[J.Pocalypse]

I really like how clean and uncluttered your area is. Really diggin' those speaker stands too.
 
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[Windsor]

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I really like how clean and uncluttered your area is. Really diggin' those speaker stands too.
 

 
+1
 
It looks as though those speakers and stands were made for each other.

 

[Windsor]

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My modest rig.
 

 
That's a nice looking set up; I especially like the LCD-2/NFB-10 corner.
 

 

[Somnambulist]

That's lovely... just get those Adams up off the desk!

 

[hardtarget666]

Thanks!
 
I am actually looking to get some decent base or stands. Can't make up mind between Adams own branded stand or the Mopads.

 

[Permagrin]

I have the Auralex Mopads and well it was the cheapest way to go other than DIY. The foam is actually quite dense which was reassuring when paying $36 for foam. And my 8s are pretty hefty but they don't compress from the weight which I was worried about. I was also concerned about the angle but 5 degrees really doesn't make that much of a difference.

Pretty difficult to A/B but I have no qualms about the sound so whatever.

 

[Somnambulist]

Here are my semi-DIY speaker stands:


 



 
2 (sets of 2) of the heaviest bricks I could find (sadly I couldn't find concrete bricks but whatever), wrapped in some cheap but thick black fabric (I used masking tape on the edges of the bricks to make them less sharp) and stitched together.
Mopads (I need to *gasp* cut about a 1/3 of the length of the back off so that they're around 21cm long). If I do this again I will order cut-to-size acoustic foam but I was lazy!
Mild steel plate(s) (1cm thick) - ordered off eBay, slapped some Hammerite on
Focal rubber mat(s) that came with monitor(s)
Focal CMS 50(s)
 
The idea was to copy the Primacoustic Recoil Stabilizer stand in order to save money, while also raising the speakers up off the desk more, hence the bricks. I still have to tidy up my desk, get a vesa mount for my monitor and sort a couple of things out, including putt these speakers on it, but I'll be 'posting my computer set up' soon-ish! Both stands came to just over half what a single Recoil Stabilizer would cost here, and it would have been even less if I'd just ordered acoustic foam, but I... wanted the Auralez logo, lol, I know.

 

[hardtarget666]

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I have the Auralex Mopads and well it was the cheapest way to go other than DIY. The foam is actually quite dense which was reassuring when paying $36 for foam. And my 8s are pretty hefty but they don't compress from the weight which I was worried about. I was also concerned about the angle but 5 degrees really doesn't make that much of a difference.

Pretty difficult to A/B but I have no qualms about the sound so whatever.

Appreciate the input. After much consideration, I finally put in an order for Adam branded stand. Wanted to go with the uniform look.
 

 

[hardtarget666]

@ Somnambulist
 
The stands look very solid. They must weigh a ton. And it looks like you've finally got the Focals. How are you finding them?
 
 

 

[Pott]

Why do you guys prop up your speakers on the desk? I've always put mine right on it.

 

[Somnambulist]

The steel is very heavy! I've avoided gluing it all together specifically because it's easier to carry about in parts haha.
 
I haven't had a chance to plug the Focals in yet, as said I need to sort my desk out. I also need something like a TC Electronic Level Pilot as a master volume, since my DAC doesn't have a pre-amp, and I'm looking at XLR cables still (probably just go w/1m Van Dammes). That said, I did get to audition them for about an hour and I loved them. They are award-winners after all!
 
While they weren't as good as the Twins, especially treble-wise, (they cost about three times as much and were enormous) I'm not feeling like I'm having to 'settle for less' as for the size these things kick some serious butt. Revealing but still very musical, no fatigue, surprising bass from a 5" monitor, but accurate, tight low end - it feels like they roll off deeper than the stated 45zh - a fairly wide sweet spot, some built in shelving options for things like desk reflections (I need a mic and something to measure freq response so I can see if I need to use any of them to keep things accurate). They are pretty heavy and industrial looking - the only thing that cheapens them visually is that thing you put on the inverted dome tweeter is cheap and plastic, but this isn't aimed at a market where aesthetics are held in high regard. The main thing is they sound wonderful and should serve me well for a long time. The fact they are French speakers and made there means that they probably aren't the best value for people across the pond, but for me here, they seemed like the best I could get for under £1000.
 
When I went to buy them, they were out of stock and only had the ones I'd listened to in the audition room, so I obviously haggled for a discount! It brought the final price closer to the price I'd have got if I'd bought online, but the fact West End DJ in London were so nice letting my try the speakers out meant I felt I owed it to them to come back and buy them. They are more or less pristine anyway, so it's all good.

 

[Somnambulist]

Three reasons sir.
1)  to diminish desk reflections - you ideally want to hear the sound coming from the speaker and not sound being reflected off the desk. Raising the speakers helps reduce this
2) to reduce sound colouration - on a surface like wood, when the speaker plays, sound is going to travel through the speaker cabinet, and into the desk itself. As sound travels at different speeds through different mediums, it means you end up hearing some of the desk as well as the speaker
3) related to the above, if like me you have wooden floors and people below you, then bass energy travels through the desk, through the floor and bugs them
 
As well as raising the speaker, good stands should isolate it from the surface below, meaning you're hearing the speaker with less external influence. That said, there's still the rest of the room to consider, and insubstantial stands can move/vibrate when the speaker plays, which could potentially affect sound quality (this is why I copied the PRS design).
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Why do you guys prop up your speakers on the desk? I've always put mine right on it.

 

 

[Permagrin]

Why do you guys prop up your speakers on the desk? I've always put mine right on it.

edit: never mind, Somnambulist explained it more correctly. The speaker box itself impacts how the speakers sound and when they're sitting on something like a wooden desk the desk vibrates with the speaker and thus colors the sound.

Somnambulist: I was also considering getting one of those stabilizers, like the RX7, but spending over $100 for each when I'm using them for $400/pr speakers killed that idea.

 

[lazysleepyboi]

 
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Why do you guys prop up your speakers on the desk? I've always put mine right on it.

Somnambulist summed it up pretty nicely on his post, but i would like to add that some of us don't have our desk exactly the way we want it. What i mean is that sometimes your desk is at your chest level but when you're using studio monitors, you really want the speakers to be angled toward your ears. If that's not too clear, then we want a bit of elevation to get it off the table to avoid other disturbances that could color the sound, and we want the speakers at an elevation where the speakers meet the height of our ears. I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, but studio monitors are meant to be near fielded. You want the most accurate sound you can get so you elevate the speakers to your ears and you remove the problem with your desk. After that, some people can go as far as sound proofing their rooms, but for me, being up close near my speakers seems to work just fine

 

[Somnambulist]

Oh yeah I totally forgot about that lol! Tweeters at ear height = optimal! That's what the bricks are for, since my desk is higher than a normal one (has a keyboard tray at the typical desk height level).