A very successful DIY outrigger project.


So I got a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers and I love them. I loved my previous Usher BE-718's too but my wife didn't like the look so I have to sell them. Anyway, as good as the Adagios sound they could fall over if you frown at them. They have a narrow footprint to start with and taper at the rear to make it even worse (We have padded wall-to-wall carpet) and the left one is by the front door where purse slinging women arrive and are oblivious to the hazard. I had Soundocity outriggers when I had PSB Synchrony Ones because they had the same problem and they were really nice and effective but I don't want to raise these speakers up the way the Soundocities do. So I went to the local home center and bought 1/8" X 1-1/2" aluminum bar stock, cut a couple of 12" long pieces, drilled two holes to match the spike inserts for the rear of the speakers only and attached them with M6 screws with rubber washers to secure them. I used a grinder to round off the corners a bit and then my biggest genius move was to buy some flat gray textured spray paint to match the carpet. They work perfect and you can't even tell they're there at all! I can still use the front spikes to tilt back or level the speakers, and I could also use them through the aluminum plates on the rear if I needed to as well.

Total outlay: under thirty bucks! And totally, completely invisible and effective.

As Hannibal on my old favorite show "The A Team" used to say: "I love it when a plan comes together"
bizango1
I can still use the stock spikes front and rear to lock in their position. Just using the spikes in front now.
Question: Why did you change from the PSB Synchrony Ones? Was there some area of improvement you found?
The PSB's never floated my boat. I found them uninvolving and unconvincing and polite. Before those I had Stratus Goldi speakers which I really enjoyed-they were bombastic and fun in spite of their flaws. The Synchronies were way too "refined" for me. Usher BE-718's and the Adagios have special qualities and a certain kind of magic that I never got with the Synchronies. For the money I spent on them new and being a PSB fan, I was very disappointed. Oh, I just peeked at your system and I see you have Golds! Keep 'em. I would still have mine but we moved to a small house with a small room and the Golds just completely overwhelmed it. My last room was large and the Golds were awesome with solid state amps that put out over 700 WPC into their 4 ohm load. I used a Rotel RB-1090 and later a pair of Parasound JC-1's.