[Kain]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

 

[spacecowboy]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

This depends on alot of factors as friends, family, pets, children, housekeeper, where the speakers are in relation to doors, foot traffic, ect. There is always a risk of this happening unless you are a loner with no friends or the speakers are in a protected area of the room. Of all mentioned children pose the greatest danger of all - they are the enemies of all of your gear, and there's nothing you can do to stop them.

 

[Soulburner]

I have caused the speakers to slide on the stand when there wasn't any UHU Tac on there.

Otherwise, if stuck down, it would take quite an angle for them to not rock back to place.

 

[jwskud]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

I have not had this happen to me, but I've read about this horrible experience happening to others. Many opt to upgrade to a sturdier stand, like one made of metal, and then fill it with sand or shot (little BB's, as far as I understand).

Example stand here. Available in 5 heights. If not directly "fillable," many stands are hollow and I've read about folks drilling holes and filling with sand or shot.

Perhaps even more sturdy? Here.

As far as sticking the speaker to the stand, lots use Blu Tack, a bit in each corner.

Ultimately, even towers are susceptible to being tipped over. That's why I threatened the lives of my children when I got my Chane A5.4 towers recently! But they are 6, 12, and 15 years old, so not as susceptible to "accidents" as younger kids...

 

[callas01]

My current stands have adapter plates that Connect to the bottom of the speaker and top of the stands. All my other speakers I’ve used quake hold putty from Home Depot or blue tak from other places (amazon)

 

[SouthernCA]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

I use blue tack to connect the speakers on stands.

 

[gajCA]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

I replaced my stand mount speakers in my main room with towers as my cats knocked them over leaping from them to a window ledge.

The speakers were held to the stand with velcro so the stand fell over with the speaker still attached.

Mind you those were crappy stands so in my secondary room I have far sturdier stands with the speakers held on to them with heavy duty double sided tape.

No problems there and the cats show no interest on jumping on those but if they did I doubt they could topple these.

https://www.qacoustics.com/accessories/q-acoustics-concept-20-speaker-stands-pair.html

 

[Zorba922]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

If you are not already using something like Blue Tack between the speakers and the top plate of the stands, you definitely should as a first step.

If the stands are fillable and you haven't filled them, that would be the second step.

The third step would be to get the biggest heaviest fillable stand you can, and fill it. Something like this:
http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/access/spkstnds/pedstlcmt340.html

 

[Soulburner]

Heavy, solid stands are needed if adhering the speakers to them.

Or, you could isolate with sorbothane so the vibrations don't transfer.

 

[Jakeshields]

One way is to simply place objects in the way to limit any possible path of knocking the speakers over (although it wont save you in an earthquake). If there is a manufacturer stand available that allows you to bolt the stands directly to the speaker, buy that.

For example, with my mains, are bolted to stands, they are on either side of of a TV stand. Then I have subwoofers on the outside. And acoustic foam on the wall behind them. Basically there's no direction you can come to knock the speakers over unless you run into something else first, or simply bounce them off thick foam on the wall.

 

[echopraxia]

I’ve come to realize that bookshelf speakers aren’t popular because they’re compact; they’re popular because they’re cheaper than similar towers.

Despite the name, “bookshelf” speakers placed on a bookshelf will yield mediocre sound quality (at least, certainly below their potential). So then, bookshelf speakers properly secured to good stands can sound very good, but then those bookshelf speakers take the same space as towers — yet despite taking the same space, they are worse in every way: towers sound better, are more stable and sturdy, are easier to deal with because you don’t have to shop around and fiddle with stands independently, and towers look better (though that’s subjective), etc.

This is coming from someone who just bought some new bookshelf speakers (because I can’t afford to have a flagship speaker in every room), so this is not me hating on bookshelf speakers, despite what it sounds like. Bookshelf speakers obviously have a place, but they do come with compromises that tower speakers do not have.

What I’m saying is, you can mitigate the instability of bookshelf speakers in a variety of clever ways mechanically, but if you want the best stability and sound quality, go with towers. Otherwise look into a variety of putties, screws, fasteners etc. as desired to reach the level of stability you want.

