Will the placement of casters on speaker stands degrade the performance


I recently purchased a new (used) pair of Magnapan 3.7i's.  They replaced a pair of 1.7's.  when I got the 1.7's I worked for weeks to get them tuned to the room.  At the end of that process, the 1.7's were like magic.  I am now going through the same process with the 3.7i's.  As I am getting older, the 3.7's (with Mye Stands) are much harder to move on my carpet.  My Question - Will placing casters under the stands degrade the sound quality and does anyone know the bolt and thread size for the Mye stands.  I would kindly appreciate knowledge, advice, opinion, etc.
Thanks in advance, js 
johnspain
Very nice transducers john....Given the dipole dispersal pattern of your planers and the reduced nature of interaction with your floor, as compared with conventional drivers, I doubt very much whether the casters will have any significant detriment to sound quality until you hit on their exact placement in your room and you can replace them with a more secure foundation method.

Fear not....millercarbon will be alone shortly to persuade you to spend a small fortune on his patrons springy product range..
No one can answer your question definitively because it comes down to your subjective impression.

I have used both casters and hard rubber hockey pucks alternatively in place of spikes. Imo, the activity of lofting the speaker via these devices is dependent primarily on the elevation and not nature/quality of the device. I used casters on the Vapor Audio Joule White speakers on carpet, and the elevation change was to my ears beneficial. I am not saying there could be no variance in sound quality with other lifting devices, but given you practical circumstances and the benefit of precise positioning, I suggest that with the dozens of ways to improve audio systems it would be sensible to use casters. Imo, the benefit historically of elevating the speakers has far outweighed the possible degradation of spike vs. caster. If there is a variance in elevation, then that alone would nullify any attempt to declare one better than the other, as they would both have to be the same height to make a proper assessment.

i.e. Focus on the major variables, and build your system practically so that you gain the obvious advantage. You are thin slicing your system, which is counter-productive to advancing it well. Put the casters on the speakers, then begin an assessment of entire sets of cables and you will move the rig much farther ahead than you dreamed.

To show you how much potential exists and how placing too much emphasis on such things as spikes/casters is counter-productive, have you ever considered that the absence of baffle slope is not advantageous to the best performance of such speakers? Try this; place a thin shim (i.e. about .25" coaster, or furniture leg puck) under the back of the speaker stands, and prepare to be wowed. Using such dipole speakers without forward baffle slope loses a LOT of the beauty of the technology. I always lift the back of any big speaker, as it changes dramatically - and I do mean dramatically - the entire character of the speaker. Try it, you'll see. You could obtain a somewhat similar outcome with the stands if you can place washers or similar between the speaker footers and the stand, and still use the casters.  

I also presume you are using some degree of toe in. If not, then when you lift the back of the speakers, toe them in to hear the benefits I am discussing. The effect would not be as strong if they are parallel to the head wall. 

You follow all this advice, and you will gain several important advancements to your system.   :)



I have some Harbeth speakers on standard metal stands.  I fitted some sturdy casters onto the stands to experiment with room placement and I ended up leaving them even after deciding on placement.  As douglas said above, it all depends on your impression of the sound before and after.  People seem to knee jerk to spikes, which is certainly a decent starting place, but if you are trying to achieve a sound pleasing to your own ears, you need to experiment and choose what you like regardless of the conventional wisdom. As an aside, these issues do become more important as you get older.