Tell me about speaker stands

Recording Techniques, People Skills, Gear, Recording Spaces, Computers, and DIY

Moderators: drumsound, tomb

User avatar
losthighway
resurrected
Posts: 2347
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm
Contact:

Tell me about speaker stands

Post by losthighway » Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:18 am

Hello knowledgable friends. I'm in yet another studio improvement cycle and am enhancing my listening environment to make it more accurate. One thing that occurred to me as I prepare to add more bass trapping and eventually upgrade monitors, is that not a lot of thought went into my speaker 'mounting'. If you can even call it that (they're sitting on top of some bricks on my desk and the tweeters are higher than my ears I realized in yesterday's session).

Anyone own some speaker stands that they'd recommend?
Anyone have some reasons that speaker stands are unnecessary?

Tell me what you know, and I thank you.

Magnetic Services
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 444
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:21 pm

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by Magnetic Services » Fri Jun 08, 2018 11:23 am

I built my own with plywood rectangles for the base and top plus three 2x4 legs at slight angles to reduce resonance.
The monitors sit on Auralex MoPads on top, and everything's super sturdy! I can supply pics if you like.

User avatar
joninc
dead but not forgotten
Posts: 2099
Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2003 5:02 pm
Location: canada
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by joninc » Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:46 pm

I built my own stands as well with the pvc pipe filled with sand on wooden bases, mo pads on the top.

followed this guys design -

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio- ... -pipe.html
the new rules : there are no rules

User avatar
losthighway
resurrected
Posts: 2347
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by losthighway » Fri Jun 08, 2018 6:21 pm

joninc wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:46 pm
I built my own stands as well with the pvc pipe filled with sand on wooden bases, mo pads on the top.

followed this guys design -

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio- ... -pipe.html
Super helpful, thank you. I might just go this route. Are those things heavy as hell with the sand in 'em?

Gotta say, it's another reminder of the cool culture over here at Tapeop. Only one page in to that very helpful thread and it turned into a fight. Gearslutz has a whole different vibe.

Matt C.
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 434
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:43 am
Location: saint paul, mn

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by Matt C. » Sat Jun 09, 2018 10:04 am

joninc wrote:
Fri Jun 08, 2018 4:46 pm
I built my own stands as well with the pvc pipe filled with sand on wooden bases, mo pads on the top.

followed this guys design -

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/studio- ... -pipe.html
I built some of these too, theyworked well. heavy but not too crazy.

drumsound
zen recordist
Posts: 7471
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:30 pm
Location: Bloomington IL
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by drumsound » Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:42 am

Mine are the DIY plywood and 2x4 design. I have Primacoustic recoils on them and those things are fantastic.

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:40 pm

you want 'em as heavy and solid as you can make 'em. sand is good. my woodworker brother made me some nice ones:

Image

User avatar
Recycled_Brains
resurrected
Posts: 2342
Joined: Tue Nov 22, 2005 6:58 pm
Location: Albany, NY
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by Recycled_Brains » Sun Jun 10, 2018 3:53 pm

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:40 pm
you want 'em as heavy and solid as you can make 'em. sand is good. my woodworker brother made me some nice ones:

Image
Mine are homemade, similar to this, but not nearly as nicely finished, or finished at all. My cat likes to scratch them, so for the best haha. I found some thicker mouse pads that I put between the speakers and the top so it's not just wood on wood contact.

Used 2 2x4's and 2 2x2's, 3/4" plywood top and base, caulked joints, filled with sand. Have had them for probably 12 or so years at this point. I'm sure there are ways I could improve them. I've thought about doing something different with the feet on the bottom over the years to give them better shock absorption, but beyond that they're great. I'll use them forever.
Ryan Slowey
Albany, NY

http://maggotbrainny.bandcamp.com

User avatar
losthighway
resurrected
Posts: 2347
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by losthighway » Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:51 pm

You guys have sold me on building my own. I always felt weird about shelling out cash for something that can be fairly basic. I'm thinking about investing in some pads though, they kind of rouse my 'snake oil' suspicion, but too many smart engineers I respect swear by them for me to write them off.

Also, I figure I want to measure to get my ear altitude and the spot around the middle of the speaker/tweeter zone straight on. This makes sense right?

Magnetic Services
suffering 'studio suck'
Posts: 444
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:21 pm

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by Magnetic Services » Sun Jun 10, 2018 6:11 pm

losthighway wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:51 pm
You guys have sold me on building my own. I always felt weird about shelling out cash for something that can be fairly basic. I'm thinking about investing in some pads though, they kind of rouse my 'snake oil' suspicion, but too many smart engineers I respect swear by them for me to write them off.

Also, I figure I want to measure to get my ear altitude and the spot around the middle of the speaker/tweeter zone straight on. This makes sense right?
The MoPads are great because they can be configured in several different ways/angles, but really any foam of the right density (or even a folded up towel) could work just as well. They're not doing anything special, just a good convenient product to help decouple.

As far as ear alignment, I think I went for the tweeters since those tiny-wavelength high frequencies can shift so much more than the lows depending on your head position. Just a hunch though!

