Buyers Guides > Home Cinema

A Quick and Simple Guide to Stands

Along with cables and connections how and where you put your plasma / lcd screen or audio equipment is another very important factor that is overlooked in getting the best out of your expensive equipment.

Now you have bought your new plasma screen, lcd screen, cd player, amplifier and speakers. It is important to consider where you are going to put them.

If you want the full performance you’ve paid for you need to think about proper equipment supports. It might sound unlikely but it’s easily demonstrated that hi-fi components respond favorably or otherwise to the surface upon which you place them.

Loudspeakers, unless you’re using floor-standing types, work best on rigid stands that perform two important tasks. Firstly, they place them at the correct height, which is with the tweeters at ear-level when you’re seated. Secondly, they prevent them from unwanted movement. If a loudspeaker and/or its support can wobble about, it will lose or confuse musical information. Stands are not luxuries, they’re a necessity. bt International has a wide range of solutions to suit every budget.

What applies to loudspeakers also applies to plasma screens, lcd screens, cd players, record decks, amplifiers, tuners and any other technical equipment. A custom support counters sound distortion caused by structure and air-borne vibrations. The technical reason for isolating components is that electrical devices capacitors, resistors and so on - often generate current when they’re mechanically excited, which isn’t desirable in a hi-fi.

Both loudspeaker and equipment supports need setting-up properly if they’re to work effectively. If the stands come flat-packed, you’ll have to bolt them together. Make sure everything is fitted tightly. Fit the carpet piercing spikes and adjust them so that the stand is level and doesn’t move in any direction spikes will pass clean through the weave of a decent carpet and leave no lasting impression, unlike a piece of heavy furniture, which leaves a permanent dent in the pile.

Attach the speakers to the stand. Once the speaker sits level and doesn’t move it is ready. Some speaker stands (and some equipment stands) can be filled to deaden resonance - the stand vibrating along with the speaker. The instructions will tell you when during the assembly process you need to pour in the sand, lead-shot or aggregate filling material so be sure to read them before you start work!

If your room doesn’t provide enough floor space for stands you can obtain dedicated wall-mounted supports for both speakers and your hi-fi components. You can also use isolation platforms to improve the performance of hi-fi separates that have to be placed on shelving. Isolating platforms can be used between the equipment support and components or in situations where space limitations preclude a fully fledged stand. Try to avoid putting components on tables or sideboards however, as these tend to resonate with the output of the speakers. Equipment supports are designed to isolate the source components and amplifier from the energy coming through the floor from the speakers.

What is essential is that equipment supports are rigid, so if you’re bolting together a flat-packed design, make sure the bolts are tight. It’s also important to ensure that the individual platforms are level and don’t move on their spikes. Care taken in setting up stands always pays off in terms of sound quality.

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