Bookshelf speaker stands....nice to have or necessity?

What is the point of bookshelf speakers on thumping gert stands when floorstanders have virtually the same footprint?

 

There are a few reasons, some valid and some not. The notion they take up less floor space is in the not column. You can chalk that one up to a trick of the eye. Cost is often a valid reason, but after factoring in the price of good stands and a sub to fill out the bottom the cost factor flies out the window. Unfortunately, a lot of folks don't think good stands are necessary.

 

True, but placement close to walls will also compromise imaging depth and possibly also cause smearing. Room treatments can help in that regard.

Placement near windows is never advised, due to reflections (unless you have thick curtains or something).

 

It’s more about the volume of air needed to energize a room.
Sometimes floor standers just end up creating too much pressure which can be fatiguing.

 

Before you change anything, how does your system sound to you NOW? Is it boomy? Is it lacking in some part of the frequency range? Is it muffled? Does imaging seem off?

Looking at your photos, I'm not so sure that stands would make a spit of difference. The rule of thumb is that tweeters should be at or close to ear level, which yours seem to be. Before investing in stands or anything else, try towing in your speakers slightly so they're aimed more directly at the primary listening positions. See if that has a positive effect on stereo imaging. You can also try moving them a little closer together and see what that does. Similarly, you may be able to nudge them forward an inch or two to try to gauge if positioning them further from the back wall would improve anything.

As some have already said, the biggest advantage to using stands might be the flexibility they give you regarding speaker placement/positioning, but I would try just moving them a little first to get a better idea of what you might or might not gain by buying stands and rearranging your room.

 

The sound isn't bad at all. I am happy in general. I have toed them in and played with that back and forth a bit, and honestly it does make a difference. Right now I have them basically pointing at the shoulders of the listener.
In regards to moving them out from the wall, they are right at about 16 inches from the back wall, which are those wood blinds you see hanging in back. They are front ported, I had the old pair that were rear ported and I can definitely tell a difference.

The one thing I have noticed, is the bass is not as defined or punchy as it was in old room setup? Is that the right word? It seems less defined (not sure what the right term is for this). I am basing this on the old setup. The bass is definitely still there! Just less definition, it sort of rolls off? Does that make sense?

 

Might I make a small suggestion? There are a couple of aspects to those shelving units in terms of the actual materials the speakers are resting on that are probably not helping the bottom end. On the one hand there is a disconnect between the speakers and the floor and on the other a rather light weight structure to the top panel of the shelf material that probably dissipates the bass and leads to less focus. So it seems to me that one either improves isolation from the shelves on the one hand or adds some mass under the speakers to better couple things.

 

Having played around mostly with surround sound systems lately I've used speaker stands to get the correct listening height. I'm personally not convinced that the material of the stand makes that much difference other than a stand with a heavier base is less likely to fall over (kids, animals) but that's just my opinion. I'm guessing if you had stands that were the same footprint as the speakers and more boxy in design maybe they could imparts some kind of sonic harmonic but I've always used poles with a pad for the speaker to sit on and no mater which ones I used the speakers always sounded the same to me.

 

These were pretty much my observations.

There is nothing magic about a stand, as compared to a heavy cabinet, which your cabinet's appear to be.

The stand affords you a "portable" cabinet, like you already seem to have. That is really the difference.

Your speaker's might sound better (and in all probability will), if they are pulled out from the walls, placed closer together, and with nothing between them.

Being away from room boundaries, and properly positioning them, will be more important than placing them on stands.

This will give you much better imaging.

But if your room utilization does not lend itself to individual speaker stands, then position you bookshelf speaker's the best that you can, withing the space that you have available.

Most of the time, when I am using bookshelf speakers (and I have several pairs of them), I am using them, because I don't have the space for tower's. This also means that I also don't have the space for stands and to properly position the speaker's, so I set them on a dresser, or what ever I have available in the room.

This main thing that I like about bookshelf speaker's is their imaging. But, unfortunately, you only achieve this, when you can put them on stands and properly position them into the listening room.

If I had your room set up, I would set the bookshelf speaker's up the exat same way that you have done.

