A Thumbnail Sketch of the Importance of Speaker Stands

Audio visual enthusiasts know that getting the rightgood if placed in a bookshelf as some might think.
stand for their speakers can be as important asObviously, speakers are designed to only produce
getting the right speaker. Speakers can only give theirsound through the front but they will also produce
best results when they are placed correctly and aresound through whatever they are placed on or near.
able to sit without any unnecessary movement.As a general rule, speaker stands should be rigid to
Speakers are not designed to transmit sound throughstop any unnecessary vibration and have as little
stands so stands need to be sturdy. A good standcontact with the ground as possible to stop sound
should isolate the speaker from the floor and the floorbeing passed through anything but the air. Speaker
from the speaker. Some stands have spikes on theirstands should also be stable for more practical
feet which help to give added stability and to reducepurposes: speakers are expensive and f you have
the surface area of the stand that touches the floor.children or animals running around, you do not want
Furthermore, the added rigidness that spikes provideyour speakers to fall off and break. Speakers stands
will help the performance of the woofer However,should have some mass to them as a high-mass
floor-standing speakers should not use spikes unlessstand will stop your speakers from moving
necessary. Spikes (or any other rigid floor coupling)unnecessarily.
increase the amount of vibration transferred betweenIdeally, the stand should bring the speaker's tweeter to
the floor and cabinet in both directions. By all means,ear level. If you sit down when listening to music,
use spikes if you need to increase static friction andensure that the stand is around 3 feet tall. As well as
prevent lateral movement of the speakers butbeing better placed by the tweeter, the stand will have
consider using rubber bumpers to decouple thethe effect of improving lower frequency sound thus
speaker from the floor.giving you a better all-round sound than you would
Counter intuitively, "Bookshelf" speakers do not soundhave without.