are speaker stands recommended? (1 Viewer)

[david*mt]

Does using these make much of a difference in sound? Right now I am using bookshelfs as my fronts and rears. I have them sitting on top of boxes and shelfs. It looks kind of crapy and I am contemplating buying some stands but I want to know if it is worth it. I also don't know what height of stand to buy. My fronts bookshelfs are about 11 inches high and my rears about 8 inches high.

 

[Sihan Goi]

Well, they'll definitely look better
It depends on a lot I guess, but a stable stand would probably improve your sound by quite a bit.

 

[Brian Foley]

Yes, they will make quite a difference. Ideally you want the tweeter of the front speakers at about ear level, and the tweeter of the rear speakers at or above ear level. Sounds like yours probably are not, so just moving them to the proper level would be an improvement. Stabilizing the cabinets will also improve the sound, especially at higher volumes. Right now, the things they are sitting on can vibrate excessively, generating unintended sound of their own.
The fronts should be on stands at least 24" high, and the rears on satellite stands or wall mounts. You can find some decent, fairly inexpensive ones at PartsExpress.com. For best results with the mains, get hollow stands that can be filled with (thoroughly dry) sand, gravel, or lead shot. This will give the stands more mass, and make them vibrate less.
You can attach the speaker to the stands with the blue (usually) clay-like adhesive that is used to stick posters on walls. You can find it at Office Max, Office Depot, Staples, Target, Hobby Lobby, and any number of other places.
BTW, to see why putting the tweeter at ear level is important, check out this tweeter's frequency response graph. The top line shows response "on axis" (with the microphone lined up with the tweeter). The others show response "off axis" to varying degrees. As you can see, the farther away the microphone (= your ear) gets from being aligned with the tweeter, the more distorted the sound becomes at higher frequencies. Sounds that can be heard loud and clear on axis are inaudible at 45 degrees off axis.