Speaker Stands

[Billiam62]

What is the difference between heavy duty wood and steel stands in terms of the impact of the sound of a pair of speakers? Does one type present an advantage over the other?

[Hyfi]

cost, looks, and with most metal stands, you can fill them with sand or shot.

I am sure depending on what speaker you are talking about, there may be a preference but if just run of the mill speakers in a non high end system, it will just be personal preference.

[TheHills44060]

I find that both metal and wood stands function fine as long as they are built well. I've used a high quality wood stand and a high quality metal stand with the same speaker and i couldn't tell the difference sonically.

You will want a stand with a top plate substantial enough to support the speaker used and something that sits on the ground with stability. No reason to get an ugly stand either as you can have both form and function. Some have cable management built in, interchangeable footers/spikes, etc...

As long as they are heavy duty like you say I generally don't see a big advantage one over the other.

[tony340]

Guys my old paradigm studio 20's sit on mission stancette stands. The stand base is smaller than the speaker. About one inch smaller on either side. Is this something thats common or is it an absolute must for bookshelves to have stands with the same size base?

[Hyfi]

does not have to be same size, but you wont want a 5" square top for a speaker that is 12 inched deep.

[tony340]

Yeah certainly, mine have a couple of inches clearance from the front and back, and a little bit less than an inch from either side. I will post a pic