How to couple my monitors to stands???


Happy New Year, everybody!

I just acquired a pair of Aerial Acoustics Model 5 monitors and will be receiving a pair of Osiris 24" stands by UPS today. I need to know what I can do to keep my speakers FIRMLY planted on the stands.

Here's the problem...For those of you unfamiliar with the Aerial 5's, they have 3 brass "cones" (for lack of a better word) that screw into the bottom of the speakers - two in the back, one in the front. The front "cone" is height adjustable and tilts the speaker back to align the tweeter and woofer. Of course, if I just set the speakers on the stands, they'll be very unstable and could easily come sliding off the stands. I've got little kids in the house, so they've got to be solidly planted.

How critical is it that the speakers be sloped? I was wondering if there might be some kind of a "cup" (again, for lack of a better term) that I could couple to the stands (with blu-tak) that would keep the cones from sliding off the stands?? I got the idea from the cups that I had to buy for a chair with casters that I was using on hardwood floors.

Any help that you can provide will be GREATLY appreciated!

BTW - I know that Aerial offers a Sound Anchor stand for these speakers, but at $500 I couldn't pull the trigger. I got the Osiris for $299 shipped.
danheather
You could pull the trigger for 300 but not 500 for a pair of far-better-made and perfectly matched stands? And then try to save $ (yet increase hassle-factor) and expect a decent setup with non-matching stands? come on. Shop around. Ditch the Osiris. I am sure you can find Aerial stands for less than retail. I have a pair of 5s, the stands are worth the extra money, and mate perfectly with the speakers, securing them to the stand with 2 large allen-headed bolts. These are the best 2-way monitors I have ever heard and have compared them against many others that I have brought home. They deserve the best stands, and the correct ones. Do yourself a favor and do what you should have done to start with - get the Aerial stands.

-Ed
You don't! Get floorstanders or gt rid of kids! I guess, you should rather go with the first choice.
You also can remove the screw in feet/spikes/whatever they are and drill the plate on the speaker stand top to match the hole pattern already in you speaker. Purchase the correct size machine srew/bolt (stud would be better if you can find) to match the threaded hole in your speaker where the feet/spike/whatever they are fit be for. Be sure the new machined screw/bolt (or stud if you can find) is long enough to reach up from the bottom of the plate and allow the hight of the angle you want or to level. By over sizing the holes in the speaker stand plate slightly and using a nut above and below the speaker stand plate you can angle or level and then lock the speaker in place by thghting the nuts on the speaker plate. As you tighten the nut on the top and bottom against the plate top and bottom you will lock the machined screw/bolt in place. You will have to hold the machine screw/bolt from turning and just tighten the nuts. You should be able to set the angle by first screwing the new screw/bolt/stud in to the holes in the speaker base then allowing the nut on top of the plate to support the speaker. Then turn the nut up or down until the speaker is where you want it. Keep the srcew/bolt/stud from turning whille you srcew the nut up from the bottom and tighten the plate between the two nut by thihtening the bottom nut tight.
Blu-Tak is one solution, but for about one-tenth the price you can buy essentially the same stuff at Office Depot or Office Max. The product to look for is Elmer's "Tac 'n' Stik" reusable adhesive. I've used it for years (currently using it under my center speaker and rear surrounds) -- it works every bit as well as Blu Tak, and sells for 99 cents a package. The adhesive is scored into 5 sections, and four half-sections, each rolled into balls, are enough for each corner of the speaker.
Geez, Ed! I was looking for some FRIENDLY advice, not a rant about why I'm an idiot for not paying $500+ for a pair of stands. To put it into perspective, the difference in price was considerably more than $200 when you consider that the Osiris stands were $299 including shipping and with NO TAX. If I were to buy the Aerial (I mean, Sound Anchor) stands, I'd have to buy them in SF (tax rate = 8.5%), so my outlay would be $542.50...factor in gas (nope, it's not free) for another $20 and suddenly the difference is $262.50. I don't know about you, but to me that's A LOT of money. I'd much rather invest that money in software (music) than stands that are no better than the Osiris. Even better, I could use that money to take my family on a nice outing to the Monterey Bay Aquarium or something.

Also, I did shop around for the "factory" stands and there are no discounts to be had.

Finally, I'm not sure how you came to your position about the Sound Anchor stands being "far-better-made" than the Osiris. Merlin Music Systems used the Osiris as their "factory" stands. By most accounts, the Merlin TSMs are arguably "far-superior" to the Aerials in virtually every way. Even if you don't agree that they're better, you must confess that they're a fine speaker - one deserving of a very high quality stand.

I just received the stands from UPS last night and, while I didn't have time to set them up, I did get them unpacked and they're incredible...very massive and beautifully built. Can't wait to fill them with shot (the Sound Anchors are prefilled with sand - isn't that for playgrounds?) and get them setup using some of the methods recommended on this post.