Stands for your Harbeths

[kittykat]

There might be an easier way than to build stands from scratch. Modifying Ikea furniture as speaker stands might be a solution. There are two suitable Ikea kits which might fit the bill. One is more suitable for smaller speakers, ie. Molger shelving (5 shelf) made of clear stained lacquered walnut. It originally measures 37 (d) x 37(w) x140 (h). The longest pieces (which make up the height) will need to be cut to a required height for your speaker. The width and depth will also need to be shortened to suit your speaker?s dimension. The cross braces will need to be cut to the suitable width and depth as well. Ditch the slats.

Another kit which would be a stronger but would be a more expensive solution would be to use the Norden bench (originally 150(l) x35 (w) x 45 (h)) but you?ll need 2 of these for a pair of speakers. This time, cut the length of the bench to suit the width of your speaker. The height of this kit is just nice for the SHL5 if you attach some speaker spikes.

Happy modifying.

[A.S.]

At the last CES show we we most impressed with the hand made Resonant Woods stands. These do not claim any exotic voodoo but they are beautifully made by a really gifted American craftsman, Brooks Tanner who we have become very friendly with at these past CES shows.

Of course, handmade eucalyptus, chgerry and walnut stands take time, care and love to produce so they are not in the Skylan cost range, but they are beautiful. And Brooks is s fine man who deserves to have his semi-custom stands in your homes with our speakers. He can adjust the design a little, and the materials and the interface with the speaker to taste. The basic stand has simple threaded spikes (like Skylan) on the base, with a brass puck between the speaker and stand.

As a indication, a pair of these stands would take Brooks about three days - yes, three days - solid work (as Brooks says, a crazy amount of time but he is a perfectionist) and on a direct-sale basis the M40.1 stands wil cost you from $1600-1800/pair plus shipping. Fantastic value with genuine pride of ownership. Strongly recommeneded by me for the beautiful workmanship.

Brooks' web site is here and you can reach him through the website info.

[agentsmith]

A $10,495 Acoustic Revive speaker stand, 22 times more than the Skylan stand! Probably 300 times more than a pair of Ikea ler!

http://www.positive-feedback.com/Iss...tic_revive.htm

[fiore]

Um. Let me think: I guess we stopped making the wooden stands at least 7 years ago. The (commercial) problems were twofold: first, the cost. There is far more hand work in making veneered wooden stands than you would imagine. Second, the problems of veneer matching. Veneer oxidises with time depending on the listening room's light level, temperature etc. , and darkens. A customer who purchase the speaker and stands some time apart may not be satisfied with the veneer match - and this is problematic for everyone in the sales chain.

Hello Alan,

To solve the maching color problem an easy way could be to produce only wood stand in a black color

My2cent

[PhilR]

Hi everyone, just ordered my first pair of Harbeth Compact 7es (in Rosewood). Very exciting!

For stands I am not sure what to do - can anyone recommend the 'Something Solid XF' stands? They are custom made in the UK.

I do like the look of the Skylans too - what is the average lead time from order to receipt?

[francisco]

All know, that the best stand for Harbeth, is the open frame, but, what is the best: wood or steel?, physic, from point of veiw.
Regards.

[hifi_dave]

Hi everyone, just ordered my first pair of Harbeth Compact 7es (in Rosewood). Very exciting!

For stands I am not sure what to do - can anyone recommend the 'Something Solid XF' stands? They are custom made in the UK.

I do like the look of the Skylans too - what is the average lead time from order to receipt?

Without doubt, the best stands I have ever used with any speaker and definitely with Harbeth is the Something Solid XF. It's fast, clean, open and dynamic and really brings out the best from your speakers. Reasonably priced too.

[tozen]

I have found wood to sound a bit warmer than steel, so use a wood open frame design made by a carpenter at very reasonable cost to my specs. I am not aware of a commercially produced high quality wood open frame stand here in the uk. Would be interesting to compare such a stand to the Something Solids

[francisco]

Without doubt, the best stands I have ever used with any speaker and definitely with Harbeth is the Something Solid XF. It's fast, clean, open and dynamic and really brings out the best from your speakers. Reasonably priced too.

....solid XF,What do you mean? -

tozen:

".....have found wood to sound a bit warmer than steel, so use a wood open frame design made by a carpenter at very reasonable cost to my specs. I am not aware of a commercially produced high quality wood open frame stand here in the uk. Would be interesting to compare such a stand to the Something Solids "

And the bass, is also better with wood?,
I think that the bass is better with steel, (open frame stand) .

[tozen]

I would guess bass is a bit tighter with steel. I seek to maximise midrange performance and have found steel to sound, pardon the expression, a bit steelier than wood. A well made wood open frame is still v open and fast. It is also, arguably, cosmetically very pleasing. I think there must be plenty of good local carpenters who would oblige. The individual touch also gives pride of ownership. What I have is similar to the fantastic Brooks stands noted above - a notch or two down in terms of craftsmanship, but still great build and considerably cheaper.

[francisco]

I would guess bass is a bit tighter with steel. I seek to maximise midrange performance and have found steel to sound, pardon the expression, a bit steelier than wood. A well made wood open frame is still v open and fast. It is also, arguably, cosmetically very pleasing. I think there must be plenty of good local carpenters who would oblige. The individual touch also gives pride of ownership. What I have is similar to the fantastic Brooks stands noted above - a notch or two down in terms of craftsmanship, but still great build and considerably cheaper.

