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If a speaker's bigger than it's stand, is that a problem? Just bought some Yamaha NS-20s but not a stand because they all looked too small so it'd be unstable...

Does anyone here actually use stands?

Depends how it is situated, I suppose.

My speakers are WAY bigger than any proper stands I could find, so I made some out of some metal bins and absorbers...

But they are stable and balanced.

Mad EP wrote:Depends how it is situated, I suppose.

My speakers are WAY bigger than any proper stands I could find, so I made some out of some metal bins and absorbers...

But they are stable and balanced.

theyre only stands, dont think it matters
i made my own out of wood too

I use proper stands but only because I coned GC into giving me a pair of cheapies if I bought monitors. I ended up buying foam pads because there were bad resonances in the metal stands.

I've read on a couple of hifi forums that blutack works very well. Might as well get the stands and build a bigger base plate as well

I Have my speakers on a shelf I build out of old barnwood in the shittiest possible way in terms of reflections and bass coupling issues.

I have mine sitting on some empty masonry prisms that i covered in a spray on rubber.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ISOL8R155

I have these and they rule

difference wrote:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ISOL8R155

I have these and they rule

Those look pretty sweet.

Icetickle wrote:

Mad EP wrote:Depends how it is situated, I suppose.

My speakers are WAY bigger than any proper stands I could find, so I made some out of some metal bins and absorbers...

But they are stable and balanced.

No.

Bins are not speaker stands.

difference wrote:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ISOL8R155

I have these and they rule

Yes!

Crimsonghost wrote:I have mine sitting on some empty masonry prisms that i covered in a spray on rubber.

That's actually an idea, I live near some builders' yards as well...

Yeah, it works great. And the price was right.

And i just covered them with some of this stuff http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

Keeps em from scratching the shit out of everything, just a personal preference i guess.



I aslo have my monitor sitting on some bricks covered in the same stuff. Puts everything at a perfect height for me.

Ahh, bricks would be good, and cheap

When i was shopping for stands two things became apparent:

1. Most of the stands looks totally insubstantial - like they might fold and buckle at any moment. I even went into a shop to view some and the slightest nudge on the floor had them all waving around at the top, really didn't fancy that.

2. They're all really expensive for what is essentially scaffolding painted black.

Managed to find some really sick "Ultimate Support" stands for, I think, around £150 quid. Still a bit more than I wanted to pay but they're solid and don't wobble around at the slightest touch. My monitors are slightly longer than the plate they sit on by about an inch. They work for me. (These are floor standing stands i'm on about btw)

My buddy has some of those Ultimate's that he got second hand. Even then, $150 used is fucking silly. There solid, but not worth it imo. If im going to spend that much on monitor stands ill just build them myself.

Simulant wrote:

Icetickle wrote:

Mad EP wrote:Depends how it is situated, I suppose.

My speakers are WAY bigger than any proper stands I could find, so I made some out of some metal bins and absorbers...

But they are stable and balanced.

No.

Bins are not speaker stands.

But they can be... because there is very little that is acoustically special about "manufactured" speak stands. Sure - Auralex pads are great, but they aren't stands... and in fact, if anything - many specific stands prohibit the use of absorbent pads, which is much more important in my opinion.

My current setup definitely has some DIY-grit to it.. but at the end of the day, it works beautifully. I have no rattle or resonance, because of the type of bin I chose and the absorbent pads I used. The most important gear a producer/engineer can have is their ears... and mine are very critical. If there had been anything sonically wrong with the way I mounted my speakers, I would have changed it ages ago.

Mad EP wrote:But they can be... because there is very little that is acoustically special about "manufactured" speak stands.

Incorrect. Firstly, they're slimmer so they reflect less sound - google "comb filtering". Secondly, they're made of thicker metal than a bin, you don't want light stands. Lastly, stands don't cost that much, using and recommending dustbins gives the impression that you work at a rubbish dump. But if that's the professional image you want to project, who am I to argue.

And a hollow metal can, such as a dustbin, probably has an audible resonance and could add a hollow sound of its own. And you can't adjust dustbins either, you can adjust the angles of the base on most stands. Lastly, they're on a desk and close to a wall which is far from ideal!

Mad EP wrote:Sure - Auralex pads are great, but they aren't stands... and in fact, if anything - many specific stands prohibit the use of absorbent pads, which is much more important in my opinion.

Yeah, I guess these scientists and engineers who design stands know less about room acoustics than us musicians eh?

Mad EP wrote:My current setup definitely has some DIY-grit to it.. but at the end of the day, it works beautifully. I have no rattle or resonance, because of the type of bin I chose and the absorbent pads I used. The most important gear a producer/engineer can have is their ears... and mine are very critical. If there had been anything sonically wrong with the way I mounted my speakers, I would have changed it ages ago.

Ah, another person who thinks their ears can beat science. Like it or not, you have a shitty setup. I know people who would laugh their ass off at that photo. Please stop recommending dustbins to people.

There's some interesting tips on stands and monitoring here: http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep98/a ... 0tips.html