Stand mounted speakers, thoughts on coupling them to the stands...

[Steve Lefkowicz]

As I mentioned in my post about my Sound dynamics 300ti, one thing that really helps them is to not spike them to the stands. I used to use four Bright Star IsoNodes between the speaker and stand, but right now I'm trying three Audioquest Q-Feet (without the plastic cover). It really frees up the soundstage, gives a much more open and natural sound to the bass, and deals with a little of the recessed midrange these speakers are known for. I actually find floating most stand mount speakers on either isoNodes or the Q-Feet to be a big improvement over spikes or other rigid coupling methods.
The idea had been suggested to me by Barry Kohan of Bright Star, and flew in the face of the "rigidly coupled" idea that was the norm for stand mounted speakers. Over the last fifteen years, I haven't tried a single stand mount speaker in my system that wasn't improved by not coupling them rigidly to the stands.
Anyone else have any experience with trying this?

[MylesBAstor]

Gary Koh wrote an interesting white paper on the pros and cons of coupling v. decoupling speakers.

http://www.genesisloudspeakers.com/whitepaper/Genesis_Loudspeaker_Coupling_Decoupling.pdf

[SundayNiagara]

Not trying to hijack the thread, but wondering why Gary doesn't seem to sell speakers in the US?

[GaryB]

I actually find floating most stand mount speakers on either isoNodes or the Q-Feet to be a big improvement over spikes or other rigid coupling methods . . . The idea had been suggested to me by Barry Kohan of Bright Star, and flew in the face of the "rigidly coupled" idea that was the norm for stand mounted speakers. Over the last fifteen years, I haven't tried a single stand mount speaker in my system that wasn't improved by not coupling them rigidly to the stands. Anyone else have any experience with trying this?

I've got a pair of Reference 3A MM de Capo i speakers which sit on heavy, spiked, sand filled stands made by Osiris. Reference 3A recommends using Blue Tack to decouple the speaker from the stands but being an inveterate tweaker I tried different combinations. I tried the speaker directly sitting on the speaker stand, then with the blue tack, and finally I tried using non-slip rug pad. The best to my ears was the non-slip rug pad. It prevents any horizontal movement of the speaker but is slightly elastic in the vertical direction and provides a small amount of decoupling from the stand. It gives the best integration of bass.
---Gary

[MylesBAstor]

I wonder after reading Gary's paper how much of this is dependent of the size of the speakers, the size/type of drivers, how well the drivers are coupled to the cabinet, the cabinet material, etc.?

[Rob]

I've had issues with blu tack maybe the formulation has changed over the years from when its was made in the UK. It ruined the veneer on a few monitors (Spendor and Harbeth). The speakers stuck to the stands and I had to use mineral spirits to loosen them, the veneer still lifted in spots and had a pro restore them so they were re-saleable (more time and money lost). never again. I like GaryB's suggestion I also like the "blue dots" (medium density sorbothane) sold by Sound Anchor the have just the right amount of 'stiction' removing any fear the speaker will topple on its own yet decouples it from the stand at the same time.

[Steve Lefkowicz]

One thing to consider with "decoupling" is how soft and springy the decoupling agents are. With three Q-Feet (about 3/4" thick and quite squishy), my Sound Dynamics are very free to float, but seem to have an overall front to back or side to side resonant frequency under 10Hz (checked experimentally, not measured). If I were to bump into them they would likely tip over, but a quick visual check with a cup of coffee sitting on top shows less vibration than having them solidly coupled to the stand. I used half full cups of coffee (the dark color makes it easy to see ripples and patterns on the surface) when setting up high end photo finishing and printing gear, where even the smallest vibrations could impact image quality.

[bpw]

I've got a pair of Reference 3A MM de Capo i speakers which sit on heavy, spiked, sand filled stands made by Osiris. Reference 3A recommends using Blue Tack to decouple the speaker from the stands but being an inveterate tweaker I tried different combinations. I tried the speaker directly sitting on the speaker stand, then with the blue tack, and finally I tried using non-slip rug pad. The best to my ears was the non-slip rug pad. It prevents any horizontal movement of the speaker but is slightly elastic in the vertical direction and provides a small amount of decoupling from the stand. It gives the best integration of bass.
---Gary

I have the Ryan R610s sitting on Osiris stands as well, with a bit of Blue Tack between. Haven't felt the need to fill them with sand -- they're quite heavy without any.
The Ryans are surprising.

[GaryB]

. . . Osiris stands as well . . . Haven't felt the need to fill them with sand -- they're quite heavy without any.

How does that old saying go - you can never to too thin, too rich, or have speaker stands that weigh too much?
---Gary