Speaker stand height




I have a pair of PSB Stratus Minis on their factory 25" stands, but these seem too tall for my room/listening position. My listening chair is somewhat low and laid back and this i do not want to change. So I was thinking of buying lower stands so that the speakers are closer to my ear but am worried about messing up the overal tonal balance of my PSB's. Should i Be worried about the sound changing too much with lower stands, or will it simply give me more bass and a more direct sound?

btw iv'e experimented with putting these speakers on 10" concrete blocks, with a title to compensate for the height, and this seemed to make the sound much fuller. This was many years ago though and my memory could be fooling me.
dave123456
PSB Speakers with the tweeter under the midrange/woofer are designed in combination with their crossovers to beam the sound slightly upwards, so there is not a big difference in sound when you are standing or sitting. That is just one of Paul Barton's design quirks. So, maybe try listening to them upside down to beam the sound a little lower.
Here's another idea which is unconventional but you might love the sound of it; turn them on their side, like a center speaker. You might be shocked at how the sound changes when they are turned, let's say, on their side with tweeters inward. That change in elevation of the tweeter of several inches may do the trick, and the placement of the bass outward and tweeters inward is more like a panel speaker. Give it a shot and see what you think. Costs nothing and you may like the sound a lot. Also try them with the tweeters to the outside and you will likely sense the soundstage has widened a bit. Of course, then you can also work with their placement, distance from each other as well.

You can also take a couple rubber washers or similar - or better yet some stick on rubber feet or blue tak, and set the back of the speaker up ever so slightly, moving the directionality of the speaker downward. Between these two ideas you likely could find a solution without having to buy new stands.

Manitunc's suggestion of turning them upside down is also a good one. Once or twice I have taken modular speakers costing tens of thousands and turned the upper module containing an inverted driver array upside down to see what the speaker sounds like when the drivers are lined up more traditionally (smallest to largest from the top), a very enlightening experiment.

There's plenty of things you can try. Sometimes it's fun, even when you have your optimal positioning, to turn them on their side just for kicks/variety. :)
Get someone to actually measure the hightower of your ears when seated. Get stands that put tweeters at that level. You could also spring for the Hightower adjustable Sound Anchor stands but they are a bit pricey.


So since the PSB's are designed to beam the sound upwards, then I could probabaly get away with 18"-22" stands and not use any kind of tilt but also get the benefits of having the drivers closer to the floor.

I had a few more questions regarding metal vs mdf stands. My factory PSB stands are mdf and was wondering is my PSB's were designed to be used with this type of stand, or was it simply a cost thing that prevented them to be sold with metal stands. Also, if the height and filling are the same, what are the major differences between wood and metal stands?