Would speaker stands help my situation?

[A. Vivaldi]

I have a small room and have had problems in the past with boomy muffled bass so I went with smaller bookshelf speakers, which I have resting on isolation cones on top of rather large solid oak CD cubes. This seems to have solved my problems and I'm getting pretty good sound now. However, the speakers are not set quite at ear level and I'm wondering how much better the sound might improve with good quality speaker stands?

I'd rather not take up any more space at the altar that is my system if it wouldn't give me a notable improvment in sound quality. What are your opinions concerning speaker stands in general? Just a gimmick, or legit?

 

[ironmike86]

Usually the higher up the louder bookshelf speakers will sound. Just try and set the speakers higher anyway you can and see .Then you will know if stands are worth it for you

 

[3db]

A simple trick but not very esthetic

I have a small room and have had problems in the past with boomy muffled bass so I went with smaller bookshelf speakers, which I have resting on isolation cones on top of rather large solid oak CD cubes. This seems to have solved my problems and I'm getting pretty good sound now. However, the speakers are not set quite at ear level and I'm wondering how much better the sound might improve with good quality speaker stands?

I'd rather not take up any more space at the altar that is my system if it wouldn't give me a notable improvment in sound quality. What are your opinions concerning speaker stands in general? Just a gimmick, or legit?

is to buy some door wedges (wedge things to keep doors from closing ) and put them under the front of your speakers to tilt them back a little. This may open up the sound for you and cost you a scant $5.00

 

[westcott]

Usually the higher up the louder bookshelf speakers will sound. Just try and set the speakers higher anyway you can and see .Then you will know if stands are worth it for you

Great suggestion. Place them temporarily higher and see if you like the sound better. I am an advocate of placing speakers higher to provide a more realistic sound stage. Especially if you like live performances. I also recommend giving your speakers plenty of breathing room. If you have the room, place them several feet from all the walls and floor for a cleaner sounding system.

Keep us posted and let us know what your testing reveals!!!

 

[A. Vivaldi]

Great suggestion. Place them temporarily higher and see if you like the sound better. I am an advocate of placing speakers higher to provide a more realistic sound stage. Especially if you like live performances. I also recommend giving your speakers plenty of breathing room. If you have the room, place them several feet from all the walls and floor for a cleaner sounding system.

Keep us posted and let us know what your testing reveals!!!

I agree with you that speakers sound better higher up, as I've done this in the past with some towers I used to have. The problem now is I have bookshelfs and I don't really have anything high enough that's heavy and/or solid to put them on. Plus, I'm resting the speakers on top of these isolation cones that are a pain in the rear to set up right. I don't know if it was going to smaller speakers or the isolation cones or a combination of both, but I've solved about ninety percent of my bass problems and I don't want to ruin a good thing. I'm also concerned somewhat about how my system looks to me, and I don't want my system riddled with unprofessional diy stuff, especially since I'm not that handy.

Does anybody here actually own decent bookshelf stands that can be weighted down? If so, did they change your sound imaging for the better?

 

[hemiram]

I used to have some that I had filled with sand. I can't remember the brand anymore, but they were steel, painted black, and with the sand, were about 45 pounds each. They helped quite a bit with SQ in general.

When my basement got flooded, I lost my sub and sub amp, and rear surround speakers (they were on the floor, I had just put up some new paneling, and hadn't hung them yet). The stands survived the flood, but STUNK from then on, and nothing seemed to get rid of the stink. I finally gave them to a friend who had his uncle dip them insomething that took the paint and the stink off them, but afterwards, they got really rusty and looked horrible. I finally sold them to another friend who had them coated with Rhinoliner!

Why didn't I think of that?