......and, the wood stand, has one high WAF.

I have two possibility for my SHL5 :



and this:



this stand it seems very pretty, but i think that my wife prefer wood.Regards.

[Thanos]

Hi,
some remarks to the subject:

- The stands' material would not contribute to the sound as far as the speakers would be seriously decoupled from their platforms.
- The speaker will not radiate towards the stand, so what we hear is resonance after reflected sound. This means that the stand's contribution to sound is probably not even noticed some times, especially if reflections are absorbed from other materials.
- One has to measure vibrations that reach the stand (from insufficient decoupling) with scientific instruments in order to have a clear opinion of what happens with frequencies being influenced. These frequencies will have a major or a minor influence to the general sound, then we can tell how much materials play their role.

I have tried two types of metal stands and another wooden. I have finally designed my own wooden stands for the SHL5s and ordered them from a trusted carpenter, therefore they costed less than half the price of ready made ones. I happened to find some good solution to seriously decouple the speakers from the upper platforms, so I heard almost no differences at all, no matter which stand I used. Note that, except decoupling the speaker from the stand, I also seriously isolated the stands themselves from the floor, by using Soundcare Superspikes, that proved very effective and didn't damage the floor. I'm just sharing my thoughts with forum mates, any comments will be very useful and welcomed.

Regards,
Thanos

[hifi_dave]

Over the years I have tried just about every type of stand there is and have now settled on the Something Solid stands.

When I first got in a pair of the 7ES-3 and a few weeks after, the SHL5, I experimented over again. First up was an open box constructed from MDF, then a couple of mass loaded stands, a mass loaded tube and even cardboard cartons filled with corrugated cardboard, finally the Something Solid XF. This, to my ears gives the best balanced sound - clean, fast and dynamic with a tactile midband. They work well with every speaker I have tried and the only negative I have is that they don't look right under a very small speaker like the P3ESR.

[jferreir]

They work well with every speaker I have tried and the only negative I have is that they don't look right under a very small speaker like the P3ESR.

Not to hijack this thread, but which speaker stands are recommended most often for the P3ESR (and why)? I find there is a notable absence in this regard.

After perusing various dealer websites, I often find that speaker stands are marketed toward specific Harbeth models, save for the P3ESR. I would be very interested in hearing what speaker stands other P3ESR owners use, perhaps with a few pictures (if it's not too much to ask). As an aside, does the 'open frame' philosophy apply to the mini-monitor as well? Truthfully, I'm not terribly concerned with how the speaker stand will impact the sound*, if at all, but I am a stickler for design and craftsmanship.

Thanks for the help!

*Provided that the speaker stand is of the approproate height and properly coupled to the speakers/floor, I doubt that I, personally, would be able to discern any difference in sound quality.

[keithwwk]

Over the years I have tried just about every type of stand there is and have now settled on the Something Solid stands.

When I first got in a pair of the 7ES-3 and a few weeks after, the SHL5, I experimented over again. First up was an open box constructed from MDF, then a couple of mass loaded stands, a mass loaded tube and even cardboard cartons filled with corrugated cardboard, finally the Something Solid XF. This, to my ears gives the best balanced sound - clean, fast and dynamic with a tactile midband. They work well with every speaker I have tried and the only negative I have is that they don't look right under a very small speaker like the P3ESR.

May I know where to get the Solid FX stand in England? How much the selling price is?

[Bodfish]

Over the years I have tried just about every type of stand there is and have now settled on the Something Solid stands.

When I first got in a pair of the 7ES-3 and a few weeks after, the SHL5, I experimented over again. First up was an open box constructed from MDF, then a couple of mass loaded stands, a mass loaded tube and even cardboard cartons filled with corrugated cardboard, finally the Something Solid XF. This, to my ears gives the best balanced sound - clean, fast and dynamic with a tactile midband. They work well with every speaker I have tried and the only negative I have is that they don't look right under a very small speaker like the P3ESR.

Dagnamit, and I take delivery tomorrow of my new Something Solid XF stands on which I will be placing.......my P3ESRs! Luckily I have incredibly bad eyesight and usually listen of an evening with the lights turned down and my glasses off...most of the time I can't actually see my kit!

[hifi_dave]

The price depends to some extent on the size but they are usually around £230 per pair.

[denjo]

The price depends to some extent on the size but they are usually around £230 per pair.

Hi hifi_dave, how high should the Something Solid stands be for the P3ESR? The Harbeth website recommends 24+ inches.

Best Regards
Dennis

[Labarum]

Just come across this eBay shop - solid oak speaker stands

http://www.auctiva.com/stores/viewst...id=12&siteid=3

About £120 for this model

[hifi_dave]

Hi hifi_dave, how high should the Something Solid stands be for the P3ESR? The Harbeth website recommends 24+ inches.

Best Regards
Dennis

A might late I know but - the tweeter should be at ear level which means the stand should be at least 24 inches, probably nearer 28. You need to sit in the 'hot' seat and measure your ear to floor and calculate from that measurement.