speaker stands--general considerations

One lasting impression of speaker stands happened at a dealer several years ago listening to Dali, KEF and other stand mount monitors on some Sound Anchor stands, spikes on the base, thin layer of blu tack between the speakers.
The bass was simply solid, deeper and more well defined than I have heard with other stands including filled plastic, wood, etc. The rigid, high mass stand gave me the benchmark for what could be possible for a stand mounted speaker.   The sound of the bass response is what was most impressive-  leading edges with impact, quick non bloated decay.  
Since that impression I was reluctant to buy them because they were pricey. With a variety of stand mounts and larger monitors that have passed through my listening room I have used cat litter filed plastic, DIY open wooden frames, basic metal and MDF stands and nothing gave me that sound that was my benchmark. Finally bit the bullet and purchased them- 4 post sound anchors for my Harbeth SHL5+. Finished.

i have 4 bose 901 series 2 speakers hanging from the ceiling. i know all out there will say that the 901's are outdated but i like them. they are hanging around 2 feet from the ceiling. my ceilings are 7 feet high. is that about the right distance from the ceiling???

I’ve been using Dynaudio stand 2’s filled with sand and spikes on the bottom.  Blu tak on top.  These are really nice, solid and heavy stands!  I like them quite a bit.

In general I prefer towers, but not all listening environments are suited for them. Take my secondary bedroom system. Each time I listen, due to space/storage/walking lane constraints, I need to move the right speaker five feet from its dormant position to its optimal in-room listening position. Using Pangea LS300 sand-filled, bluTack secured stands to Spendor D1 mini monitors, it takes 30 seconds, including measuring with tape measure from side and front walls to match the distances of the left speaker (which is out of the way enough to remain in constant position).

Doing that with towers would be much more cumbersome, and for that reason I’d probably end up listening less.

Have been impressed with the BlueTack. I used a lot to really snug the speakers to the stands. On initial installation I accidentally pulled too hard on a connected speaker cable and toppled the speaker and stand, but the speaker ended up falling to rest against a plastic bin (those plastic storage tubs) and the BlueTack held so that the stand did not break away from the speaker, which would have caused damage as the stand would have fallen completely to the floor and the speaker then would have fallen down onto the metal stand on the floor, surely scratching the speaker at a minimum if not damaging the drivers. When they came to rest, the speaker and stand were probably at about at 45 degree angle. As it was, no damage because speaker side just stopped against the plastic tub, and the bluTack held. Thankfully! I woulda been really pissed at myself for not paying attention if that BluTack wouldn’t have held!! Granted, Spendor D1 mini monitors are small and light.

I would think most of the guys on here have floor standing speakers. I feel most in general are to unsteady.