building wood speaker stands/plans anyone?

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bilbosblues
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2008/05/14 14:53:16 (permalink)

building wood speaker stands/plans anyone?

anyone have a schematic for monitor stands
wood being the material of choice

gracias
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    wst3
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 15:16:18 (permalink)
    I use 1" x 8" lumber (usually oak or pine) and build a column at the appropriate height (about 4 feet tall), then I use plywood (furniture grade if I'm feeling flush) to create a large plate for the bottom and a plate the exact size of the speaker for the top. I screw&glue the column together, and then screw&glue the base to the column, then I fill the thing with sand, and then I attach the top plate (screws, no glue!). I used to use butt joints, offset, for the column, but a friend of mine has a CNC machine so the last pair I built were dovetailed - how silly is that?

    I have, in the past, installed levelling feet on the bottom, but I don't know If that's really necessary in most cases.

    On one set I have the little Auralex de-couplers, and I was quite surprised to discover that I liked the sound better with them than without them. It's probably entirely a placebo effect, but I like them<G>!

    Really, that's all there was to it.

    Bill

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    #2
    bilbosblues
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 17:11:44 (permalink)
    very cool Bill

    do you have any photos?
    why no glue on the top, gluey sand?

    and do you use a router on the sides for those joints?

    thanks
    #3
    Cromberger
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 17:46:08 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: wst3
    I used to use butt joints, offset, for the column, but a friend of mine has a CNC machine so the last pair I built were dovetailed - how silly is that?



    Hi, Bill,

    As a musician *and* a woodworker, I'd have to say that dovetailing the column is, indeed, silly. ;>) However, if I had a friend with a CNC routing machine, I'd sure as heck do the same thing..... ;>) I'm sure that there are people who would say that their speakers sound better because of the dovetail joints in the column. ;>)

    To the OP: What Bill says makes sense. The idea with speaker stands, as I understand it, is to have them be as massive as possible so as to eliminate resonance. His recipe will definitely produce a stand with a lot of mass. I suspect that the reason he doesn't glue the top is so that he can get the sand out of the column when he wants to move the stands someday...... But I could be wrong.

    Best regards,
    Bill

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    Randy P
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 17:52:20 (permalink)
    The reason for the screws as opposed to the glue, also could be that the glue, when dried, could become loose after "vibrating" from the monitors at volume. The ease of sand removal makes sense also.

    Randy

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    Dave Modisette
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 23:12:19 (permalink)
    I made mine out of plywood and then filled them with builders sand. You need to open the bags of sand and let them dry out really good before you dump them in the cavity. I can show any pics because they are walled in with drywall for a soffit mount type of set up.

    Dave Modisette ... rocks a Purrrfect Audio Studio Pro rig.

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    #6
    bitflipper
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/14 23:55:37 (permalink)
    The primary design goal is to make them as rigid and as massive as possible.

    Having leveling feet is probably not a bad idea - not for leveling, but for decoupling from the floor by minimizing the direct contact between the stand base and floor. You can order those pointy feet they use on subwoofers from one of the speaker DIY outfits. Of course, if you fill it with sand those pointy feet will drill holes right into a wood floor...maybe hard rubber would be better in that case, like the stuff they sell for "floating" a floor.



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    #7
    bilbosblues
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 09:31:40 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: Mod Bod

    I made mine out of plywood and then filled them with builders sand. You need to open the bags of sand and let them dry out really good before you dump them in the cavity. I can show any pics because they are walled in with drywall for a soffit mount type of set up.


    Mod man, what about the sand on St. Pete Beach, it's free...
    #8
    Dave Modisette
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 09:43:06 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: bilbosblues


    ORIGINAL: Mod Bod

    I made mine out of plywood and then filled them with builders sand. You need to open the bags of sand and let them dry out really good before you dump them in the cavity. I can show any pics because they are walled in with drywall for a soffit mount type of set up.


    Mod man, what about the sand on St. Pete Beach, it's free...
    Not anymore. Lessee... a hour's drive there and back through city traffic at today's gas prices.... OWWWWWW!

    Dave Modisette ... rocks a Purrrfect Audio Studio Pro rig.

    http://www.gatortraks.com 
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    ... And of course, the Facebook page. 
    #9
    wst3
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 12:27:47 (permalink)
    Well I am not a woodworker... thus I will not post pictures of the speaker stands<G>! Two of them were behind a wall, so I never even finished them, but the ones I did finish are still pretty ugly!

