I have found that different speakers sounded best with different mounting methods. My Harbeths hated being secured tightly to the stands and worked best on spikes or some other hard interface, while my Operas functioned best when secured tightly with a dime-sized piece of Blu-tak on each corner. That said, if you have little kids or any other danger of the speakers getting knocked over, you should definitely use a secure mounting. But safety aside for the moment, you should experiment both ways.