Hi-Fi Stands, is more expensive better?

[dpwax]

I recently joined this forum in order to find out the truth about hi-fi racks and stands. Personally I use a standard Ikea rig because it is the cheapest option, but I know that people will pay thousands for handmade oak constructions or vibration isolating units. I am in my last year at school and have undertaken for my materials technology coursework the task of designing an affordable, high performance stand to be retailed in high street shops, with a renewable materials angle. What I want to know is what rules you stick too when upgrading or purchasing stands for your amps, turntables cd players and tape decks, as well as how you store your media. Speaker stands were another feature of my design and I would be interested to see what configurations you use in your own hi-fi.

So, if you wish to contribute, please reply with details of what equipment you use, your opinions of spending money on speaker stands and hi-fi racks, whether you would spend thousands on hand crafted units or simply drive to Ikea? I would appreciate the chance to use all of your own experience to input into my project as well as to learn something more about the world of Hi-fi.

Do you consider budget when purchasing?

How do you decide on the best performing product?

What makes a well performing product?

Does the quality of the stand ever make a difference to the performance of your hifi?

Cheers for your help.

 

[ellisdj]

You will get a much better reponse posting this in the hifi section.

If you contact whathifi and ask them if they can kindly send you a back issue of the magazine edition either hard copy or electronic - they did a Big Question blind test on isolation products with interesting results

I think that might help you or be somehting you can use. It was about a year to 18 months ago from memory

 

[chebby]

Speaker stands need to be rigid with adjustable feet for levelling and they need to be the correct height.

It's good if they don't fall over, so legs / pillars that can be mass loaded and a decent sized base all helps.

Almost forgot the Blu-Tack ...

Get Blu-Tack.

 

[Al ears]

Speaker stands need to be rigid with adjustable feet for levelling and they need to be the correct height.

It's good if they don't fall over, so legs / pillars that can be mass loaded and a decent sized base all helps.

Almost forgot the Blu-Tack ...

Get Blu-Tack.

I find I get consistantly better results with the newer Blu-Tack White.

Nah, only joking. Get the correct height stands and they do not need to cost a fortune, and as chebby says, adjustable spikes. Mass loading can help but is not possible on some models so don't worry too much about it. Basically as long as it is soundly constructed and will support the weight you are going to put on it adequately then thats about it.

Regards performance I would not worry too much about that either, you can hardly bring a load of stands home to audition.

You are more likely to get better performance out of your speakers by getting the positioning right rather than fretting about any effect the stand itself is going to have on sound quality.

'Is more expensive better?' I'd have to say not always. They do tend to be better constructed and should last for years but some well-known companies still think they can charge what they like and people are going to pay it just because they have a 'reputation'.

 

[MajorFubar]

<<Hi-Fi Stands, is more expensive better?>>

No. Better built = better. But unless you know someone handy with sheet metal and a welder, usually 'better built' doesn't come cheap.

 

[dpwax]

Thanks very much for your help folks, some useful insight.