Speaker stand weight

[pewternhrata]

Ideally, how much weight should the base of the stands be? Originally I was going to do 3 layers of 1/2in mdf but as I was getting things together I saw a couple small cinder blocks i had left over that would work size wise, they would def be a little heavier but would take a little extra time to 'frame' them into the design. For anyone who's made their own, what did you do?

 

[MrBoat]

Depends oh how you design the base as well. Some designs can make the reliance on weight kind of redundant. These only really needed to be stable in one direction. The idea here was to have enough of a base that could snake under the sofa, the end table or the TV stand. Allowing it to have the ability to get closer to each one for multiple placements in a small area without being tipsy.

I can actually put these between the sofa and the end table with a gap between the two not much larger than the O.D. of the pipe itself.

These may weigh 3 lbs. each.

 

[pewternhrata]

This is where I'm at currently

 

[pewternhrata]

These should look pretty good sitting on them

 

[highfigh]

Ideally, how much weight should the base of the stands be? Originally I was going to do 3 layers of 1/2in mdf but as I was getting things together I saw a couple small cinder blocks i had left over that would work size wise, they would def be a little heavier but would take a little extra time to 'frame' them into the design. For anyone who's made their own, what did you do?

You need to keep the weight inside of the 'footprint' of the base and the photo of your stands means that your speakers would need to be incredibly narrow in order to do this. You also need to keep the center of mass of the whole assembly near the bottom in order to prevent gravity pulling it over without any other intervention.

The answer to your question of "How much weight...?" depends on the dimensions, total weight and weight distribution of your speakers. The taller the stands are, the wider the base needs to be.

 

[Mikado463]

This is where I'm at currently

View attachment 23349

they look 'purdy' but certainly not 'sturdy'. As highfigh said there needs to be a correlation with height and base for stability. I like stands that allow one to add ballast (sand / lead shot)

 

[pewternhrata]

You need to keep the weight inside of the 'footprint' of the base and the photo of your stands means that your speakers would need to be incredibly narrow in order to do this. You also need to keep the center of mass of the whole assembly near the bottom in order to prevent gravity pulling it over without any other intervention.

The answer to your question of "How much weight...?" depends on the dimensions, total weight and weight distribution of your speakers. The taller the stands are, the wider the base needs to be.

I'm pulling ideas for the base currently. the columns are roughly 5.5" wide 9" deep 35" tall. I'm figuring on doing along the lines of 12x14 for the base, but not sure on ideal weight. I will take what has been said into consideration for this. The top plate will be just shy of overall dims of the ultras, 8x10.5 im sure once the plate is on top, i will get a better feel for the stability.

 

[highfigh]

I'm pulling ideas for the base currently. the columns are roughly 5.5" wide 9" deep 35" tall. I'm figuring on doing along the lines of 12x14 for the base, but not sure on ideal weight. I will take what has been said into consideration for this. The top plate will be just shy of overall dims of the ultras, 8x10.5 im sure once the plate is on top, i will get a better feel for the stability.

Keep the weight low and it shouldn't have any problem with tipping, especially if you use something like Blue Tac to attach the speakers to the stands (it's a rubbery material that can be removed without damaging anything). Lead shot isn't expensive and it's something that has been used for a long time to prevent tall, skinny things from tipping over. If you create a chamber at the bottom and add enough lead to double the weight of the speakers, you should be fine. If you think of the whole assembly as a post, it's easy to push it over when the weight is evenly distributed but as soon as you attach it to a wider base, it will stand on its own.

In Physics class, we needed to determine the center of mass in various objects- if the weight is evenly distributed, it will be in the center of the object- make a diagram of it and draw a line from each lower corner to the opposite corner at the top. The intersection is where the Cg (Center of Gravity) is located. Widen the base and the spot will move toward the bottom. Add weight at the bottom and it drops even lower. The angle where the Cg moves outside of the base (assume that gravity is the y axis) is the angle that will allow it to tip- any less and it will want to go back to where it was.

Let's use a 5'post with 1/10 of its volume filled with lead. If it's White Pine, let's use 25 lb/ft³ as its density, so a 5' post with 1ft² as its cross-sectional area makes it easy- it's volume is 5 ft³ and its weight is 125lb. Remove 10% of the bottom and replace it with lead (density of ~708.5 lb/ft³) and we have removed 12.5 lb of wood (1/2 ft³) and replaced it with 309.25 lb of lead. It would be hard to topple it under normal circumstances, even if half as much lead were used.

 

[KEW]

Those are nice looking stands.
You can add a plinth or a couple of cross pieces at the bottom to broaden the stance.

 

[j_garcia]

Maybe just a foot across the back that keeps it stable, something small and less visible. I like the way they look.

 

[pewternhrata]

Those are nice looking stands.
You can add a plinth or a couple of cross pieces at the bottom to broaden the stance.

I was thinking I could do something like on the jamo c97 but not sure if it would be too much, good thing I have all kinds of scrap wood laying around. I'll most likely end up with just a rectangular base, simple is sometimes best. Worst part about diy; way too many options run through my head lol.

 

[highfigh]

I was thinking I could do something like on the jamo c97 but not sure if it would be too much, good thing I have all kinds of scrap wood laying around. I'll most likely end up with just a rectangular base, simple is sometimes best. Worst part about diy; way too many options run through my head lol.

What about flaring the base, at the sides? You could use the same curve as the face, just make it flare outward.

 

[pewternhrata]

Lame lighting in the garage but here it is as of now. All ready for a tear down, light sand and on to painting.

 

[pewternhrata]

Better pictures of the wood color in different light.

 

[Verdinut]

Two more options for stabilizing stands or speaker cabinets:
1. Cabinet outriggers such as on this site: http://www.soundocity.com/
2. Fix the bases to a solid granite or marble tile.

You could very possibly get stone tiles cut from small surplus pieces from a kitchen cabinet counter maker, at a very decent price.