Speaker Stands

Hmm. You've given me a lot to think about. I believe Alan Shaw, who designs Harbeth speakers, does recommend tweeters at (or about) ear height. I'm sure the correspondence at listening distance doesn't need to be exact, but an 8" difference (which is what the Skylan stands would produce in my listening space) seems a lot. I spend some time on the Harbeth forum; perhaps I will ask the question there and see what Alan says (if he answers me himself).

 

A local dealer I frequent always uses the solid Sound Anchor stands and sorbothane blue dots for demo'ing their stand mount speakers. Even in a typical suspended floor room similar to a home bedroom, the stands always lets the speakers deliver their best rock solid bass response. It is a noticeable lasting impression every time I have been there.
Unfortunately they are more expensive than I want to pay so I ordered the Skylan stands and filled them with cat litter. Acceptable but not quite the same as the Sound Anchors.

 

8" is not a lot (and it's that "ear height" is only a guideline), as long as you're at least 6' away from the front baffles of the speakers. I suspect you're a lot farther away than that.

 

There may actually be a barely measurable technical difference between the Skylan stands as you've set them up and the Sound Anchors, but I'd bet real money that the difference is so far below the threshold of audibility that it's utterly irrelevant. I think the Skylan stands are excellent products. Great choice.

 

No advice on the stands as my Focal's are floor standing so no need. However; if you choose one that can be filled to increase mass and if you want to fill them I suggest the following. Google steel shot. It is available in a variety of sizes and at very attractive pricing. It is non corrosive, non toxic (vrs. lead shot to be avoided at least by me) and provides a mass/density adequate to load a hollow stand. I prefer it over sand, kitty litter or any other possibly absorbent materials. It is easy to handle (I use a funnel of appropriate size to the shot) and a simple wad of felt or cotton secures the tight pack before to cap it put on the stand tube. I have used it many times over the years to load mass to friends and clients chosen stands.

 

Forgot to mention that HiFi Racks also makes excellent stands for Compact 7, SHL5/Plus, and Monitor 30/40 series speakers. Even more expensive (of course - made in the UK - weary sigh), but very, very good. The stands from SoundFoundations are also very good.

 

Actually I listen in the nearfield and am slightly less than 6' away.

 

also, milk crates don't really look that great. shabby chic maybe.

 

Okay. At such an unsually short distance away, you're likely too close (or very nearly so) for such large speakers to establish an accurate stereo image, much less full dispersion across the sound field of all of the music. Never mind. I don't know your room or your sense of hearing or your music preferences. By all means continue enjoying your Monitor 40s supported on milk crates (or whatever you prefer). If you're happy with what you're hearing, that's really all that counts.

 

48" is extremely high. Are you sitting on a bar stool?

 

Skylan speakers least for the SKY 24D are $385.00 a pair, price quote from Sound Anchors for 24" inch speaker stands made for my Focal, $320.00

 

I ordered Resonant Woods Linear II stands for my forthcoming Harbeth 40.2s. I haven't received them yet, but at the dealer I heard the Harbeths with both Sound Anchors and Resonant Woods stands, and I preferred the wood stands. They sounded more open, though with a bit less bass. And they looked better.

 

my dealer wanted ~ 1000.oo for the 4-post sound anchor stands for my speakers. my other dealer wanted 625 for the 4-post skylan stands. when i ordered direct from skylan including the canadian to dollar exchange rate they were 510 CAD / 391.00 US $

 

I hate that. My dealer refuses to compete - so I'm getting to the point where I feel bad going there cause I know I can save 25% on anything he has and I hate being that guy...

 

agreed. i throw them enough bones that they are happy though.

 

Agitater, I posted a summary of your points re: speaker stands on the Harbeth User Group, hoping that Alan Shaw, who designs Harbeth speakers, would find time to reply. Indeed he did, and here he is:

 

No, ordinary domestic seating height. I'm not tall, either. But my ears end up 48" from the ground.

 

A summary? I can only imagine.

Unfortunately, A.S. answered out of context and also mentioned that his tweeters are positioned parallel to the floor which they're not (they're perpendicular to the floor). Also, if his tweeters (superb as they are) did not radiate up, down, straight ahead and to both sides, they'd be poor indeed (which they're not).

So, not sure what exactly it was that you posted in some other forum to get such a response. Did you also mention in the other forum the unusual fact that you listen to the Monitor 40 in a nearfield position?

More important, A.S. had no comment on your use of plastic milk crates as speaker stands? Perhaps you failed to mention that in the other forum?

My comments in this thread have mainly been about the inappropriateness of milk crates as speaker stands.

 

I've been reading with great interest as I have Harbeth C7 speakers on stands that are sturdy wooden boxes with rubber/cork isolation pads (see profile info for pics). I also listen in a small room where I'm about 6 1/2 feet from the front of the speakers.

I have previously read Mr. Shaw's statements regarding stands and agree with the posted statement attributed to him. My understand of what he is saying is that unless the stand allows the speaker to move a great deal (contributing > 1% to the sound output) then the sound difference, caused by the stand, is not detectable. I would, however, expect the milk crate stands to move a great deal and would not recommend their use.

I do expect that Mr Shaw meant that the tweeters are aimed such that the sound is parallel to the floor. Of course the sound is not on a flat plane and does radiate in many directions. I still choose to sit with my ear at the height of the tweeter.

How anyone, of average height, could be in an average chair with their ears at 48" is beyond me. I use a standard sofa style chair and am 5'8", my ears are at 36 1/2" from the floor. Requiring stands of about 19" for my C7's.

 

Maybe I suggest you have someone else do the measuring because something you are doing isn't right.

 

Here is what I posted in the Harbeth forum, verbatim:

A.S.'s response was as you've seen.

 

P.S. Alan also posted a pic to illustrate his point. Notice that the measurement microphone is on tweeter axis:

 

I think mine are quite handsome. I'll try to post a pic when I get home.

 

Nobody is debating this. Tweeters at or about ear height or slightly lower is the best position. Your flexing milk crates, however, are not anything close to ideal speaker stands and that's been the point of most responses to your posts.

 

Well, I can't say I'm convinced. You've made some interesting theoretical points, but to get to the bottom of the question would require arduous experimentation that I'm not in a position to undertake.

However, my speakers sound excellent on their milk crate stands. What's more, they are capable of pin-point imaging. I think if your point about rigid mounting were correct, one would expect some kind of blurring from the movement of the speaker back and forth in response to the movement of the mid-range and bass drivers. But this doesn't seem to happen. Certainly Alan Shaw doesn't seem to think it's a matter of concern. As for the milk crates "flexing," I haven't seen, heard, or felt any evidence that this is happening either.

So for the moment we must agree to disagree. But if I'm right, we could all save a lot of money on expensive stands!