Stands for your Harbeths

[Ytsejam]

Hallo, i'm using ST12 open frame stands with Harbeth Monitor 30. They are rigid and due to their height adjustable spikes and the relative wide distance between the spikes (especially rearwards) they stand very firm also on a slightly uneven underground. I compared them with plain Mission stands two years ago (Speakers B&W CDM 1 and Harbeth HLHL-P3ES-2) and they offered a significant improvement. For the M30's they're maybe a little bit too low (i'm considering to put them on a flagstone or something else) but this is perhaps no problem with the compact 7.
Regards, Thomas

[danrubin]

I ran my Super HL5's on the Epos stands for quite a while. I then put them on a pair of 24" Skylans that were purchased for a smaller speaker I also have. Although Noel thinks 24" is far too high for the SHL5's, I think they sound wonderful. Can't tell you if its's the height or the Skylans, but I doubt I'll go back to the Epos.

While Harbeths have lossy cabinets, it does not follow that they should be paired with lossy stands necessarily.

[A.S.]

... I then put them on a pair of 24" Skylans ... While Harbeths have lossy cabinets, it does not follow that they should be paired with lossy stands necessarily.

I agree on both counts. I think that, as a general rule of thumb, most if not all speakers will sound better the taller the stand.

The problem is practicality (stability, cosmetics, children) versus acoustics, and faced with that situation, most listeners obviously opt for shorter stands.

Yes I completely agree about 'lossy speakers, ?? lossy stands'. I have read some fine arguements for/against but I can't myself see the necessary correlation. What matters is not the quasi-theory devoid of any scientific analysis but what suits you, in your room on your budget with your domestic considerations.

[danrubin]

One other point. With the SHL5, you might want to align the main tweeter (not the supertweeter) at ear height. (Or do I have that wrong?) Anyway, the main tweeter on the 5 is, I believe, just about the same distance from the bottom of the cabinet as the tweeter is on Compact 7. If tweeter height were your only criterion, you would use stands of the same height for both the 5 and the 7.

[David Schalkwyk]

I agree on both counts. I think that, as a general rule of thumb, most if not all speakers will sound better the taller the stand.

The problem is practicality (stability, cosmetics, children) versus acoustics, and faced with that situation, most listeners obviously opt for shorter stands.

Yes I completely agree about 'lossy speakers, ?? lossy stands'. I have read some fine arguements for/against but I can't myself see the necessary correlation. What matters is not the quasi-theory devoid of any scientific analysis but what suits you, in your room on your budget with your domestic considerations.

Funny you should mention tall stands, Alan. I've been listening to my HP3s on 58cm stands up to now. Only yesterday I raised the 'speakers by putting them on some cans of baked beans. If I thought they sounded wonderful before they are now stupendous! My wife hates the baked beans (well, to be honest, they're not very preposessing aesthetically), so I'm going to have to think carefully about getting new stands. More money.... How high would too high be?

David

[A.S.]

How high would too high be?

The practical answer is that .... a stand that is too tall is unstable and unsafe.

I note from the Stereophile magazine April 2007 review of the HL-P3ES2 (very complimentary) that "the Harbeth's magic seemed to work only when my ears were level with the tweeter."

This is no surprise to me. At the design stage one needs to define a vertical point at which the phase-aligned soundwave path-lengths from the tweeter and bass unit to the ear are the same - and in the case of the P3ES-2 that's on tweeter axis.

[T.W.]

Here is an example for custom stands for my M40's. They are easy to build and
quite heavy. It's a good starting point to experiment with different stand heights.
It takes only some hours to build new ones...

Here is a link to a picture
http://picasaweb.google.de/image.own...66315517250466

[leekb]

That was a great looking stand.

Did you glue or nail the woods together? Did you put any height-adjustable spike at the bottom?

[T.W.]

I used pegs and wood glue and some screw clamps to fix it. The hardest part is to drill the holes so that they fit.

Here are the tools you need:
http://picasaweb.google.de/image.own...17786553584562

I don't have spikes. I don't want to mess up my floor. I use 8 rubber bumpers per stand - 4 on top and 4 on buttom. They are very effective. Almost no resonances reach the floor. Even the stand itself seems to have almost no "sound". I verified this by putting my ear on the stands. These bumpers are from my local Hifi dealer - 5€ each. A mix of rubber and graphite.

http://picasaweb.google.de/image.own...17889632799682

[leekb]

Thanks.

If I were to built one, I would have to get it spiked at the bottom because my listening area is fully carpeted. I would need to get them "spiked" through the carpet and onto the concrete floor.

