Need Pic of B&W N804 w/Sound Anchor Stands

[RacerChris]

Would love to see what they look like. Anyone have a pic? Please post here or email me... Thanks.

[greggz]

Best I can do, couldnt find a pic with the speakers sitting on the stands.

[RacerChris]

Best I can do, couldnt find a pic with the speakers sitting on the stands.

Thanks Gregg! Yeah, say that one on Audiogon... Can't imagine they look very pretty installed!

[jlee]

I've had these before on demo. When installed, you don't really notice them since you really only see the front of them. One issue I had is even with the blue dots, I did not find them very stable. The granite slabs I currently use are much better. If you have children, I would not risk getting these knocked over.

[RacerChris]

I've had these before on demo. When installed, you don't really notice them since you really only see the front of them. One issue I had is even with the blue dots, I did not find them very stable. The granite slabs I currently use are much better. If you have children, I would not risk getting these knocked over.

Ah, so where did you get the granite slabs? Are they bolted to the under side of the speaker? Can you post a pic?

[jlee]

Racerchris,

I'll take some pics and post them tonight. When I upgrade to the 803 early 2005, these may just be for sale so if you're not in a rush...

They are not currently bolted to the 804, but can easily be adapted for that. There are holes already in the granite.

[RacerChris]

Racerchris,

I'll take some pics and post them tonight. When I upgrade to the 803 early 2005, these may just be for sale so if you're not in a rush...

They are not currently bolted to the 804, but can easily be adapted for that. There are holes already in the granite.

Great. Look forward to seeing the stands. Does the holes in the Granite align with the ones in the speaker?

[jlee]

Unfortunately, part of the reason I gave up is because the place I ordered them from drilled the holes about 10mm off!!! The initial design was to bolt the speaker directly to the slab, but I found this cumbersome and came up with version 2... which was to make an 2 aluminum plates in the curved shape of the 804, bolt 1 to the bottom of the 804, 1 to the slab, and then have 3 circular aluminum tubes connected between the 2 bases... to make it look like the Signature 800... the aluminum would come in anodized black or titanium silver. I would then have 3 spikes (1 at front, 2 at rear) on the bottom of the slab to complete the design. I've already come up with a way to drill and glue threaded aluminum inserts into the slab so that everything becomes a bolt in situation. Once I upgrade to the new slabs, these slabs could still be modified for my new design, but you'd have 4 extra holes on the bottom, which you'd never see anyways when in use. So if that doesn't bother you, maybe I should start working on my design and see how you like them.

[RacerChris]

Unfortunately, part of the reason I gave up is because the place I ordered them from drilled the holes about 10mm off!!! The initial design was to bolt the speaker directly to the slab, but I found this cumbersome and came up with version 2... which was to make an 2 aluminum plates in the curved shape of the 804, bolt 1 to the bottom of the 804, 1 to the slab, and then have 3 circular aluminum tubes connected between the 2 bases... to make it look like the Signature 800... the aluminum would come in anodized black or titanium silver. I would then have 3 spikes (1 at front, 2 at rear) on the bottom of the slab to complete the design. I've already come up with a way to drill and glue threaded aluminum inserts into the slab so that everything becomes a bolt in situation. Once I upgrade to the new slabs, these slabs could still be modified for my new design, but you'd have 4 extra holes on the bottom, which you'd never see anyways when in use. So if that doesn't bother you, maybe I should start working on my design and see how you like them.

jlee,

Thanks for the pics. That's one serious setup ya got there! Looks nice! :T Is that two B&W subs I see in the corners? 8O

Anyways, that is not quite what I had in mind. My main concern is that I am CERTAIN the speakers will fall in the next major earthquake. Assuming we survive :rofl: , I don't want my sweet babies scratched or damaged in any way. 8O Thought it would look cool and functional to get a 1" thick slab of granite cut in the shape of the footprint of the speaker + 3" with holes that align with the ones in the bottom of the speaker. I presume that this would also provide best performance in terms of bass response, but I am too new to this speaker to really know for sure. :roll:

[jlee]

Thanks for the compliment. The subs are REL Stadium III's. I've got Strata III's in the rear (see pic). The B&W ASW800 and ASW850 subs are nice, but not nearly as musical and quick as the REL's! I believe the ASW's are $2200 US and $3000 US respectively. For the money, REL is the way to go.

