Buy the best speaker stands you can afford!

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by action pact, Feb 28, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    I looked at all of the stands you referenced, and from what I can see, the Target HS60-B WITH the stance plates is the best choice, in fact the only choice. When you say you have young children that pose a problem with turn over and the possibility of those KEF speakers falling on their heads, that is a very big problem. One of the first things I would consider is the ability to secure that KEF speaker to the speaker stand, possibly with velcro straps or patches, where if you child actually pushes the speaker, it won't fall off. Additionally, most accidents happen when the push comes from mid stand and the speaker just comes tumbling down. Even speaker stands I have made and filled with sand are subject to being pushed over, it is so extremely easy to do. No, I would feel most comfortable with the Target stands and stance plates and "solid" velcro strips or patches locking the bottom of that KEF speaker to the stand, it's not bullet proof, but it's "somewhat" child resistant. For your reference, I actually showed in this thread, the stands I built and covered to match my small Defenitive Tech bookshelf speakers, and they weigh about 70 pounds each, but because of their very small footprint, they could be easily turned over if a child leaned against them!
     
  2. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    I did see your post - nice work!

    Thankfully I have a dedicated room and the kids usually stay out, unless I'm in there. I've had stand-mounted speakers for the past 7 years in this room and, knock on wood, none have met their demise by toppling to the floor. When I had a pair of passive LS50s I had them on some heavy NHT P6 pedestals, secured to them via Blu-Tak. Currently it's a pair of B&W N805s on their custom stands.

    Curious as to why you feel the Target stands are the best of the bunch. I personally think the VTI might be the best option as their base is both wide (wider than the Targets WITH Stance Plates) and made of heavy cast-iron (like my current B&W stands). That combination of a large and heavy base makes for a much more stable platform.
     
  3. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
  4. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
  5. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    How are you liking your stands a year on? They're on my list of stands for my LS50Ws.
     
  6. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    skylans. noel is busy. you'll get them in ~ 1-1/2 weeks. fill with cat litter and they are quite stable. plus they are less than 385 with us - cad exchange. i think i paid 280 us or so.
     
  7. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    While perusing this thread (which I originated), I realized that I never posted about my new stands, although some of you have seen this elsewhere on the forum.

    I started thinking about getting 24" stands to replace the single-post 30" stands, and ended up with a pair of Pangea Audio DS400's, which are Chinese knock-offs of Targets.

    For only $199, these are excellent; my only criticism is the bottom plates tend to ring, so I'm going to line the bottoms with Dynamat, which should take care of that. I have the stands filled about 2/3rds with sand, and the speakers sound better than ever. Having the LS50's slightly below ear height (per the owner's manual) does smooth out the response and open up the soundstage.


    [​IMG]
     
    BigGame and wgb113 like this.
  8. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    @action pact Thanks for the update! I noticed the same thing the other night when I pulled my 24" Lovan stands out of my surround setup to see how the LS50Ws sounded lower than ear height. A quick measurement sweep showed an even smoother response. I still have a room mode I'm trying to iron out @ 100-115Hz but other than that the response is pretty nice.
     
    action pact likes this.
  9. germ79

    germ79 New Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Would you mind sharing more info on these with me? I'd like to know how they are constructed, if the speakers are decoupled from the stands (if so, how) and if you have any special feet on them.

    You can PM me if you prefer.
    Thank you!
     
  10. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    Well, the stands are made of thick wood, all glued and screwed together, they are so solid. The tops came from the wood scrap pile and a very thick, I chose anything to just get the job done. They were painted black then covered with a material that almost perfectly matched the Definitive Tech speakers I owned. The stands are completely filled with sand, making them weigh about 70 pounds each. The are totally and completely acoustically dead as a hammer, like having a speaker sitting on concrete, so acoustically, they are not there. In regard to decoupling the speaker from the stand, it would not matter if it was decoupled or not, as I said, the stands are dead. Since the stands were placed on hardwood floors, I purchased some large soft pads where they could move around on the hardwood and not scratch anything. On the top of the stands, I used the same sticky pads where the speaker could sit on those round pads, and believe me, that is all the decoupling you would ever need. The stands were a pain in the butt to make, and very heavy, but they are solid as a rock and are a complete visual match for either set of my speakers. :wave:
     
  11. germ79

    germ79 New Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Thank you for this! The previous post said the tops are 1-1/2" thick wood on top and bottom...what about
    the sides? Did you seal the seams inside? Did you wrap fabric directly on the wood or did you make any kind of frame to let the fabric sit off of the wood a bit? Just screwed together so you can access the sand if need be? What would you recommend for feet if it were going on carpet with a concrete subfloor?

    I appreciate your time!
     
  12. wgb113

    wgb113 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chester County, PA
    FWIW I went with the VTI stands.
    Fit and finish they're a 7/10. They have a glossier finish than the B&W FS805 stands and the quality of the bolts, spikes just isn't as nice. Everything went together fine and I've filled them 3/4 of the way with aquarium sand I'm using BluTak to couple the speakers to the stands.
     