[erratum1]

Question for Mr. Alan Shaw:

I saw a full page ad in Japan Stereo Sound and Audio Accessory Magazines of Harbeths (full domesic range) sitting on what appeared to be open frame wood stands. The stands have the Harbeth logo labelled on them and looked well constructed. Without a bottom plate they looked very neat. The ads were placed by your authorised distributor in Japan, M-Plus Concept .

I would be grateful if you could let me know where I can buy them from for my Super HL5. Thank you.

[leekb]

I am really keen in starting this project for my SHL5. I believe you have used the dowel joint in your stands.

I was thinking through the build process. I agree with you that drilling the holes accurately for the pegs is tough. Is there any tip that you could share in this?

[Bill C]

I'd be interested in information about those stands as well. They really look nice.

[Knut Knutsler]

I'm with Bill C and erratum1 - I've never liked the look of stands in any case and I think most of those available for the larger Harbeths are unsightly. These wooden ones - from Japan I guess - are easily the most appealing style-wise. Their lossy construction would probably confer the benefits that have been claimed for other light-weight stands in these forums. Probably better.

[Rachael Q]

Hello. I live in Japan and we can still get these Harbeth original stands for both C7 and SHL5. They are about US$540

http://joshinweb.jp/31/883/4535540126294.html
http://joshinweb.jp/31/883/2098772365555.html

I am considering importing direct from Skylan. Have spoken to Noel and he recommended 18" or higher if my ceiling was higher than 240cm. Very helpful he is. But I would also like to try out some of the open stands which Chayro has mentioned.

rachael

I'm with Bill C and erratum1 - I've never liked the look of stands in any case and I think most of those available for the larger Harbeths are unsightly. These wooden ones - from Japan I guess - are easily the most appealing style-wise. Their lossy construction would probably confer the benefits that have been claimed for other light-weight stands in these forums. Probably better.

[Knut Knutsler]

Thanks for the links. Yes, they are the stands in the magazine pictures. Have you seen them in the flesh?

I hope you are enjoying your 5s.

[Chayro]

I'm currently experimenting with stand height on my M30's. They just sounded too thin to me on 24" stands. I currently have them on a pair of 18" Lovans and the bottom end balanced out nicely. I've no doubt that in a more live environment, the taller stands would work better, but right now, I'm enjoying the lower ones. Judging by what I'm hearing, I think the 20" Epos will work out best for me. My listening couch is pretty low, so the tweeters are still pretty close to ear level.

[Chayro]

I just got the Epos and the M30s sound magnificent on them. Definitely the stand for this speaker in my room. They actually place the speaker 21" off the floor. The 18"stands weren't bad, but perhaps a trifle thick in the lower mids - the bottom of male voices and such. I really think you have to experiment a bit with stands until the speaker/stand combo clicks with your room and taste.

[Naimeo]

I'll like to share experience of a setup mistake that made my C7 ES3 sound hard & messy when the vol increases or material gets complex.

Even imaging starts to slowly deteriorate soon after I've changed to Supra Sword; I suspect that the extra bass & body from the Sword may be interacting with my room as I thought the culprit couldn't be my stands which are sand filled; nor my Zero One DAC which sounds terrific in another C7 system.

Turn out that the Blutack had been completely compressed and my C7 is practically sitting on the metal stand's top plate and is vibrating the whole stand!

Eventually used 4 small 3M bumpons on the stand's top plate to isolate the C7's vibration to allowed it to "breathe" freely; completely improved my C7 to a whole new level.

Besides fixing the harding mentioned, the imaging depth, stability & body are now pretty amazing. Harmonics, esp from acoustic piano & guitar, and subtlety of note decay made good recording sound extremely real now.

[zenith]

Currently I use a pair of Celestion SL 600 Metal stands with RATA Torlyte tops for Compact CE7 II .
Looking at the design idea of the speaker cabinets it is thin wall and damped with the idea of letting any vibration quickly out of the cabinet and storing the energy .
large metal stands with lots of damping are rigid and will hold the speaker well but they are likely to store any energy coming from the cabinet and this might smear the sound.
Torlyte stands seem to have the same design idea as the speakers to be rigid but light and to allow all energy to quickly pass through the stand. This seems to be a good thing and has often made me want to try them but I have to admit to being a little shocked by the price so have not really got round to them.
However as Alan seems to favour the Ikea stand which has cheaper but similar properties then these stands may well be on the right lines. has anyone tried them ? The other draw back with them is that they do not have a rectangular top and so would not support all of the cabinet base . if only they could offer this I think I might be more inclined to give them a try.