Speaker Stands - Basic ?'s

[SiliGoose]

I have always had tower speakers but just decided to jump on a pair of NHT Classic Three bookshelf speakers. Now I need some sort of speaker stand -a topic I know nothing about.

A few questions if you don't mind...

The NHT Classic Three is 13.75" tall. What size stand should I get? I was thinking around 24" to put the speaker about 3 feet off the ground but I really have no idea. Is there a general rule of thumb for matching stands?

How does the speaker mate to the stand? Do they simply rest on the stand? Or is there some sort of mount system to secure the speaker to the stand? I have 2 cats who enjoy jumping on every new object in the house. I would hate to come home and find my shiny new NHT's had crashed to the floor.

What material should my stands be constructed of? Wood stands seem to be inexpensive but so light weight that I can't imagine them being capable supports or any help in deadening vibration.

Finally, any recommendations on where to shop for good speaker stand deals? I'd like to get a pair for under $100 if possible.

Thanks!

[Lex]

hmmm, under 100 would be a pretty tall order.

I personally like metal stands with a nice base on them. Check out Lovan Ballet IIs.

congrats on the NHTs.

[Blindamood]

Sound Organisation and Target also make solid speaker stands. Both are made of steel, which can be filled with sand or lead shot to increase the weight and density.

As for attaching, you can use rubber feet between the speaker and stand, but that doesn't really connect them. Another option is to use a material like Blu Tack.

[birdman71]

Parts Express has some of their Dayton stands on sale right now.
Their 24" High Mass metal stands are just under $100 right now with free shipping.
These are sand/lead fillable as well.

Mike

[WillyD]

I 2nd the Dayton High Mass stands. They are reallllly hard to beat for the money.

[David Meek]

Hi ya 'goose! It's good to see ya 'round. :T

I'd go for a hollow leg on the stands, that way (assuming it seals properly) you can fill it with steel shot (lead = bad) or sand or some other deadening substance. That's always a good step. As far as height, you want the tweeters to be right about ear-high when you are in your prime listening spot, so measure that distance and subtract the distance between the tweeter and the bottom of the speaker housing. The remainder will be a good basic measurement for the height for your stand.

[Lex]

oh, also, I immediately PM'd Sili to chat a bit. He used to be a mainstay at this forum, and Sili and I used to really have some good "bantor" type exchanges between us, right goose?

I miss that.

Doug

[dyazdani]

Parts Express has some of their Dayton stands on sale right now.
Their 24" High Mass metal stands are just under $100 right now with free shipping.
These are sand/lead fillable as well.

Mike

Can't beat that!

[Amphiprion]

The 24" high mass stands from PE are a no brainer for folks who have seen them. I have a pair myself. You would easily pay 200+ for this kind of stuff elsewhere.

[dynamowhum]

Excuse me guys but shouldn't he get stands that bring his tweeter up to ear height?

[dyazdani]

Excuse me guys but shouldn't he get stands that bring his tweeter up to ear height?

The 24" stand should bring the tweeters up to around 33-34", that should be close to ear level, maybe just shy - it depends what he sits on...

[WillyD]

The 24" stand should bring the tweeters up to around 33-34", that should be close to ear level, maybe just shy - it depends what he sits on...

Aye, my 24" PE stands bring my Modula MT's tweeters to roughly ear level. :T

[dynamowhum]

I guess I have a really tall couch because I had to build my bass bins to 30" to get mine to 41" which is ear height seated. I'm 5'8" and the wife is 5'3". When I measured her seated ear height it was 38" so I added a few more for my height.

[birdman71]

I just measured mine. With both sets of spikes, these stands are actually just over 26". With my Modula MT's, the tweeter center is approx 38 1/2".

They're much better than I expected for the price.

[SiliGoose]

Thanks for all the help, guys! I'm embarrassed to admit I took the advice about the Parts Express stands and purchased something completely different.

The Parts Express stands sound like they are extremely well built but I couldn't get past the appearance of the area where the base meets the spikes. Silly, I guess.

I went with these: http://www.racksandstands.com/asp/sh...asp?sku=VI1047

Hopefully they'll get here soon. My NHT's arrived today and look really goofy without stands. They sure sound nice though. Excellent detail. I get the feeling the will image quite well too once I get them on stands.

The stands are fillable and I'd like to fill them with something other than sand (messy). Where can I obtain lead shot? Isn't that what is commonly used? Is that something I can get at Home Depot or something? Do they just call it "lead shot"? -or are there other names for it?

[dyazdani]

The only place I've looked is at outdoors (guns) stores. After I saw the price, sand was great. Hopefully someone can tell you a better place to get it.

[SiliGoose]

After I saw the price, sand was great.

Really? That bad?

[Lex]

anything metal costs money and ammo? Just makes it that much more expensive.

how about BB's or pellets in bulk? Really, it depends on the opening, if you can put 6" bolts in there, you may get real heavy bulky stuff to put in, instead of fine stuff.

I would keep the weight in the bottom half, to avoid making them to top heavy.

[dyazdani]

I want to say that a 20lb bag of shot was like $20-30 at the couple of places I looked. You can get a 50lbs of play sand for just a few bucks.

[RobP]

One thing that I would be leary of when it comes to lead is the dust that produced, Sand IMO is a much better option, just make sure that the sand you get is clean and dry.

[John Holmes]

Hey Sili,

Glad to see ya posting again! Nice speakers & stands. I hope they fit your needs.

[David Meek]

Sili, go to Walmart and pick up several bulk boxes of BBs. They are steel so you don't have to worry about lead issues. They'll fill the legs more densely (sorry Lex) than bolts and are cheaper than shot (lead or steel), too.

[Lex]

hey, just offering up some suggestions to add weight to make them more stable, moreso than sonics. I also suggested BB's.

Didn't know WM had the bulk boxes of BBs, good suggestion.