  13. germ79

    germ79 New Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    LiteJazz53, wondering if you could answer my previous post in regards to details of your stands? Wasn't sure if maybe you missed it. Thank you!
     
  14. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    I thought I answered, it's posted here. I have copied and pasted, is this what you are looking for?

    Well, the stands are made of thick wood, all glued and screwed together, they are so solid. The tops came from the wood scrap pile and a very thick, I chose anything to just get the job done. They were painted black then covered with a material that almost perfectly matched the Definitive Tech speakers I owned. The stands are completely filled with sand, making them weigh about 70 pounds each. The are totally and completely acoustically dead as a hammer, like having a speaker sitting on concrete, so acoustically, they are not there. In regard to decoupling the speaker from the stand, it would not matter if it was decoupled or not, as I said, the stands are dead. Since the stands were placed on hardwood floors, I purchased some large soft pads where they could move around on the hardwood and not scratch anything. On the top of the stands, I used the same sticky pads where the speaker could sit on those round pads, and believe me, that is all the decoupling you would ever need. The stands were a pain in the butt to make, and very heavy, but they are solid as a rock and are a complete visual match for either set of my speakers.

    I do see you had a few more questions. The only time I would empty these is in the event I sold them, at which time I would simply drill a large hole in the bottom of the back and let the sand drain out, it can easily be replaced. In regard to the sides, I want to say they are between 5/8" and 7/8" think. Everything is glued together with carpenter wood glue and screwed with wood screws. I painted the outside black before wrapping the stands with the matching black fabric that I bought at a fabric store. I used mine on hardwood and placed those large carpet like protectors with sticky stuff on one side, so I'm not sure what to advise you on spikes or feet for carpet, but you can use whatever you like. When you paint the wood black, nothing shows through the fabric, which is what you want. I actually called Definitive Tech and asked them to send me a couple of name plates and they did, which made everything look even better. They loved the stands! I sent them a pic.:wave:
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2017
  15. germ79

    germ79 New Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for! :righton:
     
  16. Johnny Moondog

    Johnny Moondog Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Just wanted to bump this topic with some recent experience.

    In November I ordered a pair of the new KEF Performance Speaker Stand (black finish) for my LS50 Wireless speakers. But when I attempted to assemble the stands I discovered they had a defect.

    The two bottom plates both had large irregular markings across the top surface. These markings were located where a tight band of packing tape was used to fasten the bottom and top plates together with pieces of foam.

    After looking closely, it appeared that the markings were created by the plastic bag being pressed onto the plate’s surface by the tight band of packing tape. So, perhaps the plate finish was not properly cured and dry when it was packed into the plastic bags?

    KEF informed me they had not encountered this issue before, and so I returned the Performance Speaker Stands for an exchange. The new stands arrived today and they have the same defect. So I will be returning this second pair as well.

    I'm curious to know if anyone has ordered these new stands and received a pair without this issue.

    Cheers!
     
  17. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    It's either not cured or the finish material is of a soft nature. For example, paint is softer than catalyzed lacquer.
     
  18. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Whew! For a second there I thought you had written, "catalyzed liquor"!!! :D
     
  19. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Well, one can get a catalyzed liver from drinking liquor.
     
  20. Black Elk

    Black Elk Music Lover

    Location:
    Bay Area, U.S.A.
    Ain't that the truth! {hic} Cheers! :D
     
  21. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Years ago I needed a pair of stands to support a pair of Koss CM/1020 speakers. Now those are big floorstanders to start with so nothing off-the-shelf was going to work.

    So I drafted up a simple set of plans that involved 1/4" plate steel for the base (big area) and top (just big enough for the speaker), connected by 4" square 1/4" thick steel tubing, which I took to a welding / fab shop. It was all welded together and the top plate had a 1/4" hole drilled through it over the top of the tube, which was then filled with a lot of sand. Sanded, primed and painted satin black. Felt pads under the base protected the hardwood flooring underneath. A sheet of no-slip shop rubber under each speaker kept them securely positioned on the top plate.

    I was younger then but carrying one around took a lot of effort - especially up or down a flight of stairs. Today I'd get help if I ever needed to move them from my basement storage area.

    They are super solid, resonance-free, look great, and only cost ~$200 for the pair.

    Jeff
     
  22. Litejazz53

    Litejazz53 Perfect Sound Through Crystal Clear Digital

    Homemade is always a fun project, about $45.00 for the pair, and some work.
    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
     
    bluemooze likes this.
  23. Darwin1984

    Darwin1984 Active Member

    Location:
    Carlsbad, Ca.
    The Pangeas are an attractive price point but there are a lot of complaints on Amazon about poor quality.
     
  24. action pact

    action pact Music Omnivore Thread Starter

    They do leak sand, so I advice sealing them.
     
  25. jphabc54

    jphabc54 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NoVa
    With all these great recommendations for LS50 stands, can anyone identify the best of the bunch that also happens to come in white?

    I'd strongly prefer something in the VTI/VSP single pillar style (Speaker Stand VSP Series - VTI Manufacturing )

    Is the best option out there the KEF Performance Speaker stand? Those have the right look--and are fillable--but is there something better in that style (in white!) at that price point?

    Thanks
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine