Building stands for Harbeth 40.2's


I talked with my builder today. I told them I would reach out for more expert opinions on a final design.

Since the TonTragers are the benchmark for Harbeth stands, I'm trying to match them as much as possible.

Question 1- The TonTragers have a 1 inch riser in each corner of the top of the stand. Is this critical for optimal sound ? Or would it be sufficient for the speaker to sit flat on the top of the stand ?

Question 2- Obviously the top needs to be open except for the exterior frame, but can the base be a solid flat piece of wood...or should that be open also ?

Please chime in with any ideas...also I plan on using some good cone spikes on the bottom.

I've attached a pic of the TonTrager for reference for the above questions.

Thanks in advance.

krelldog

Showing 3 responses by jjss49

resonant woods (ones i have), skylans and sound anchors are fine too

best for bbc heritage speakers to have an open frame design though, if you adhere to the purists...

haven’t checked in for a few days on this thread, lotsa new comments

my 2 cents owning or having owned multiple sets 40’s, super 5’s and c7’s over the years ... with pretty much all available makes of stands under one set or another --

1) the tontragers are pretty light gauge (surprisingly light, as i experienced them) wood compared to the resonant woods ones which uses a much denser hardwood, you can pick up a tt stand for the mon 40 with one hand and toss it across the room with minimal effort -- i also didn’t care for the small extended top posts of the tt’s with the massive 40’s as i felt the coupling is somewhat tenuous even with some blue-tack or equivalent, and especially so when moving or initially positioning the speaker...

2) tontragers also do not have threading for spikes or casters in their feet - they are meant to go on solid flooring or onto a ceramic slab if the floor is soft - i did not like that, as my listening room is carpeted... in fact i especially like my resonant woods model as it has properly threaded legs and in them i put threaded locking casters so as to be able to easily move and position the speakers as needed

3) resonant woods offers different styles of stands, some have the ’artful’ curved legs and others are more vertical and less ’styled’ - mine have just plain vertical posts, and in a dark finish under the tiger ebony speakers they are unobtrusive

4) i have also used media filled skylans, there are quite nice, made with medium weight composite wood -- as well as sound anchors (i really like them for their solidity but they are massively heavy to move)... have also used top of line target mr stands which are also metal, slightly lighter than the sound anchors but very well made -- the skylans are the only ones of all i have used that give you a fully solid platform on which the speaker is placed, so does not allow the bottom panel of the speaker to ’resonate’ in some open air as some purists feel is important (in my experience this aspect is insignificant sonically with any of the harbeth models i have had)

 

@whipsaw

agree with you - alan shaw can be a tricky dude... in spite of the harbeths being excellent speakers... he is the business mind and owner behind the brand, and as an expert capitalist, you can count on him to say what serves his commercial interests... ’oh why yes, any old amplifier will do - just make sure you have bought the best harbeth you can afford’ 🤣