JBL Project Array 800 speaker stands

[flaggalagga]

I have a pair of JBL Project Array 800’s and I was wondering if someone could recommend some speaker stands for them.

[rdgrimes]

For what purpose? How high do you need them?

[HCSGuy]

It’s kind of laughable that they called a 30” tall speaker a “Bookshelf” speaker, but they did...When I had mine, they were on about 12” stands that I had laying around. They sounded much better, but were dangerous, as the stands were metal and square, but the speakers aren’t, so there where sharp corners of the stands sticking out past the speakers a little. I think my stands were a little to high, but see what you can find in the 10-12” high range, though this will vary based on your seating height. Sorry I can’t suggest an exact model, as I don’t know what is available in Europe versus the US.

[rdgrimes]

I use these steel stands (https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sanus-foundations-steel-series-center-channel-speaker-stand-black/2864525.p?acampID=0&irclickid=Vd1xBFVoHxyOUX70UfQwQyYMUkiTkGVl1S%3ABVs 0&irgwc=1&loc=Skimbit+Ltd.&mpid=10078&ref=198&skuId=2864525) for heavy old JBLs. Rated for 35# but they will hold more. 22" high, that's pretty high for a heavy speaker. You can fill the tubes with sand if you like.

[flaggalagga]

For what purpose? How high do you need them?

Something like this

87205

[rdgrimes]

The Sanus steel series come in 22" and 18" heights.

[flaggalagga]

I now decided to let a carpenter make me 2 stands out of crafted wood that fits the size of the speakers. What height is recommended for both sitting and listening (and cinema) plus also standing. Is there other things to consider when doing stands out of crafted wood ?

[Mr. Widget]

You should mock it up to determine the best height for your application. You can sit the speakers on a stack of books or a small box with a few books or ??? To dial in the height.


Widget

[Epplerd]

Creating a mock-up is a good idea. Assuming you'll be mostly listening in a seated position the speakers should be at the correct height or angle for the listener to be on axis of the HF driver. It's also good to get the LF driver away from the floor. Unless the speakers are designed to sit on the floor you'll most likely be hearing more bass than intended, potentially extending into the lower midrange. Proximity of the speakers to the rear and side walls of the room will also alter the sound particularly in the bass. Where you sit will also influence what you hear. Siting close to the rear wall of the room will effect the amount and quality of the bass heard. The effect of the room is the most difficult thing to control in a domestic environment. It's the reason professional installations spent a lot of money designing the shape of listening rooms and adding acoustic treatment.

[Epplerd]

Talking of speaker stands and how they alter the sound any thoughts on this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW9-r83IvhI

[Mr. Widget]

Talking of speaker stands and how they alter the sound any thoughts on this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW9-r83IvhIInteresting demo. I am not sure how audible those differences are, but in general I have never been a fan of spiking speakers. I have done my own experiments over the decades and used a variety of techniques when I noticed a problem present. I have decoupled speakers and and I have anchored speakers at different times.



Widget

[Epplerd]

Interesting demo. I am not sure how audible those differences are, but in general I have never been a fan of spiking speakers. I have done my own experiments over the decades and used a variety of techniques when I noticed a problem present. I have decoupled speakers and and I have anchored speakers at different times.



Widget
Could you explain your experiments and conclusions?

[rusty jefferson]

Whether to couple speakers to, or decouple from the room can be the what's better, tubes or solid state discussion. It depends.

Here's a link to a video Paul McGowan from PS Audio made a couple years ago of a demonstration of a decoupling product. It starts at about the 1:00 mark and a clear difference can be heard even from a handheld camera uploaded to the YouTube.
https://www.psaudio.com/askpaul/rmaf-2018-and-isolation-demo/
Now, folks who prefer/support coupling might say it's a flawed comparison because they didn't properly couple the speakers, as they would argue, it's not good practice to directly spike a speaker directly onto concrete.

I've seen people couple a platform to a concrete floor then decouple the speakers on the platform to good results. It may take experimentation. I would suggest using coupling/decoupling spikes/footers between the stands and the floor, be it wood or concrete for rigidity. Your stands (or speakers for that matter) should not be wallowing around on carpet/padding. Then if practical/affordable try coupling and decoupling footers to see if there's a preference. It's likely all these companies have a 30 day in home refund policy, but either path can be a bit pricey.

If you Google "couple or decouple loudspeakers", you'll find much discussion. Isoacoustics (company in the demo) and Townshend (in the previous video) makes decoupling products, and Walker Audio and Mapleshade make similar coupling products.

[Epplerd]

It is indeed a contentious subject in hi-Fi forums. I believe it first emerged in the late 70's early 80's when the vogue for spiking speaker stands and even spiking the speakers onto stands appeared. Since then we've seen products advocating going in the opposite direction decoupling speakers from the stand or the floor. As far as I can tell all these concepts have come from products aimed at the hi-Fi freternity. In my professional career I have never encountered a studio setup in the broadcast or sound recording industry where the monitors have been anything but soffit mounted, (securely fixed into a cavity in the control room wall) or stood on (and sometimes screwed to) a rigid stand. Is this all just fashion led and a case of 'The Emperors news clothes '?

[Mr. Widget]

Could you explain your experiments and conclusions?Sorry for the slow response... I just noticed this.

I have placed speakers on slabs of foam and on 20” bicycle inner tubes both for isolation. For anchoring them, I have bolted them to walls and in corners. Both of these approaches were to solve various problems. I did the decoupling solutions to fight turntable feedback and used the anchoring/coupling techniques to fight cabinet resonances.

I haven’t done any of these things in many many years... but in recent years I have had very large and massively built speakers. My current speakers are sitting on industrial casters.


Widget

[Epplerd]

In professional installations every attempt is made to address acoustic issues before the room is finished. Sadly in domestic situations the reverse is generally true. As far as turntables are concerned if you have a suspended floor then a wall shelve may provide better accouctic isolation. Enclosing the turntable inside some other acoustically treated structure will also help. The undulations in a vinyl groove can be smaller than a wavelength of light and the cartridge can act as a microphone so the louder the speakers the greater the feedback and the more coloured the reproduction becomes. If you doubt this try moving your turntable to separate room, you might be surprised how the sound quality changes.

[rusty jefferson]

.... As far as I can tell all these concepts have come from products aimed at the hi-Fi freternity. In my professional career I have never encountered a studio setup in the broadcast or sound recording industry where the monitors have been anything but soffit mounted, (securely fixed into a cavity in the control room wall) or stood on (and sometimes screwed to) a rigid stand. Is this all just fashion led and a case of 'The Emperors news clothes '?

Alas, it is likely there's less high quality recordings coming out of studios with large format monitors every year. And worse, probably more over manipulated, compressed Pop music from large record labels. I'd be curious to know what percentage of music we're hearing now (non Pop music) is being made on desktop consoles with mini-monitors.

Anyway, this same decoupling company appears to be going into that part of the pro marketplace. Here's a link to a video demonstration of their stands for mini-monitors. Another easily heard difference (assuming they're honest) even via the YouTube.

https://youtu.be/aY-cSuKzu_w