Speaker stands

[greenjudas]

My front speakers are large bookshelf/small floorstanding that weigh around 19kg[45pd] each and are 60cm[2ft]tall.I have been using some stands that are 80cm tall with these speakers. The stands were bought for my previous fronts which were smaller and I know that the stands are too tall for my current speakers.
My question is how much difference will stands of say 40cm make to the sound.One person who has been to my place made the point that I would be lacking some bass because of the stands being too tall.What do you people think? Obviously having smaller stands would bring the tweeter down closer to ear level and this in itself will be an improvement,but I really would like your opinions on the bass improvement.Thanks :roll:

[hieronimus]

Hi there,

The bass reflects from the surrounding surfaces, so the further away from the floor, ceiling, back & side walls, etc., the less bass you get. So, if the stands are higher from the floor, the less bass reflection you get. This is not necessarily bad, because it makes the sound image "cleaner" from reflections, phase delays and other distorsions; however, the bass levels are also significantly reduced. Typically for Hi-Fi audio, you actually want your bass (and overal sound image) without reflections, so you position the speakers as far away from any surfaces as possible.

The stand height is related to the reference axis of the speaker. The height of the reference axis of the speaker should match the level of a seated person's ears, which is some 100-110cm. In your case, the reference axis of the speaker is approx. at 40cm from the bottom, so the stands need to be 60-70cm high.

To test the improvement of the sound image without changing the stands, try turning the speakers up-side-down on the 80cm stands, this will bring the ref.axis to a more desirable level (however, the bass will get even thinner because the drivers will move even further from the floor).

Another test, to see how much bass you actually get from the floor reflections, is simply to remove the speakers from the stands and place them on the floor.

So these two tests would give you your max and min bass range.

Cheers,

[Boombox]

So these two tests would give you your max and min bass range.

Nice quick guide... :T ...thanks...