Audio Supports

In response to Elizabeth's thought:

"Added: One feature that would allow three feet (or four) and incur a very minimal expense for maufacturers would be to have the base of units drilled and tapped for BOTH a three foot setup, ANd a four foot setup. arranging the hole for opimum placement.
Then one would only need to unscrew the feet from the four and move them to the three setup. (and save that fourth foot for when one sells the unit..)
Cool."

Merlin floor standing speakers (VSM's) do exactly that....have a four foot setup but also drilled for a three foot setup which is their recommended way to set up the speakers with the spikes that they provide.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all at A'gon!!

IMHO, the only valid reason for using three feet instead of four is that it makes it a whole lot easier to level the component, something that is very important for TT's and speakers. I agree that it makes things unstable and for that reason I will not use three footers on floor-standing speakers.

Some do, my Star Sound rack has three, as does the factory stands for my Spendor S 100s. The Lead Balloon TT stand I use to have had three also, as does my Russ Andrews stand for the Linn turntable. All of these except the Linn stand are very heavy and work well. Several other very good equipment racks also use 3 as do others that are quite respectable in quality, I have one of these also but the brand escapes me at the moment.

My Thor Cantantus Phono Preamp has three feet. BUT it is a rather large oval and it seems to me three feet work better of a circle or oval than a square.

The pros/cons are rooted in the real world of physics. Four beats three any day. Any working of a model of the physical forces in play will tell you that.