Getting that granite slab cut in the shape of the speaker is going to be costly! It was fairly costly to even get the Aluminum cut in that shape.

What did you mean by +3" with holes that align with the bottom of the speaker? I understand the 1" thick part... but not sure what you mean by that added 3" with holes.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but by bolting the speaker to a 100 lb granite slab, you essentially increase the total mass and therefore the resonant frequency. By keeping the speaker more still by bolting it to the slab and then placing spikes underneath so it can't "rock" on the carpet, you get better imaging and bass definition/taughtness/pitch accuracy. That is what I have found at least... one test you can do is push on the speaker at the back where the tensioner for the FST midrange is... see how easy it is to "rock" back and forth. Ideally, you want it perfectly still and VERY difficult to budge even the tiniest bit. With the slabs and blue dots, I've achieved the same level of "rigidity" as the Sound Anchors... with it completely bolted to the slabs and then coned or spiked, I think I will achieve the final frontier. When I first got the speakers, they were directly on the carpet... and even with spikes, could still easily rock and did not sound nearly as good as with the Sound Anchors or my current granite slabs. The sound anchors at $150 are a good value, but just not to my taste.

[RacerChris]

Jlee,

I was referring to adding 3" all around the perimeter of the footprint of the 804.

Yeah, I guess you are right. Cutting granite slabs straight is probably no big deal, but cutting a curve may be. Guess they don't have a band saw for granite, like they do wood. :M

Back to square one. Hopefully, somebody will have a pic of an 804 on the Sound Anchor Stands. At first glance I am concerned about the asthetics.... Is that why you went away from them?

[jlee]

Oh I see about the 3"... you'd have to get it drawn up in CAD or something... and then transferred to the special CNC granite cutting machine... I saw them cutting some curves into granite counters for kitchens... basically, it's not really cutting... it's more like GRINDING the curve and then polishing it... they can only cut in straight lines... all curves must be ground from what I've seen... and it takes a LONG time... figure they charge like $60 an hour and you can see it adds up real quick... most places probably have a minimum charge too... if you're getting just 2 done, it will be very very very expensive.

Couple reasons on the Sound Anchors:
1. With only 4 blue dots supporting it, it was stable back and forth but easily tippable side to side... I don't have kids, but I do walk around that area once in a while and I get nervous about knocking over $3500 MSRP speakers. With the granite, even though it's on 4 blue dots, the dots get squished almost to the level of the granite and if you tip it a bit side to side, the granite comes into contact with the bottom of the speaker and "saves it" a bit so to speak... so u get a bit more side to side stability in case of an accident.
2. I made detailed measurements of the Sound Anchors and everything is done in inches... whereas the B&W's are in metric... they have 2 holes in the front so you can put in these "rounded" spikes into the B&W's for a bit more stability, but the separation distance is actually a bit off.
3. The pieces are welded together and you can see the spot welds at the joints.
4. The rear is lower by 0.5"... so they have "assumed" that most setups will result in the speaker raked upwards... to get it back to level, you have to raise the rear spike 0.5"... I have PERSONALLY found I like it best when the midrange FST is at ear height as opposed to the more common notion that the tweeters should be at ear height... and having it raked upwards does not suit my prerefence.
5. I found the spikes to be of cheap quality.
6. Although you can only see the front of the stands usually in the common viewing position, the stands don't look ugly, but I still like the look of granite better .

This is nit picking, but when you get into this hobby, part of it is how it makes you feel and I just like well made and designed products. I feel that the lack of attention to detail turned me off from the sound anchors. However, like I said, for only $150, they are hard to beat for the PRICE. I'm just really picky and like everything done the way I like it.