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Do floor speakers need stands? What requirements to speaker stands?

ymarko

ymarko

Super Member
I have some vintage floor speakers. My understanding is that even they are “floor” speakers, they should be lifted up from the floor, so they don’t play into my knee. Am I right?

I’ve heard that the mid-point between woofer and midrange speaker should be on my ear level. Is it correct? What if speaker has only woofer and tweeter? Do I have to disregard tweeter because it’s small?

Do stands have any special requirements? I have speakers up to 16” wide and 13” deep, but speaker stands on eBay have much smaller platforms. Does it matter? Do I have to attach speaker to platform somehow?

It seems like I need about 24” tall stands. Can I use wooden flat bar stools as stands? Do speaker stands should possess some special requirements (except of being sturdy and hold the weight) to qualify as speaker stands?
Thank you.
 
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Generally speaking, the tweeter should be at about ear level with many speakers, including floor models. This can sometimes be accomplished by tilting the speaker back a couple degrees- other times a stand is required.

Some speakers, in my experience, will loose some of the reinforcement in the bass range that the floor provides. This can be a good thing at times, as it can clear up subjectively muddy sounding speakers.

The best thing to do is experiment a little. I did so with my own speakers and achieved very good results with just subtle placement.

The stands should be acoustically inert- the better ones can be filled with sand or leadshot, and they should also be sturdy enough to hold the speaker without fear of it toppling over (especially important with larger speakers.

Wood planks across cinderblocks is a time-honored construct.
 
It sounds like you actually have what used to be known as bookshelf speakers. Vintage bookshelf speakers can be quite large by modern standards, and fairly wide as well.

Generally, this type of speaker sounds better when lifted up off the floor anywhere from 12" to 24". I would shoot for getting the tweeters at ear height when you are seated in your listening position. This will slightly reduce the bass but it will also give you a much cleaner sound.

The width of modern speaker stands is an issue. As long as the stands are solid and the speakers are not in danger of tipping over, you should be fine. If your speakers are really wide, there are stands designed for center channel speakers that are wider, and you can just get two of them. Quality stands can go for $100 to $300 new, less if you look around for used, are made of wood or metal with spikes. If this is too expensive, you could just find some wooden boxes about a foot high and place your speakers on them.
 
I've found that good quality speakers make great speaker stands. As long as they're well made and not the panasonic thruster cardboard type. I used a 24" pair of older klh models to raise my floorstanding polk sda's so the tweeters are now at ear level. Made a fantastic difference in imaging and overall response. I guess a bar stool would do as a temporary fix but I wouldn't use it long term. Probably best for trial purposes to see if you're going to like them raised up as you might not like them up higher.
 
I use 13" VTI Metal center channel stands - search google and can usually be found ~$100 plus shipping.

Quality stands properly anchored to floor can actuallu improve bass response. You won't get the muddy bass that you can get from putting them on floor. I use spikes to disks to protect hardwood floors. Then blue tac between speakers and stands.

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I don't think having high quality heavy stands is a necessary option , as long as the alternative is strong and hard . I too was eager to here the song difference of my pioneer hpm-700 stereo speaker. I must say I was not disappointed after lifting them from ground level about 16 inches high , the sound was more cleaner , the vocals were clean and clear and surprisingly the bass was more power full . Sounded better than the muddy bass response it gave when they were placed on the floor before .


I did not use any special stands but two wooden subwoofers which sat just nice and flat under the speaker . After that I tested them for 2 hours and loved the sound they gave more than the sound it gave on the floor, recommended to raise antique babies like these for the full performance
 
Yes you can use barstools as stands, especially temporarily to verify the height. As mentioned by Shacky, Blu-Tak is very good interface between the stands and the speakers. It helps hold the speakers to the stands as well as de-couple vibration.
 
To add my 2 cents. Think outside the norm for speaker stands. Set your system apart from the masses.
 
kb9qkc said:
true floorstanders shouldn't need lifted of the ground, if they do they are bookshelfs. imo
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But then there are those companies that make floor standers that are really too short. These need stands but are not really bookshelf speakers.

The Energy 4.1e comes to mind. Obviously not what we think if as a bookshelf and Energy even had a matching stand for them.

Design can keep a speaker in the floorstander group but they may need stands to sound their best.
 
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