Maybe a bit closer together?

 

Random but slightly on topic - what do you guys consider to be the “right” or “ideal” height for stand/speaker combo?

 

I think the point is for the speakers to be at the level of your head. For monitors this is more or less obvious. As far as towers go, it seems to me you have to get them off the floor high enough to stop booming and other artifacts that come from proximity to and coupling with the floor.

 

As I said earlier, the tweeters should be as close to ear level as possible. That's because our ability to hear high frequencies properly is highly dependent on the dispersion characteristics of the tweeters and the direction and degree to which the listener is off-axis relative to the speaker.

 

Generally speaking, you should set the speakers on something to get them about at ear level, and then move your head up and down to find the best height for you and the speaker, then buy, construct, or modify stands accordingly.

 

Bookshelves are not a convenience version of floorstanders, they are a different design altogether and have different sonic characteristics (eg they image better).

 

Hi Chester, I’d take SandAndGlass’s advice and move them a little closer together - and think about buying some thick granite plinths ( in the UK on EBay some kitchen worktop suppliers now sell off-cut pairs for speakers - some cheap, some a little more with nice curved edges etc). Then I’d get 4 sorbothane feet under each plinth, and perhaps the same under the speakers as well. Or blu-tac may well do! In my past experiences of having to put standmounts on wooden shelves (a different place to where o live now) this has made quite a difference in quality of bass, and sharpened up clarity as a result. I will agree with others that you can’t beat a quality stand (which I do have now) but in your space it may not be as necessary as it is in my current space. Nice looking space btw...

 

Stands vs a shelf that is not usually over 8 feet long has the option of exact placement for best sound. Plus various stand height allow the tweeter height to be same as ear height as usually placed. My speakers sounds best about 11 feet apart and 12" from the wall with rear facing bass ports in my listening room.

 

I like the way that bookshelf speaker's image better than floorstander's, (when properly positioned, within a proper space).

 

Just from looking at the room placement, I would think that bringing them a bit closer together, about the center of each of the record shelves.

This would bring the away from the side walls a bit more.

Their height appears to be fine.

 

My room is 19 feet wide, speakers are far from end walls.

 

I have some nice stands but I’ve also used cinder blocks bought from Home Depot, the single hole ones ( 3 per stand) painted black and arranged however I felt. Because of my personality I didn’t care that they were cinder blocks and actually thought they looked cool.

 

I've done the same and was going to suggest the OP try that as an inexpensive experiment.

 

Okay, so tonight I am going to really play with moving them forward a bit and closer together...... also might look into a plinth of some sort? I will report back, thank you for all the tips!

 

So I moved the two shelves out from the wall about 6 inches forward. I also pulled the speakers in about 7 inches on each side so they are closer to the record player and tipped them inward a touch more to align them with the shoulders of the listener. It makes a difference for sure. It opened things up a bit and the frustrating thing was that I didn't even realize that the sound was a bit ....muddy before in comparison. Bass is still not as tight and punchy, but better than before the adjustment. The improvements sound great.

All of this said, it's a gradual improvement, like everything else with audio. There are only a few things that bring a true wow factor to the table. This isn't WOW! It is more "Oh, I like that, it made a difference...", which is great in the grand scheme of things.

So thanks for the eyes and suggestions all.

 

Be happy. The Elac B6 2.0's have front facing bass ports, meaning that they can be used close to the rear wall, more so than most speaker's with rear facing bass ports.

This make using stands further out into the room, less of an issue. Though the imaging would still beneifit from stands and the better position that they afford.

On the subject of "affording", there is only so much performance, such as tight and punchy bass, that you are going to get out of a $260 pair of bookshelf speaker's.

I doubt that placing them on stands will improve them much in the bass department.

A decent pair of stands would likely cost as much as your speaker's. Save your money.

If you are still curious, do a @Manimal has suggested and pick up some concrete blocks.

Best to save your $$$ for your next set of speaker's.

I would rather place a better pair of speaker's on the shelves that you already have, than, for the same money, put your current speaker's on expensive stand's.

 

Well said. Agree 100%.