Hi- I'm trying to find out what makes a good speaker stand. I have NHT superzero speakers, which obviously need stands.
I plan on building stands myself and was wondering what I should try to accomplish. I understand that very massive and non-resonant stands are best, but are there any other factors that affect the performance of the speaker?
Should the speaker be coupled firmly to the stand? Should there be seperation between them? How should the stand contact the floor and so on.
Massive and/or inert stands are not always a good thing. For example, a Dynaudio FOCUS 110 sounds great on the relatively lightly damped Partington Trophy stand with some sand in it, but it sounds 'slower' on the weightier, more inert Dreadnought, and positively dead on the even weightier, yet more inert Partington Broadside. On the other hand, Totem Model-1s, which are smaller than Dyn 110s, require an even heavier, more inert stand than the Broadside to work well, in the form of the Heavi-1. So it's a question of the individual requirement of the speaker, and you can't tell which will work best from the outset.
Then again, the relatively large Focal 1007be standmount works best on its own (exorbitantly expensive for what it is) stand. Its stand is light, made from a combination of materials including wood and is not damped at all. But it works! Maybe it's a materials thing.
Therefore, if you're not sure what kind of stand suits your speakers, my advice is to make them coonfigurable. Most stands have sections which can be filled with sand and you can change the sonic result depending on how much sand is put into the stand. Damping the stand with a resin compound seems to be of benefit.
As Frank says, every speaker is different. Some benefit from huge amounts of mass, some need a little, and some practically none at all.
Because of this, some stands are extremely ridgid yet lightweight, others are heavy, and others are decoupled.
I think the best course of action is what Frank suggested. Make a lightweight/mass stand that you can add more and more mass to. Also, maybe try a decoupled stand that you can lock down if and when appropriate.
Go to the lumberyard or home improvement store and buy a few items; two 8X12X2" concrete pavers and a short section of 1X6 solid oak lumber. Have the yard person cut the oak into small sections about 12" long so you end up with four pieces of 1X8X12" oak lumber. If you don't have a decent tape measure and laser level, buy these while you're at the store. If you haven't tried the Home Depot extension cord as a speaker cable, get one of those also (a 14 AWG should do nicely) and some cutters to remove the plug ends and insulation.
Decide where you're listening position will be and set the speakers up in the near field, about seven feet in front of your chair and about eight feet apart. You'll want to set the speakers up using the tape measure for symmetry at some point, but for now just get the speakers equal distance from each side wall if at all possible while maintaining the symmetry to your chair. Most small speakers such as the Super Zeroes will, in my experience, sound best when set up using the rule of thirds for final placement in the room.
With the speaker position more or less defined by way of a near field listening position relative to your chair, place two of the pieces of oak, one on top of the other, with their inner corner at the outer dimension of your triangle and toe the wood pieces in toward your listening position using the laser pointer/level to aim the position of the wood pieces just slightly behind your listening chair. Set the other side similarly with the intersection of the laser's beam falling just behind your head when seated. The speakers should sit with their front edges parallel to and just at the edge of the wood pieces so they are aimed just behind your listening position. You'll need to prop up the front of each speaker as you place it on top of the pieces of wood. If you have a TipToe or some type of isolation cone, use the laser to bring the tweeter level just below your ears when seated. If you don't have a cone of some sort, use anything rigid to prop the front of the speaker up temporarily. At this point you have your speakers sitting 1 1/2" off the floor on two layers of oak which is toed in toward your chair and the front of the speaker is raised toward ear level. Hopefully, you've connected the extension cord as your speaker cable.
Put on some music and listen. If you don't have a carpet or rug under the lumber, you might find the sound a bit "clangey". If so, switch to the concrete pavers instead of the lumber. If you have a subwoofer playing with your speakers, you might have to readjust your settings on the sub to accommodate the bass response from the satellites.
If you don't like this cheapo speaker set up, build some stands.
Frank, if you are out there, A follow up question if you will. When I bought my Focus 140's I also got the Stand 4's. At first I filled both tubes on each stand. After they were fully broken in- probably six months or so- I lowered the sand level in each tube to half way. The bass was fuller and the overall sound improved. In your experience with the Dyns is it possible to have too little sand? To change the level is a bit of a project so I have been reluctant to experiment further. What are your thoughts regarding this particular speaker and stand combination. Thanks