Should I use my Sanus stand's brass speakers studs?

[phorensic]

My Sanus steel series speaker stands came with three ways of "mounting" the speakers to the top plate. Rubber pads, bolts for pre-drilled mounting holes that come with some speakers, and brass studs. The brass studs are the recommended option by the manual, but these things aren't studs, they are spikes! I'm afraid they will start to pierce the cabinets of my Paradigm Monitor 3's. Anyone ever used these brass studs?

[theodoric]

Use Blu-Tack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Tack) instead.

[Bigerik]

Use Blu-Tack (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-Tack) instead.

Second that. Great for keeping them stuck to the stands, but also easy to remove. Nice stuff!

[GaryP]

Blue Tack also isolates the speakers - which is what the brass studs / spikes do.

A good idea! :)

[phorensic]

Alright, well I was considering Blu-Tack anyway, so I guess I'll try to find some.

[john_w]

Actually...spikes are there for the opposite effect - acoustically coupling the speakers to the stands, not isolating them.

So what's difference? In theory, this allows for vibrations - especially in the bass range - to transfer thru the stands and (with floor spikes) into the floor, rather than causing the speaker itself to vibrate, which (again, theoretically) muddies the sound a bit.

Someone has also suggested the use of super balls as "spikes" in these forums. Same issue - if there's any effect at all, they'd have the opposite effect of spikes!

Blu-Tack, I would think, would still allow a lot of vibration, even though it does serve the purpose of holding the speakers to the stands.

I have Sanus stands for my rear B&W HT speakers, and use the platform spikes for those. However, the speakers themselves have a thick metal bottom plate and are heavy for their size, so I have no problem with that set-up. I don't know as much about yours. If it were me, unless you have wild animals (such as human children) that might knock them off, or they're in a position where an adult might topple them, I'd go ahead and try the spikes. The speaker bottoms will get scratched up eventually, even if the rest stays mint for decades.

Incidentally, the stands that are made for the B&Ws bolt right to the speakers, metal against metal. You can't get tighter coupling than that. (They're too short for my rear speakers though.)

[phorensic]

Well, I realized after moving the speakers to the TV and back 2 times, that Blue-Tak and the spikes are a bad idea. It's impossible to move the stands while keeping the speakers perfectly still on top, and taking them off the spikes and setting them back on would take it's toll on the wood.

Rubber pads it is!

[energyandair]

Well, I realized after moving the speakers to the TV and back 2 times, that Blue-Tak and the spikes are a bad idea. It's impossible to move the stands while keeping the speakers perfectly still on top, and taking them off the spikes and setting them back on would take it's toll on the wood.

Rubber pads it is!
My experience is that with pea sized piece of the adhesive putty (eg Blu-Tac) near each corner and pushed down firmly, the speakers bond well enough to the stands that it is easy to move both as a single unit.

In my experience, this sounds a bit better but more importantly, its much safer if the speaker gets bumped.

When its time to get them off, I've used a number of methods but now I just lever them apart with a putty knife eg http://www.arichard.com/en/PRODUITS_DESC.asp?ID=317053

I've done this many times and never had a problem with marring the finish,

David