speaker stands--general considerations


Of the myriad audiophile topics that come up here, I haven't noticed any real discussion recently of speaker stands.  What gives?  Does everyone own floorstanders?

I mean, there's plenty of room for disagreement, errr, discussion.  Optimal height?  Material of manufacture: metal (which), wood, other?  Single material or mix?  Design: single upright, multiple uprights, open top or top plate?  Over-engineered and heavy, or minimalistic and light-weight?  Interface between the monitor and the stand: high-tech gizmo, cork, nothing at all, Blu-tack, other?  Mass loading--yes or no?  If yes, kiln-dried sand or kitty litter, or lead buckshot?  Brands?  Best?  Best bang for the buck?
128x128twoleftears
You can also Beard a stand to increase bass response and not lose the imaging. That being said, 60-80 and down, like Noble100 said, really needs to be somewhere else, timing is just too far off.

I like 60-300 hz placement too, it's just too directional.  It also will add depth and clarity, without just tons of room treatment. I like separate monitors. PERIOD, no bass in them

The beard can be wide or narrow, from the floor all the way to the base of the enclosure, it can be behind or in front. It can be flat, convex or concave. They can really help with blending and capturing lost bass response.

Or the squat and grunt crowd... Opps I did it again. I call it the "Swarm Flu". Very contagious too. LOL

As heavy a stand, as you can lift or stack. They should sound like green concrete, with the ol knock test... Especially the beard....

Regards

Guys, I have to disagree with some of what you are saying IRT floor standing speakers.  I own Vandersteen's and the Treo on up have been designed to be placed close to the back wall and still give you a great stage etc...  I have Quatro's with the 11 band bass EQ, so I just dial in the bass to be smooth in my room.  It works exceptionally well and my wife loves how the speaker look in the room.  

I don't miss anything as I've had then into the room, but put them back as I'm not losing anything putting up close to the wall.  I'd must rather have what I have than miss the lower octaves.  

If you need to install a sub into the system, that means two in order to do bass properly and it's very difficult to integrate a sub into most system, plus that takes up way more space than a floor stander that was designed to be coherent from the lower octaves up. 

Many folks just think a stand mounted speaker does things that the floor stander can't, but that was in the past, not the present.  
Im using the best Symposium Super Plus custom speaker stands on my MAGICOs with great sound improvement over the stock Stainless Steal spikes.
One lasting impression of speaker stands happened at a dealer several years ago listening to Dali, KEF and other stand mount monitors on some Sound Anchor stands, spikes on the base, thin layer of blu tack between the speakers.
The bass was simply solid, deeper and more well defined than I have heard with other stands including filled plastic, wood, etc. The rigid, high mass stand gave me the benchmark for what could be possible for a stand mounted speaker.   The sound of the bass response is what was most impressive-  leading edges with impact, quick non bloated decay.  
Since that impression I was reluctant to buy them because they were pricey. With a variety of stand mounts and larger monitors that have passed through my listening room I have used cat litter filed plastic, DIY open wooden frames, basic metal and MDF stands and nothing gave me that sound that was my benchmark. Finally bit the bullet and purchased them- 4 post sound anchors for my Harbeth SHL5+. Finished.

i have 4 bose 901 series 2 speakers hanging from the ceiling. i know all out there will say that the 901's are outdated but i like them. they are hanging around 2 feet from the ceiling. my ceilings are 7 feet high. is that about the right distance from the ceiling???