Hi fi stands.

[User169]

That's the one - I'd forgotten his name. Apparently, an (absurdly expensive) cable manufacturer took up his offer (to differentiate between modest and super expensive speaker cables in a double-blind trial), but then withdrew. I don't know the reason why - a shame, as it would have been an interesting experiment.

I don't think they could agree on the conditions for the test.

 

[Mr Pig]

You believe your hifi equipment works. Which is not the same thing.

You guys are something else.

If anyone wants to discuss 'why' what you sit your Hi-Fi equipment on effects the sound then I'm happy to do so. By PM if you'd prefer to avoid the constant berating from you know who ;0)

 

[User482]

You guys are something else.

If anyone wants to discuss 'why' what you sit your Hi-Fi equipment on effects the sound then I'm happy to do so. By PM if you'd prefer to avoid the constant berating from you know who ;0)


I'm not interested in a theoretical explanation, I'm interested in what actually happens. And the way to do that is with a double-blind trial, not what you *think* you hear.

Did you know that red placebo pills work better than blue placebo pills?

 

[simonali]

I was hoping for some CD storage suggestions, but I guess I came to the wrong thread!

 

[Mr Pig]

I was hoping for some CD storage suggestions

It's your house, how should we know?! Plastic tubs, wicker baskets, the wheely bin, it's your call.

I have a lot of CDs but I try to get rid of a lot too. I look through them now and then and get rid of the ones I'll never play again. I gave a teenage girl about thirty CDs recently. There's zero point in having stuff you'll never use.

Still have too many CDs though....

 

[pubrunner]

When I was single a few years back now, I bought a pair of Hi-Fi stands.

I then met my better half and we now live in a house with a wooden floor; she will not put up with my HiFi stands as they are spiked.

My stands are FREE* to anyone that could collect them from the Shropshire/Wrexham/Chester area. (Would cost a fortune to post, 'cos of the weight)

* A modest donation to the Huntington's Disease Association would be appreciated, but is optional.

The stands cost me over £100 about 10 years ago and have never actually been used.

They were made by Target Audio, I've taken a pic of one (see below)

 

[Mr Pig]

she will not put up with my HiFi stands as they are spiked.

The spike holes are so small that when you remove the stands they are very hard to find, even when you are looking for them. Spikes do a lot less damage to floors than many other objects with larger feet.

Even if you used them without the spikes, just stick rubber feet on them, it would still be a lot better than nothing.

 

[pubrunner]

The spike holes are so small that when you remove the stands they are very hard to find, even when you are looking for them. Spikes do a lot less damage to floors than many other objects with larger feet.

Even if you used them without the spikes, just stick rubber feet on them, it would still be a lot better than nothing.

Sadly, when we met, she had her own KEF floor-standing speakers - which we still use.

I then sold my Spendors, so the stands are redundant.

She'd like me to get rid of my Leak Stereo 20 and my Input Design turntable.

What she doesn't know, is that I've got another Input Design Turntable kit in the attic - carefully hidden away. I really only need one, so maybe I'll swop or sell it one day. Few seem to use turntables these days; Input Design turntables were very similar to the Manticore Mantra (I've just given one of these to my brother) and had a suspended chassis - similar also to a Linn.

It's hard being a HiFi buff in my family

 

[Mr Pig]

It's hard being a HiFi buff in my family

Seems to be! Certainly your other half seems to boss you around a lot ;0)

If you've got a few records and like playing them there's no way I'd sell your record player. They are nice things, tactile and fascinating requiring love and attention to give their best.

No idea how good those decks are or what they're worth. I would keep them both :0) I've got two LP12s, I only need one but I can't bring myself to sell one. I love playing around with record players, I've had loads of them. My favourite is the Rega Planer3.

 

[twowheelsgood]

Mr Pig, you could settle this argument by asking someone to randomly swap a few things around and lisen blindfolded. I have a nice stand because it looks nice, for which I paid too much really. I can't tell the difference between it and a stack of telephone directories sonically, even in a good acoustic environment, like a radio studio. Doesn't mean you can't of course.

If all the reasonings commonly given are true of course, then the ultimate hi-fi stand is a Tescos baking tray (£1.99) filled with water and your equipment carefully floated on a block of wood.

If I had known before I probably wouldn't have bought my set-up at least unitl I can afford a house with a dedicated listening room/cinema room. For most people in normally sized houses used as a home, then diminshing returns set in incredibly rapidly when stepping up from mid-range seperates.

One think I bought from maplins was mains conditioner, £ 70 so not huge money and I am convinced it did improve the bass. Can't recall if I did a comparison with/without so it may be a case of I spent X more puounds there fore it myst be better, but one thing for sure, it did reduce the mains hum from my amps (this is hum from the boxers themselves - transfomrer noise? as opposed to any hum on the audio path).

You might get the same effect by moving noisey items (electrically) like the fridge and flourescent lighting and switch-mode power supplies to a different circuit breaker. Some older mobile phone chargers and cheap PC power supplies were terrible for this.

 

[Mr Pig]

If all the reasonings commonly given are true

They're not. The reasoning behind most hi-Fi stands is only partly right, which is why they only partly work. I've only seen a few instances where the designer seemed to have twigged what was really going on and the only one of those I've used is Mana. I remember seeing some murderously expensive, convoluted Japanese effort, no idea if it worked but the guy did give a good description of why it should!

diminishing returns set in incredibly rapidly when stepping up from mid-range separates.

Can't argue with that. Most hi-end stuff is a waste of money as it's only slightly better than equipment costing far less. I remember being rather disheartened when I realised that tiny improvements to my system would cost a grand! The people who buy it don't care though.

I am convinced it did improve the bass but one thing for sure, it did reduce the mains hum from my amps

That''l be right enough. I have a separate mains spur for my Hi-Fi, it cleans things up too. Both it and the Mana reduced transformer hum in my Naim NAP250 power amp, it also ran cooler. It could really hum! Sometimes it would start humming loudly for no apparent reason but other times you knew what it was, like a hair-dryer in another room.

Still ran too hot though. It had no cooling fan and I used to shut it down all the time. The case could get so hot you could barely touch it. The 135 was basically a mono version of the same amp but with a fan! The amps I have now are more powerful but have even worse heat dissipation so I still shut them down ;0) Keep thinking about venting the cases and fitting fans but I'll never get around to it.

 

[Llama]

this thread seems to have stirred up a hornets nest -
anyway back to stands - this may be of use of someone
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home...ifying-ikea-malm-3-draws-into-av-cabinet.html

not gonna win any hi-fi awards but does the job. i've just got my stuff in an ikea cabinet and its fine for me! i try not to worry about how good my kit is and just listen to the music!
Have got my speaker stands on granite chopping boards to "enhance the bass"! that and level the floor of a Victorian house

ps: speaker cable - IMO biggest con of all if you need some check out vandamme blue 2.5mm £2 a meter and great

 

[Mr Pig]

I try not to worry about how good my kit is and just listen to the music!

That's a very good philosophy.

 

[simonali]

It's your house, how should we know?! Plastic tubs, wicker baskets, the wheely bin, it's your call.

All brilliant suggestions. I don't know which one to try first!

 

[Mr Pig]

All brilliant suggestions. I don't know which one to try first!

What do you want? Having no idea what your room is like makes recommending a storage solution pretty hard. I thought the wheely bin was a good try though?