bargain bucket budget speaker stands - an idea... just an idea

budgetblown

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How about modifying the £5 lack coffee table?

1) Fit spike feet

2) Mass load the underside of the table - or at the least fit butyl/sorbothane panels to help with vibration damping

Any thoughts on this?

 
M

MallyMad

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Not a speaker stand but my system sits on a £4 charity shop table. Low slung thing,heavy. Amp is on an isolation platform and the cd has blue tack on the feet. There's even a drawer underneath for all my gumpff.

Go for it I say.

 

SergeAuckland

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How about modifying the £5 lack coffee table?1) Fit spike feet

2) Mass load the underside of the table - or at the least fit butyl/sorbothane panels to help with vibration damping

Any thoughts on this?
Don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. I wouldn't bother with the spiked feet, but I would use Bluetack or felt pads to space the bottom of the loudspeaker cabinet from the top of the table. If you allow the bottom of the loudspeaker cabinet to come into contact with the table top, there's a possibility of a buzzy coloration unless the table is bonded to the loudspeaker, but that would make it difficult to remove, so either bond it or space it.

S.

 

Valvebloke

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A couple of Scalfords ago I stood my speakers on piles of high-density concrete blocks from my local builders merchants, spaced with some sort of cheap felt IIRC. They're acoustically deader than doornails, massively solid (17.5kg each, so a pile of 3 isn't going anywhere) and less than a pound apiece with my discount card. To be fair I invested in a pot of cheap emulsion from Wilkinsons to seal the surfaces and stop them shedding dust and also to make them look a bit more presentable, which they did in a 'concrete brutalist' sort of way. But I still think I got away for a tenner or so, all in. And they've proved useful once or twice since, most recently as counterweights for a projector stand at a local civic hall event.

VB

 
M

MJ.

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A couple of Scalfords ago I stood my speakers on piles of high-density concrete blocks from my local builders merchants, spaced with some sort of cheap felt IIRC. They're acoustically deader than doornails, massively solid (17.5kg each, so a pile of 3 isn't going anywhere) and less than a pound apiece with my discount card. To be fair I invested in a pot of cheap emulsion from Wilkinsons to seal the surfaces and stop them shedding dust and also to make them look a bit more presentable, which they did in a 'concrete brutalist' sort of way. But I still think I got away for a tenner or so, all in. And they've proved useful once or twice since, most recently as counterweights for a projector stand at a local civic hall event.VB
Use 25Kg a pop concrete blocks for my Dittons.

Just the right height, going nowhere and deader than a dead thing. Pretty ? Hell No.

 

budgetblown

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Pretty is relative - and blocks can be covered with paint, cloth or varnish/lacquer. heck, even paper wrapped.

I shall, I think have a look at builders' merchants and see what blocks are going begging. The JM Labs Tantal 509's I've got are going to be going matte grey to match in with the quad 77 integrated, and the Reson RS1 turntable (both finished in Nextel), so a matte grey set of speaker stands/equipment stands isn't going to be too offensive. I may even matte black for contrast.

Ohmagerd... I've sprouted a second main system.

 

vacdac

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The Adam Actives I use in the bedroom only have a large chest of drawers approx 6' wide sited in the full width of an alcove as the best place to site them in my bedroom.

I use two layers of summat v similar to this with heavy granite trivet stands sandwiched between the foam top 'n bottom. The trivet stands are near ideal in size for the F5's footprint. The F5's sit on the top layer of foam & the transmission of bass frequencies into the chest of drawers is remarkably small.

>>>
%24T2eC16NHJIIE9qTYI2IFBQRMRKZ+gw~~60_12.JPG
.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blue-Yoga-Camping-Sleeping-Beach-Ground-Mat-180-x-50cm-Roll-Up-Mats-Foam-/110946665022?pt=UK_SportingGoods_SleepingMats_Airbeds_CA&hash=item19d4efc23e. It's basically two cores of high density foam bonded together.

Very cheap & very easy to neatly cut to size. :^ Sited like this the Adams feel reassuringly solid/very stable. Due to their weight & the security of their alcove placement it's hard to imagine any mishaps. Sooo no need to bluetack, which I've relied on heavily in the past when securely mounting compact monitors.

I think in this country we should sometimes be less brainwashed into thinking dedicated stands are the only solution for compact speakers. Obviously in many cases they may be the better solution. But in many cases furniture placement may be the only practical solution & may offer a much better aesthetic/be easier to live with.

Obviously some consideration should be given as to a speakers suitability for this. My F5's for example are particularly unfussy with coping with close to boundary placement & also it's fairly conventional to use Studio Monitors similar to these on desks & other flat surfaces.

I've also had great success with my centre channel speaker a fairly large MA silver LCR having been re-sited in the foot well of the the heavy oak desk under my TV. When I upgraded to the XTZ AP 100 power amp over 2years back the space the centre speaker was occupying directly under the TV, was the only place to sensibly site the XTZ amp & allow good unrestricted airflow. :cool: :cool: I had obvious concerns siting the centre speaker in a vertical orientation in the footwell as it is close backed. It actually seems to sound even better. PaulF has suggested there could be an element of horn loading happening here. :? Seems to work well in any case & has not been the disaster I imagined at all.

It seems to me that 'stand-mount' as common use terminology for more compact speakers is mostly a relatively recent development. Weren't they generally called Bookshelf Speakers until sometime around the 1980's/90's.

 

RSand

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The problem with chopping Lack's is that they are only solid in the corners, the rest is just thin fibre board with paper matrix inside ie hollow so nothing to screw the legs into.

 

unclepuncle

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I assumed from the thread title you were going to be using KFC buckets - might be worth a try, at least you'll have a tasty meal even if the buckets make shit speaker supports.

 

budgetblown

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Well if I could fill the buckets with the sh*** covering they put on the chicken pieces, it would be incredibly heavy and stable - what a lovely idea.

Apart from the smell.

And the aesthetics of the bucket.

Even covered in vinyl or painted, the Kentucky-Fried Sh***ness of the product would, I feel, permeate the room and destroy any listening pleasure.

NO, Unclepuncle Paul, just NO!

 

folkboy

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I assumed from the thread title you were going to be using KFC buckets - might be worth a try, at least you'll have a tasty meal even if the buckets make shit speaker supports.
Ha, me too.

 

navigator

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On Saturday gave Jbl1 s most of the output of nad326bee /ex cd into a hall 60ft 20m .Each sat on squashes of whitetac on the front edge of lack table on a solid floor and up against a wall with 8 inch behind rear bass ports. Resultant room fill was seriously loud and clear all frequencies above 100ish [+ some lower reach]. The tables sound wasn't noticeable. Stereo depth effects were not estimated there however

at Scalford Show same tables supported Techys Tables on bouncy floors- good quick soundscape in the first year- but second year had to resort to sorbethane IXOS blocks under table legs to block out low vibes from big Tannoys nearby.

Main advantage is that they do not store energy-its in and out so doesn't hang about muckying images.

Spikes on speakers and into floor would speed up emptying of vibe even more-ensure no rocking.

Think of the russ Andrews ad for ''Toralyte'' built supports. Similar idea-stiff but low mass

Adding weight preferred? Try to keep mass low to ground to avoid tremor of top [which might destroy imaging] and balance out wt. of speakers. Weight may actually lose those speedy transients that make for 'live'[my liking] but add to 'smooth' style. Plenty of cheap suggestions of bricks etc on thread. 2l popbottles[refilled of water/sand] ] is an idea I've had for experimenting- hung low.

Have fun

 

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