Edit: actually I have them angled down slightly so the woofers are close to ear level but the tweeters still shoot me directly in the head :)

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:35 pm

losthighway wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:51 pm
Also, I figure I want to measure to get my ear altitude and the spot around the middle of the speaker/tweeter zone straight on. This makes sense right?
ears level with either the middle of the speaker or the tweeter, depends on the speaker design. i have tweeters at ear level here.

on topic blast from the past here:
MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:43 am
true story involving sand:

when i built my speaker stands a few years back, i needed something to fill them with, so i went down to the local beach at 2:30am and helped myself to about 120lbs of pure, grade A South Boston sand. i was loading the last of the (many, very heavy) bags into the van when a police cruiser pulled up behind me.

the officer stepped out and said "son, just what do you think you're doing?" i replied "why, ossifer, i'm just putting this here bag into my van here."
"and what, exactly, do you have in the bag?"
"oh, well, nothing."
"then why are you struggling to lift it?"

i then launched into an elaborate discussion about the vastness of the universe, black holes, and how "nothing" is in fact something pretty serious to consider.

he wasn't buying and said he would in fact like to see what i had in there. wanting to appear compliant, i slowly opened the bag. he peered in, stuck his finger in the sand, and tasted it. "why...that's pure Southie sand you got there. you took it from the beach, didn't you?"

i stared at my feet.

"you know tampering with public sand is a felony offense. what's to keep me from hauling your ass into jail?"

"will 20 bucks do?"

"certainly."

i handed him a twenty and was about to be on my way, when he said "now wait just a goddamn minute, you don't think i'm gonna let you leave with all that contraband do you? you go and put it back where you got it."

my shoulders slumped and i started carrying the bags back to the beach. i then began dumping them out, one by one. the officer stood watch over me, tapping his billy club against his palm. just then, a killer whale came into the harbor and let out a massive infrasonic sound, like they do. the force of the <10Hz wave knocked the officer off his feet, and on his way to the ground he hit his head on the boardwalk, which knocked him unconscious.

thinking quickly, i reached into his pocket and took back my twenty, then buried him in sand (leaving a little hole so he could breathe of course, i'm not a monster), refilled my bags and high-tailed it out of there.

the moral of the story is, of course, just go buy the 2 dollar bags of sand at home depot.

User avatar
losthighway
resurrected
Posts: 2347
Joined: Mon Apr 14, 2008 8:02 pm
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by losthighway » Mon Jun 11, 2018 6:03 am

Now we're going to need an ongoing thread titled 'Tall Tales From the Old Colony'. That was delightful.

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:57 am

the thread that post is from is pretty much the TOMB at it's finest:

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=60547

drumsound
zen recordist
Posts: 7471
Joined: Tue Jun 01, 2004 10:30 pm
Location: Bloomington IL
Contact:

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by drumsound » Mon Jun 11, 2018 11:23 am

MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 9:35 pm
losthighway wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:51 pm
Also, I figure I want to measure to get my ear altitude and the spot around the middle of the speaker/tweeter zone straight on. This makes sense right?
ears level with either the middle of the speaker or the tweeter, depends on the speaker design. i have tweeters at ear level here.

on topic blast from the past here:
MoreSpaceEcho wrote:
Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:43 am
true story involving sand:

when i built my speaker stands a few years back, i needed something to fill them with, so i went down to the local beach at 2:30am and helped myself to about 120lbs of pure, grade A South Boston sand. i was loading the last of the (many, very heavy) bags into the van when a police cruiser pulled up behind me.

the officer stepped out and said "son, just what do you think you're doing?" i replied "why, ossifer, i'm just putting this here bag into my van here."
"and what, exactly, do you have in the bag?"
"oh, well, nothing."
"then why are you struggling to lift it?"

i then launched into an elaborate discussion about the vastness of the universe, black holes, and how "nothing" is in fact something pretty serious to consider.

he wasn't buying and said he would in fact like to see what i had in there. wanting to appear compliant, i slowly opened the bag. he peered in, stuck his finger in the sand, and tasted it. "why...that's pure Southie sand you got there. you took it from the beach, didn't you?"

i stared at my feet.

"you know tampering with public sand is a felony offense. what's to keep me from hauling your ass into jail?"

"will 20 bucks do?"

"certainly."

i handed him a twenty and was about to be on my way, when he said "now wait just a goddamn minute, you don't think i'm gonna let you leave with all that contraband do you? you go and put it back where you got it."

my shoulders slumped and i started carrying the bags back to the beach. i then began dumping them out, one by one. the officer stood watch over me, tapping his billy club against his palm. just then, a killer whale came into the harbor and let out a massive infrasonic sound, like they do. the force of the <10Hz wave knocked the officer off his feet, and on his way to the ground he hit his head on the boardwalk, which knocked him unconscious.

thinking quickly, i reached into his pocket and took back my twenty, then buried him in sand (leaving a little hole so he could breathe of course, i'm not a monster), refilled my bags and high-tailed it out of there.

the moral of the story is, of course, just go buy the 2 dollar bags of sand at home depot.
AS usual, Craggs is the best reason to come to the TOMB.

MoreSpaceEcho
zen recordist
Posts: 6671
Joined: Wed May 07, 2003 11:15 am

Re: Tell me about speaker stands

Post by MoreSpaceEcho » Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:48 pm

aaaawwwww :D

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests