What Makes Good Speaker Stands?

[Kevin Lee]

What makes good speaker stands?
Is mdf good for stands as it is for speaker cabinets?
If not, what type of wood is best?
Should I put some piece of cloth between each piece of wood to eliminate vibration?
Are there certain designs that are better than others?
I plan on making them 24" tall so that the tweeters are eye level.

 

[j_garcia]

Ear level is what you need Solid stands that can support the weight properly and minimize vibration is all that is needed. Only vibration you need to control is between the speaker and the stand, not within the stand itself.

 

[DIY Junky]

Ok I am a DIY guy and reading some old posts. So forgive me for digging up old topics. They way speaker stands make sense to me is this way. A speaker to me is a cannon that fires many times a second. And to make a cannon accurate you must hold it still. And try to isolate it from other vibrations while you hold it still. I made my stands "that are in my picture" out of 4" pvc pipe filled with cement and a 3/4" threaded rod that holds 1" thick mdf top and base. Three point spiked contact with floor. Adjustable feet to level speakers . Please correct me if I am wrong in my planning or thinking. I also set tweeters at ear level when sitting in my chair.

 

[j_garcia]

Ok I am a DIY guy and reading some old posts. So forgive me for digging up old topics. They way speaker stands make sense to me is this way. A speaker to me is a cannon that fires many times a second. And to make a cannon accurate you must hold it still. And try to isolate it from other vibrations while you hold it still. I made my stands "that are in my picture" out of 4" pvc pipe filled with cement and a 3/4" threaded rod that holds 1" thick mdf top and base. Three point spiked contact with floor. Adjustable feet to level speakers . Please correct me if I am wrong in my planning or thinking. I also set tweeters at ear level when sitting in my chair.

What you built sounds fine to me. Concrete - is probably not what I would use, loose I presume? Whatever is in the stand I believe is normally left loose, like sand, as weight is not the only purpose of filling them. Sand will additionally diffuse vibration. Mine aren't filled, but already weigh in at ~26lbs without fill, so I didn't bother.

 

[MrBoat]

I started to make 'weighty' stands, but noticed that all of my speaker cabinets are essentially vibration free, even at high volume. Other than that, clumsy ppl/kids are not allowed near them.

 

[DIY Junky]

What you built sounds fine to me. Concrete - is probably not what I would use, loose I presume? Whatever is in the stand I believe is normally left loose, like sand, as weight is not the only purpose of filling them. Sand will additionally diffuse vibration. Mine aren't filled, but already weigh in at ~26lbs without fill, so I didn't bother.

I put it cement in Wet to secure the threaded rod ancors for tops and bottoms. And waited till cement dried before putting tops on .