    You are quite correct on the lack of glue for the top plate... I knew someday I'd have to move them, and in fact I did!

    Someone else pointed out that the leveling devices will help to de-couple the stands from the floor. This is true, and a good idea, but I opted to decouple the speakers from the stands. The two approaches are not exactly equal, but they are close.

    Bill

    ORIGINAL: Cromberger
    Hi, Bill,

    As a musician *and* a woodworker, I'd have to say that dovetailing the column is, indeed, silly. ;>) However, if I had a friend with a CNC routing machine, I'd sure as heck do the same thing..... ;>) I'm sure that there are people who would say that their speakers sound better because of the dovetail joints in the column. ;>)

    To the OP: What Bill says makes sense. The idea with speaker stands, as I understand it, is to have them be as massive as possible so as to eliminate resonance. His recipe will definitely produce a stand with a lot of mass. I suspect that the reason he doesn't glue the top is so that he can get the sand out of the column when he wants to move the stands someday...... But I could be wrong.

    Best regards,
    Bill



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    spacey
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 14:52:35 (permalink)
    I have mine on Auralex de-couplers sitting on desk. Reading this post I started wondering- what would be wrong with hanging them?
    I know weight is a consideration of "hanger" but what else if anything.



    #11
    The Maillard Reaction
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 14:57:05 (permalink)
    I love Macramé

    it's so relaxing.
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    spacey
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 15:02:55 (permalink)
    I was thinking more along the lines of wood with chains. Still use the pads.
    Not that I need to or probably would...just curious if it is a good isolation method.
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    Bonzos Ghost
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 15:43:13 (permalink)
    I have mine hanging with chains. Four chains straight down from the ceiling for each monitor to the four corners of a wood shelf a little wider than the width of the monitors. Don't know if it's better or worse than good stands, but it allowed me to put them exactly where I want and adjust the height if I felt the need.
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    Cromberger
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 19:46:31 (permalink)

    ORIGINAL: spacey

    I have mine on Auralex de-couplers sitting on desk. Reading this post I started wondering- what would be wrong with hanging them?
    I know weight is a consideration of "hanger" but what else if anything.


    Hi, spacey,

    I have had the same question in my mind for a long time. It *seems* like suspending the speakers would be an ideal situation, especially if one used a couple of different materials to suspend the speakers, in order to reduce any vibration transfer to the ceiling. I've often wondered why I don't see more suspeded speaker installations, especially in rooms where there is no room for speaker stands. There must be a reason; Anybody know why this is?

    Best regards,
    Bill

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    wst3
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    RE: building wood speaker stands/plans anyone? 2008/05/15 20:15:03 (permalink)
    ORIGINAL: Cromberger
    I have had the same question in my mind for a long time. It *seems* like suspending the speakers would be an ideal situation, especially if one used a couple of different materials to suspend the speakers, in order to reduce any vibration transfer to the ceiling. I've often wondered why I don't see more suspeded speaker installations, especially in rooms where there is no room for speaker stands. There must be a reason; Anybody know why this is?


    In the old days hanging speakers was quite common. Of the first six studios where I worked/visited (circa 1975) all but one had the speakers hung from the ceiling, usually on chains attached to the ceiling via springs. And you know what? They worked! (Three were Altec 604 designs, one was a JBL, and one was Electro-Voice) The last studio had Altec 604s mounted in the walls.

    The difference between the suspended 604s and the ones mounted in the walls was dramatic, to say the least!

    I think the practice lost favor for a lot of reasons:
    1) decoupling from the ceiling was not always good.
    2) there was a tendency to bump one's head on the darn things (these were pretty small control rooms!)
    3) the speakers of the day were not really designed to be used in the near field. A little distance made a big difference!
    4) it isn't as easy as it looks to get that mounting arrangement installed!!!

    For modern monitors designed to be used in the near field I would think that hanging them would work as well as mounting them on stands. I'm quite certain that hanging them would make it much easier to place them for minimal reflections from the primary control surface.

    It's still not an easy solution though, and there are a lot of stand designs that take up minimal space.

    Bill

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