New speaker stands, recycling old desk and speaker box.

[Blue Shadow]

I got a set of Dahlquist DQM-905 speakers a few years ago and have been thinking about stands for them. There was a speaker stand offered when they were a current model and it seems more than adequate. Original DQM stands:

@sunvalleylaw posted the dimensions of them here: Dahlquist ST-9 stands, pictures, dimensions in HERE! | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

I have access to an old oak veneer IBM business desk and have already made an amp stand with a chunk of one side. That left me with a chunk 36" long and about 10" wide, easy to make uprights, close enough for govt work.

@Sharpstik gutted a couple old Lafayette speakers and left them here for me to pull apart and throw away. I now had a source for bottom and top plates. My brother has a 3-season wood shop in the garage so let's see what I get.

Here we have that side panel from the desk cut for the amp stand on the left and the extra piece on the right. The amp stand is for two amps, a pair of tube amps or a pair of Hafler DH-200s, depending. Using it for the Tube amps right now.


The Lafayette speaker cabinet:

It had a control on the top and has a molding on the front as the grille was loaded from the rear. This worked out in its use for the stands I made. Interesting that these speakers were a nice walnut veneer with a walnut molding on them and they have a dark blonde finish that seems to defeat the purpose of using the walnut.

Here are the 4 pieces used to make on stand:

The two uprights and the top and bottom. The top is veneered on the underside which won't be seen so I finished it to look nice, not black. Maybe I need a mirror like folks use at the car shows to show the undercarriage.

There is the hole for the adjusting knob right there in the middle of the top of the speaker stand, gonna be covered by the speaker. The other one looks better without the hole. It doesn't matter but someone could probably hear the difference.

I think they look pretty good. I had to veneer the front edge of the uprights and soak the 1955-1965 particle board with low viscosity CA glue to stop splitting even when predrilling the holes for the screws.



You can see the molding at the back of the top piece. With the stands tilted by a similar 3.5° to the original design, the speaker will stay in place.

Those with sharp eyes will see that I have 3 screw holes for the attachment on each end of the uprights and am only using two screws. I would have used all 3 for each but someone, probably a toddler mom going to swim lessons next door, neighbor's year-round business, hit my mailbox and twisted and cracked the 4x4 upright and I'll need a few screws to put that back together. I'll get the other screws needed when I go back to my brother's, he has a whole box of them.

I have to put some fabric on the top to protect the speakers, just haven't pulled it out of the sewing kit yet. My sewing kit is a regular size toolbox with a lift out tray. I have a roll of PSA backed burlap in black that keeps the lift out tray from dropping down fully into the box. Now that I have used a couple chunks (a few wraps of the roll) the tray fits fine. Vintage Burl-Stik from Van Arden Products Corp, found something like it on etsy in pink. Works great, just what I needed. Got it from my great uncle when he moved from the area in the 90s. Finally have a good use for it. Not recycling like the other parts but keeping it out of the landfill by just hoarding and then cycling into a good use.

These will work great with the DQM-905s or the ADS L710s I have. We'll see which one I like better.

The amp stand, discussed and pictured in this thread (about refinishing) How to best refinish this oak. | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums. Here it is in use.



A couple things, the oak veneer took the Watco Danish Oil Dark Walnut well enough to blend the raw oak veneer nicely with the vintage finish on the desk parts, both the uprights and the amp stand.

Now, I'm gonna put these speaker stands to use in a day or three as they are already well broken in. The speakers and the uprights came from products made in the middle of the last century. Hope that works for those that think I'll need a long break-in period for these units. The amp stand did sit in the room and acclimate to the conditions for a couple months before being pressed into service. I think it helped the sound but can't tell no before and after testing was done.

 

[fjdds]

Very nice!

I built these stands for my DQ-10s from some 2x10s, and some scrap 1x3 from Home Depot. (free)
Still need to be finished completely, but from my sitting position, the sound is much better. About 18 inches from the floor, which is a bit higher than the stock stands.

 

[Blue Shadow]

stands for my DQ-10s

I swapped a pair of Magneplanars for a couple pairs of DQ-10 stands. Bespoke like yours higher than stock. We both decided on about 18" off the ground. Looking good.
Here is what mine are made from.
Finally some stands for my DQ-10s | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums

I have a set of the 3" legs if I want that listening down into the orchestra pit sound these came with from the factory, but I like em at ear level in my listening room.

 

[fjdds]

Agreed. 18 inches worked best for me from the sitting position in my crappy, unfinished basement. (At least my wife has decided to leave me to my own devices down there)

 

[onwardjames]

I don't think there is anything more rewarding than making your own speaker stands, especially with leftover stuff.

It's doggone easy, you can make as simple or complex as you wish, and so very rewarding.

I have 3 pair of varying height and complexity, and want to build more.

 

[GordonW]

Agreed. 18 inches worked best for me from the sitting position in my crappy, unfinished basement. (At least my wife has decided to leave me to my own devices down there)

That height makes sense, as it gets the tweeters at about 3 feet off of the floor.

40 inches or so, is a popular height range for tower speakers these days, for good reason. The tweeter placement just works in a typical home environment.

Also, in the case of the Dahlquist- the subjective bass quality also improves on stands of that height range- it decouples the woofer enclosure from the floor, which tightens up the bass somewhat. Same result, for a similar reason, as putting JBL L100s on stands.

Regards,
Gordon.

 

[Blue Shadow]

My DQ-10 stands give me right at 40" and as sharpstik, Dave, says in the thread about them linked above, right at sofa height.
I actually have two listening levels in the sweet area, the loveseat at about 38" and the dining room chairs behind that loveseat at about 48" which can be a better listening spot because the sound goes past you into the entrance foyer and there is sound coming back. The loveseat is about at tall as your head when seated and the sound comes to your ears but there is nothing coming back. Both spots sound good, just different.

These takeoffs on the ST-9 stands should put the tweeters at a much better level and get the speaker off the floor for more accurate bass response for either set of speakers I use with them, ADS or DQM.

I have another side panel from the desk and the top of the same thickness and veneer. I have designs on an additional thick shelf for my CWD wall unit, able to hold heavy tape decks or the KD-600 turntable. Projects, they never end.

 

[clang444]

They look great. I've got a pair of Dahlquist M907s that would look great on something similar. Just what I need - another project.

: )

 

[fjdds]

Projects, they never end.

Thank goodness! So much fun.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Very cool, @Blue Shadow ! Getting ready to build some stands for myself and will use some of these ideas.