Speaker Stands

[chaplndave]

OK...I purchased a Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K and a set of Klipsch HD Theater 500 speakers. Here's the deal. My wife and I continually battle about what will go in the living room and what will not. Of course I want to hook the receiver and speakers up to the Sony LCD in the living room. Her contention is that speakers are ugly and should be hidden out of sight...so I went with the best sounding, but small speakers I could...the HD Theater 500s. Now I want to put them up on stands so the sound is just right, but I want her to like them as well. I was thinking maybe a nice Cherry speaker stand (times 4 for front and rear speakers), but not sure what to buy. Anyone out there have a suggestion or two that might make my wife say something like..."Hmmmm, well, I guess they are all right." I have been looking at Sanus and Wood Technologies. I have considered black ones, but most of them are pressed wood that can break apart or crumble after a bit of time. My preference is to make them blend in with the furniture (we do have a low cherry TV stand). So...I am open for suggestions. Come on Klipsch experts, help me out here...and thanks ahead of time.

[Southern]

It's been my experience that speakers and wife's do not mix. You should be asking your wife what she thinks about stands for your speakers since she will have the ultimate say so, my guess is that she will think that is a bad idea since your speakers will appear to be floor standing. I have seen people "hide" their small speakers by putting them on top of their equipment racks. I have even tried to hide my side surround speakers (which are fastened to the wall) by placing the wife's candles on top of them. It didn't work. I feel that black speakers tend to blend in after a while over a lighter colored speaker. Good luck.

[Snails_Pace]

I was in the same predicament as you when trying to find wife-approved stands for my KLF-C7s that I have upended and used as rear and side surrounds. They were previously sitting on triangular base/topped, tube steel support speaker stands (i.e. they were designed as speaker stands with wire guides in the tubes and carpet spikes on the base), and while the stands themselves are functional, the aesthetic effect was less than satisfactory (low WAF).

What I ended up doing just this past weekend was going with four small but thin/tall Mission-style telephone stands stained with a cherry oak color that blended quite nicely with the somewhat reddish tint in our entertainment center. The stands themselves are now truly furniture grade items and the extra shelf down below can be used for knickknacks, plants, tall books, etc. There was a similarly sized phone stand at the furniture store built with a small drawer just below the top of the stand that had black handle accents and black steel legs extending to the floor with levelers built in...the combination of the wood finish and the black accents would have likely complemented the black wood/satin finish of the speakers. Just something to consider if you are not finding dedicated speaker stands that are to your liking...and the extra functionality of something like a small telephone stand, i.e. shelf or drawer, might be a nice selling point for your wife.

[chaplndave]

Thanks to both Southern and Snails_Pace for your comments and your emphathizing with my predicament. Just purchased online a set of Wood Technology FGH 31 inch speaker stands...solid wood, Ebony/Black in color. Hopefully this will suffice. I felt the 31 inch ones would get the speakers to a nice level for listening, yet not obtrusively tall as to be noticed too much. I will keep everyone posted on how this works out. I am hoping that my wife does not object to these new stands...but time will tell. Thanks again...I do appreciate the input from you all. Blessings

[jamesV]

Great to hear that you found something, good luck, hope she likes them.

I was going to mention if it was possible the build something and sketch it out to show her to make sure she would like it before it was made. This way you would both win, she would like the stand and you wouldn't have to get different speakers. Plus it would be made with wood and could be stained to match your existing furniture.

James

[chaplndave]

Thanks James...it has been many years since I did that kind of woodworking...and not sure I am up to the task, either skill wise or tool wise. The stands that I bought...Wood Technology FGH-31s are actually hard wood, but are painted Ebony Black which should fit very well with my Klipsch HD Theater 500 black satellites. The 31 inch stands should keep the speakers low enough as to be unobtrusive and yet high enough to really enhance the sound quality of the speakers. I will have to let you know. My speaker wire and cables from Monoprice should be here on Monday and I am hoping to see the stands by the end of the week. Then I can finally...finally...get my new receiver out and set up the whole system. I am hoping to do that while the wife is away at a meeting next Saturday morning...we'll see. I figure once I get them set up she will have a better idea of what it will look and sound like before she spends time complaining about it all. Oh well, hope that is not too devious.

Thanks again to all who have weighed in. I would love to hear from any others of you who have had the same type of situation and how you handled it. Hope to hear from you all soon.

[Colin]

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Magazine/equipment/0105/standbyme.htm

Loudspeaker
stands should be as solid as possible, in order to communicate more of
the music and imaging. The proper stand, mounting and use of pads or
spikes, may make as much difference to the sound of your dream movie and
music system as the proper cables. Stands should also look good,
ideally contributing to the powerful appearance of your majestic home
movie and music reproduction system, without calling undue attention to
themselves. Yet, they
should not lighten the wallet at the expense of other
essential gadgets or goodies.

some ideas...