Floor Standing vs. Stands

[poppachubby]

Hey All!!

After reading the Realistic Mach One Thread, which by the way, I'm sure will go down in audio forum history, I started thinking about a pair of speakers I have.

They are like many other of their day, boxed with a 10 inch woofer and small tweeter. Specifically these are Avant 715. The dimensions of the speaker is approx. 20" H * 12" W * 11" D. They don't stand terribly high, so to enhance the bass a bit and help the sound I made some small stands for them out of compressed board and some black veneer. The stands elevate them 6" from the ground.

The Mach One thread addressed the issue of stands at one point, and some interesting suggestions came up. I am just curious what some of your requirements are for needing stands or not. Secondly, when elevating a speaker, what rules of thumb do you apply in terms of appropriate height, etc. Are the stands I've built acceptable, or even needed at all?

Look forward to your feedback, I have posted a couple of pics...

http://gallery.audioreview.com/uploads/audio/284153/DSC02402.JPG

http://gallery.audioreview.com/uploads/audio/284153/DSC02403.JPG

BTW, these look better than when I received them, if you can believe it, slowly "restoring" them...

[Hyfi]

Tweeter should be at ear level if speakers are perpendicular to floor. Using your stands, drop a laser pointer on the top of the speaker pointing towards where you sit and see if the light is at ear level when you are sitting there.

Also, with speaks as big as those in pic, getting them up off the floor probably increased bass clarity and got rid og the congested muffled bass.

[poppachubby]

Tweeter should be at ear level if speakers are perpendicular to floor. Using your stands, drop a laser pointer on the top of the speaker pointing towards where you sit and see if the light is at ear level when you are sitting there.

Also, with speaks as big as those in pic, getting them up off the floor probably increased bass clarity and got rid og the congested muffled bass.

Thanks Hy-Fi...yes there was audible improvement in the bass, as well as mor4e clarity in the highs. These are definitely not high enough by your standard, 02audionoob gave me the same advice as you, I will increase the height today.

[JoeE SP9]

For really cheap and "dirty" speaker stands try cinder blocks wrapped in black plastic trash bags. The trash bags make the cinder blocks look much better.

Tweeters at ear height makes the sound right.

[02audionoob]

For really cheap and "dirty" speaker stands try cinder blocks wrapped in black plastic trash bags. The trash bags make the cinder blocks look much better.

Seems like the weight and stiffness of cinder blocks would help the sound, too.

[poppachubby]

For really cheap and "dirty" speaker stands try cinder blocks wrapped in black plastic trash bags. The trash bags make the cinder blocks look much better.

Tweeters at ear height makes the sound right.

I think I can do a little better than cinder blocks wrapped in bags. I'll share with you guys in the DIY section when I'm done, cut and sanded the wood tonight...

[dakatabg]

I am reading your posts and you guys make me buy speaker stands now! I am not a big fan of them but If it makes the bass and the sound better I will try to do that and see how it will sound. thanks guys!

[02audionoob]

I am reading your posts and you guys make me buy speaker stands now! I am not a big fan of them but If it makes the bass and the sound better I will try to do that and see how it will sound. thanks guys!

The sturdier the better. Stiffness and weight matter.

[blackraven]

The sturdier the better. Stiffness and weight matter.


My wife says the same thing!:blush2: :blush2: :blush2:

[02audionoob]

You should be in the thread about the large rack! :ihih:

[poppachubby]

Got the speakes up on stands and the results were quite impressive. Way more depth and soundstage are now audible. Thanks alot guys...here's a pic of my main room. I built the stands, I am putting together a thread for the DIY room. Looks chaotic, but it's my piece of the rock, and at the very least, my house! Hahaha, you guys know what I'm talkin about...no wife zone for all things gauty and manly.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Looking good Fatdad.

If I may, you should move your TT away from your receiver. I would suggest a minimum of 6". With your obvious woodworking skills, you should be able to rig something up in a jiffy.

Cheers,
LDB

[poppachubby]

Looking good Fatdad.

If I may, you should move your TT away from your receiver. I would suggest a minimum of 6". With your obvious woodworking skills, you should be able to rig something up in a jiffy.

Cheers,
LDB

Funny you say that, I was just considering some basic racking at Home Depot a couple of days ago. I presume you mean 6 inches up? Been trying to square away some of my more naughty habits...got the good connects, speakers are standing in both rooms, now a rack I guess. I actually have a better set up than that. The amp you see is a Marantz that I recently hooked in, just laziness...

[theebadone]

When you get the tweeters to ear level, try experimenting with how far away from the wall you place them. After you get them sounding the way you like them, try a little, toe in, and toe out. Until you get them just right to YOUR ears

[hermanv]

My friend and I spent a long time designing and building our own speakers. Much to our surprise woofer to floor distance was important, even with the same volume and overall height ported bass box.

For our design 18" was about right. (10" Scan Speak 25W/8565-01, 160 liter box, measured response turns over at about 20 Hz).

[JoeE SP9]

I am reading your posts and you guys make me buy speaker stands now! I am not a big fan of them but If it makes the bass and the sound better I will try to do that and see how it will sound. thanks guys!

You can try some cheap stands. A couple of milk crates can do in a pinch. Cinder blocks wrapped up in plastic trash bags work quite well. The trash bags make then look less agricultural. They are very rigid and with stands rigid is good. More rigid is even better. More rigid with spikes, better still. There are several benefits other than making the bass better that stands give. Having the tweeters at ear level will make the midrange clearer and cleaner sounding. You will have less interference with floor reflections from the tweeter. Soundstaging and imaging should also improve. Unless a speaker is specifically designed for floor placement it will almost always sound better on a stand. Virtually all "bookshelf" speakers are designed to be stand mounted and will sound much better when on stands.