? Like I said sonus faber uses wood & marble stand. Also when they test these speakers in anechoic chambers they hardy use rigid steel stands, I have seen everything from flimsy aluminum supports, some jury rigged contraption which can hardly qualify as a stand rather than a support, to hanging speakers from ceiling/wall or simply placing them on the floor in these chambers - please see links and look at the supports they are placing these speakers on/ nor is there any reference to the support. Wouldn't these get the objective measurements wrong? Most important is the location of the speakers from the boundaries of the room, which is going to determine how they sound either in the chamber or in your room. Anyways just my experiences, I have had perhaps 15-20 pairs of bookshelf speakers and perhaps 10 pairs of different type of stands (I have 3 pairs of different types of stands right now). Never found anything concrete to recommend heavy stands vs anything else. Perhaps I am unable or not capable to hear the differences.
http://www.goodsound.com/features/pics/200811_bartonchamber_640w.jpg
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/test_loudspeakers.htm
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=kSmTNHqisUfI-M:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=-oLE36H1V-HJSM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=0i_smHDA-_u0jM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=4z6SdN9z2Mt38M:

Cheers,
Sid
 
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I would recommend the isolaters if its sitting on a desk. The bass tightens up quiet a bit surprisingly.

 
Obviously laws of physics in relation to sound waves will play a role i.e soundstage width is dependent on how wide you place speakers wrt to your listening position. You can't place speakers on a 4 foot wide desk and expect a 12 foot wide stage, nor can you place them 6 inches from the wall behind on a desk and expect any soundstage depth. Also there is the equilateral triangle placement technique etc. but these refer to speaker position wrt to your seat. However with that clear, just because you use steel stands vs some other method of mounting improvement in SQ is highly subjective imo. If heavy steel stands were going to make every book shelf speaker sound great then why wouldn't manufacturers recommend them or sell them with their speakers (some do but majority don't and there is no reference to type of stands in most manuals). And why only heavy metal stands, why not concrete which is heavier and more rigid than steel? Why steel filled with sand or lead pellets? Like I said sonus faber uses wood & marble stand. Also when they test these speakers in anechoic chambers they hardy use rigid steel stands, I have seen everything from flimsy aluminum supports, some jury rigged contraption which can hardly qualify as a stand rather than a support, to hanging speakers from ceiling/wall or simply placing them on the floor in these chambers - please see links and look at the supports they are placing these speakers on/ nor is there any reference to the support. Wouldn't these get the objective measurements wrong? Most important is the location of the speakers from the boundaries of the room, which is going to determine how they sound either in the chamber or in your room. Anyways just my experiences, I have had perhaps 15-20 pairs of bookshelf speakers and perhaps 10 pairs of different type of stands (I have 3 pairs of different types of stands right now). Never found anything concrete to recommend heavy stands vs anything else. Perhaps I am unable or not capable to hear the differences.
http://www.goodsound.com/features/pics/200811_bartonchamber_640w.jpg
SoundStage! Measurements - How we test loudspeakers...
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=kSmTNHqisUfI-M:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=-oLE36H1V-HJSM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=0i_smHDA-_u0jM:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=a...book+shelf+loudspeakers&imgrc=4z6SdN9z2Mt38M:

Cheers,
Sid

All of those things and thanks for the links. The point of my simplistic post was that sometimes we do not do the simple things correctly. Stands v Desk/TV Furniture is one thing; Stands v Stands another.

I appreciate the information regarding materials and how they affect sound. It's always interested me & I have considered buying glass stands etc etc which would fit my budget. But I would never that be
 
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