Mapleshade bedrock stands for large monitors

I tried them for a VERY short time, hated the sound. The guy I sold them to had them back on Audiogon not long after he bought them. Pierre has some good ideas, I don't think this is one of them. A "different sound' sums it up nicely. The general thinking is that almost all speakers sound better with some air under them, even most floor standing ones; I have found this to be my own impression. But if you like it go for it.

Having the woofer closer to the floor changes the floor bounce cancellation effect in the lower midrange/upper bass. Nearly all stand mounted or tall floorstanding speakers suffer from this problem. It thins out this musically important area which some people interpret as increased clarity/resolution. The Mapleshade stands don't eliminate the effect, but only changes it. Depending upon your speakers, your room, your musical tastes, etc. you may or may not like the changes.

I think Pierre is GREAT at marketing.

I guess I should clarify "different", as not necesarily better. Bass has a bit more punch, mids are a little more forward and the treble sounds a bit rolled off. Soundstage is a little creepy in that it floats "above" the speakers giving the illusion that the speakers dissapear. But also, keep in mind, this was just my simple DIY version without his crazy expensive brass feet, I used wood all the way with huge brass knobs to "time align" as he so demands. I do have to admit to finding a child like smile when I listen to certain types of music in this configuration.

Back tilt for time alignment is old story in Hifi and many speakers have had alignment with tilted baffle/cabinet (my current floor standers have a tilt cone stock.(BTW did you know that with di-poles like Maggies they sound bstter tilted down foward not back).But some speaker are denied on ear axis with stands like Bedrock.Also though the Bedrockhas some decoupling wood may not have the best resonat frequency and more important mass that other materials like stone or iron have.

Always thought if you have a popular speaker Bob Warzalla of Sound Anchor knows more about the subject than anybody I have spoken with.I was selling the elliptical shaped B&W 805 so everybody wanted the kind of pricey stands where mass was bottom loaded.Bobs were not as pretty but he experimented with giving more mass at bottom and more at top and made a better stand than B&W for their won product.If I were to get a two way top replace my floor standers (and was thinking about Harbeth or Totem Mani-2 and would only get SA's.Even with a floor stander his basses can do wonders.Nothing beats "Heavy Metal" (I mean the stands I am mostly a jazz guy).Give him a call.I like Pierre's company and would put cables and tweaks on a list to try.He knows his stuff too (listen to how good his CD are).But speaker stands a 3 or 4 post from Bob is only thing I would consider.Not cheap but not stupid expensive either.
Chazz

I agree with Stanwal..I used mapleshade platforms and sold them quickly

Peter Snell's patent from the mid 70's had a rendition that predicted the floor speaker inneraction and the geometry to overcome this problem. Mr Snell's patent is a thing of beauty and describes in detail a speaker and many of its boundary reactions. Some models worked out to be more effective than others.

Mr Snell actually brought a pair of his new speakers to my home for a sales meeting to demo how this new concept worked in a real life situation. The cabinet was tilted back at a perceived angle of 30 degrees and having both the woofer and the tweeter almost at floor level with an angled ramp that attached to and extended outward and down ward at an angle that met the floor surface. The group on hand broadly decided the image was on or near the floor. Very much the same as I heard at Stanwal's house using the Mapleshades under Stan's then speaker of choice ... only 35 years later. Tom

Interesting responses, I guess it's all about choice. That is what is fun and crazy about this hobby. I will continue to experiment until I find the best sound I can live with. I do appreciate and welcome any further discussion.

Here is an interesting thought, on the experimental side.

Place your speakers upside down with the LF/Port on top.

Should equal less LF boundry interaction and.....???

I beleive this configuration is illustrated in Pierre's catalog, though it appears as though the speakers are small...not the 20" or so with most monitors.

Give it a shot and let us know.

I found my most recent Mapleshade catalog and saw the Bedrock stands again and my curiosity was piqued. I didn't order them but was wondering yet again. With the speaker monitors on the floor pointing up at a listener isn't this similar to the concept of installing mids and tweeters in the kick panels of a car? I found this blurb on CarAudioHelp "By moving the speakers away from the doors or dash and into the kickpanels we are increasing the distance to the speakers AND equalizing the distance from the listener to each speaker."

Without buying and then re-selling the Mapleshade stands is there a way I can replicate the concept to see if I hear a difference good or bad with some B&W DM303 monitor speakers I have?

Thanks

Symposium much better wood colors sound.

I will email you my DIY version that I used to evaluate Mapleshade's stands the best I could to try it. He does offer a 30 day money back guarantee as well.

Hi Jim

Thanks so much for sharing your DIY version of the Mapleshade stands. They are quite nice and I think I'm going to try to piece together a pair of stands for my KEF speakers.

In general is there a rule regarding the size of the wood platforms vs the size of the speaker you will be putting them on? The footprint of my speakers is 10" wide and 12" deep. I was hoping to save some money and buy a maple butcher blocks that are 12" x 12" and 3" high. So width wise I'll only have an inch on each side and depth wise it would be the exact size of the KEFs. Would this be enough wood to isolate the speaker from the floor? I'd be adding 1-2" brass carpet spikes b/w the wood block and my carpeted floor. I'd then use 3 2" brass footers b/w the speakers and the maple block.

Thanks in advance.