Building stands for Harbeth 40.2's


I talked with my builder today. I told them I would reach out for more expert opinions on a final design.

Since the TonTragers are the benchmark for Harbeth stands, I'm trying to match them as much as possible.

Question 1- The TonTragers have a 1 inch riser in each corner of the top of the stand. Is this critical for optimal sound ? Or would it be sufficient for the speaker to sit flat on the top of the stand ?

Question 2- Obviously the top needs to be open except for the exterior frame, but can the base be a solid flat piece of wood...or should that be open also ?

Please chime in with any ideas...also I plan on using some good cone spikes on the bottom.

I've attached a pic of the TonTrager for reference for the above questions.

Thanks in advance.

krelldog

Who believes that one brand of stand mount Speakers

Performs best with metal and another with wood? 

I used sound anchor stands for my Harbeth SHL5+ and the bass sounded significantly better than the ton trager stand copies I made.  

I liked the appearance of the ton trager knock offs but the solid, massive sound anchors delivered the tightest, deepest bass.  i had them spiked through carpet to concrete floor.  I discovered sound anchors at a local dealer where all of their speakers had excellent bass because of them, I was sold.  

1- if you do have the tragers made- definitely pay attention to stand height.  to my ears harbeth speakers sound best when they are lower than typical.  it reinforces the bass and gives the tweeters a softer more natural blend- just an inch or two below ear height. ideally you should experiment before committing to the height. 

2- without question use iso dots to decouple the speaker to stand.  very critical for lossy cabinet speakers. 

soft sorbothane made for peaky bass, medium firm dots made the best most balanced bass and hard silicone rubber dots seemed to drain the bass,  experiement,    

@mijostyn 

You may want to be careful with the carpet tape - it may damage the finish on your Harbeths - which could be an issue if you ever plan to sell them to upgrade.  It is almost impossible to remove from hardwood.

@bassdude , I have stuck 3M carpet tape to just about anything you can think of. It will not damage a modern polyester finish at all. It will leave a residue that is easily removed with brake cleaning fluid. The most common problem with carpet tape is that it will not stick to some surfaces that is when I switch to 3M high strength mounting tape. That can be a b-tch to get off.

Beech is excellent for speaker stands and that’s what Tonträger mainly uses.