 

[Soulburner]

It's true, but often times if we are shopping to a price point, we can get a higher-grade standmount speaker than we could in a floorstanding speaker. It can make the difference between picking the entry-level tower or a higher-level standmount that will sound better once mated to a sub(s).

 

[echopraxia]

It's true, but often times if we are shopping to a price point, we can get a higher-grade standmount speaker than we could in a floorstanding speaker. It can make the difference between picking the entry-level tower or a higher-level standmount that will sound better once mated to a sub(s).

I agree, and that’s exactly why I bought some bookshelf speakers recently (Ascend Sierra 2EX): Incredible value for the price. I prefer towers, but it’s just so hard to turn down the value of bookshelf speakers.

So, I’m also interested in this thread for the same reason: I like the value of bookshelf speakers but not the stability. My understanding is that there no magic bullet here, aside from adhesives/putty and old fashioned bolts and screws. If there is though, I’d love to learn about what other good solutions are out there.

 

[Jakeshields]

If you move around often due to switching jobs or whatever moving bookshelf speakers is way easier than a tower. Also way less likely to be damaged. The bigger they are, the harder they fall...

 

[Ryan Statz]

I’ve come to realize that bookshelf speakers aren’t popular because they’re compact; they’re popular because they’re cheaper than similar towers.

For me, space renders towers to not be an option. The bookshelves I have are even pushing size limits in my space.

 

[echopraxia]

For me, space renders towers to not be an option. The bookshelves I have are even pushing size limits in my space.

So you’re not putting your bookshelf speakers on stands? Because if you do put them on stands, they take exactly the same space as towers.

(And if you don’t put them on stands, they’re not going to sound half as good as they could.)

 

[MUDCAT45]

My current stands have adapter plates that Connect to the bottom of the speaker and top of the stands. All my other speakers I’ve used quake hold putty from Home Depot or blue tak from other places (amazon)

That should keep the speaker and stand intact when the stand is knocked over.

 

[vampyiere6]

Have you or anyone else accidentally knocked the speakers off the stand or knocked over the stand itself with the speaker on it? What can be done to mitigate this?

I have metal stands that are hollow that i have filled with fine sand not only does it makes them alot heavier but it also removes the ringing sound if you tap them, removes extra noise.


I have the klipsch RP-160m that have a baseplate that i did unscrew and then did screw the speakers to my stands it is almost impossible to knock them over as they are so have and needs to be tilted alot for them to fall, i have cats that sometimes jumpes on them and away and they dont move at, if you want more stability you can always sue dublesided tape on the bottom of the stands that way they cant move at all

 

[Ryan Statz]

So you’re not putting your bookshelf speakers on stands?

They're on top of my TV/media stand. I also have a cat that likes to occasionally perch on top of the front right speaker only for some reason, so I wouldn't put them on stands until he grows out of that habit.

Because if you do put them on stands, they take exactly the same space as towers.

Not true. My parents, and one of my brothers has towers - they take up way more space than my bookshelves. They're often wider, and deeper than bookshelves, which means a higher spatial footprint. If I were to get stands, they would be ones that take up as little space as possible without compromising stability.

(And if you don’t put them on stands, they’re not going to sound half as good as they could.)

I'm not sure how putting a bookshelf speaker on a stand is going to magically make it sound better. The only thing I need to do to make my bookshelves sound "better" would be to raise them about 6" so that the tweeter is at ear level, and tilt the centre slightly upwards (right now it all hits me right around the sternum/neck when I'm sitting down, but I'm often lounging on the couch, which makes it all at ear level).

 

[Soulburner]

I'm not sure how putting a bookshelf speaker on a stand is going to magically make it sound better. The only thing I need to do to make my bookshelves sound "better" would be to raise them about 6" so that the tweeter is at ear level, and tilt the centre slightly upwards (right now it all hits me right around the sternum/neck when I'm sitting down, but I'm often lounging on the couch, which makes it all at ear level).

A speaker with nothing but air around it is going to sound better - no magic required.